Tonga, 2001

In congratulating Mr. Han

Seung-soo upon his assumption of high office, I must

also praise his predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri of

Finland, for an outstanding tenure as the President who

ushered in the new millennium. If the Millennium

Summit and its Declaration could be considered the

hallmark of Mr. Holkeri’s presidency, then Mr. Han’s

already has one of equally impressive terms with the

Organization and its Secretary-General being awarded

the Nobel Peace Prize. Therefore, the re-election of

Mr. Kofi Annan for a second term as Secretary-General

is sure testament not only to his own personal

dedication, creative leadership and unwavering sense

of spirit, but also to the vision and faith of the

Organization’s Member States.

I take this occasion to offer Tonga’s solace to all

affected delegations, and in particular the delegations

of the Dominican Republic and the United States, for

whom the tragedy that befell their communities on 12

November has such a profound bearing.

Like other Member States, Tonga takes this

occasion to express our sympathy and condolences to

the President and people of the United States for the

suffering and loss of life incurred during the attacks of

11 September. In doing so, Tonga condemns in the

strongest possible terms these acts of terror, which

remain without moral or lawful justification.

The events of 11 September have focused our

Organization’s attention on terrorism in all its forms

and manifestations and, more importantly, on the need

to address this issue comprehensively. As such, Tonga

commends the timely and decisive action taken by the

Security Council with respect to the events of 11

September. In doing so, we fully support the work of

the Counter-Terrorism Committee and its mandated

efforts to combat terrorism.

It has been stated that terrorism offends the core

values of our Organization, and that is true. The irony

is that, inasmuch as the events of 11 September were

an affront to one’s sense of humanity, it is this very

humanity that has risen to prevail over extreme

adversity. If last year’s catchphrase during the

Millennium Summit was “We, the peoples”, that call is

all the more pertinent this year in our collective efforts

to combat terrorism.

As part of its contribution to these efforts, Tonga

is taking steps to carefully study and consider the

United Nations conventions on terrorism that it is not

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party to. However, merely becoming parties to

conventions will not be sufficient. Concrete steps will

be needed if small countries like ours are to fully and

meaningfully take part in these efforts.

For example, Tonga’s efforts to develop,

implement and maintain counter-terrorism measures

will require sustained financial and expert technical

assistance on a solid foundation of a network of

information exchange between relevant law

enforcement and aviation agencies. In this regard, our

efforts in combating terrorism will be but a microcosm

for addressing a wider plethora of development issues.

As much as the Millennium Declaration

concerned new commitments, or renewed commitments

in some instances, Tonga commends the report of the

Secretary-General for its innovation and detailed

description as to how implementation of the

Declaration might be taken forward.

We look towards the International Conference on

Financing for Development as a further opportunity to

pursue a wide range of crucial thematic issues which

are particularly critical to the development aspirations

of developing countries. The balance required for

forging consensus on these thematic issues is as

important as the balance between official development

assistance and the mobilization of limited domestic

resources.

While the Declaration of the recently concluded

World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial

Conference in Doha might give rise to optimism, Tonga

seeks a simplified, streamlined and expeditious

accession process for small island developing States

like ours who wish to join the WTO. In this regard, we

congratulate the People’s Republic of China upon its

entry into the organization. A more flexible approach

and time frame within which to meet obligations are

needed to enable countries like Tonga to adopt

measures so as to fully participate in the WTO system

and to fulfil the obligations of the WTO agreements

while minimizing any adverse impacts upon our

populace. Such an accession process can be achieved

only with continuing technical and financial assistance.

We further look towards the World Summit on

Sustainable Development as a complementary step in

the development path towards the reinvigoration of

targeted commitments to sustainable development —

especially those concerning small island developing

States — as contained in Agenda 21. We continue to

call on the international community for refocused

commitment to and implementation of the Barbados

Programme of Action. Tonga’s preparations for this

Summit, through its national assessment report, will

include identifying areas for specific and priority

capacity-building needs as well as avenues by which to

take greater advantage of financial and technological

support.

While Tonga recognizes the merit of the

economic vulnerability index as a measure for

economic impacts, its application should encompass all

small island developing States and not serve as a means

to draw superficial differences between them. After all,

the economic vulnerability index is an accurate

reflection of the true realities of small island

developing States, and if those realities are not fully

addressed, we shall continue to perch precariously on

the edge of the precipice. Therefore, we continue to

support the development of an appropriate

environmental vulnerability index, and we commend

the work of the South Pacific Applied Geoscience

Commission in this regard. We believe that such an

index will provide accurate indicators of factors to

which small islands are vulnerable, such as natural

disasters, sea-level rise and climate change. Tonga

therefore welcomes the consensus reached at

Marrakech at the seventh session of the Conference of

the Parties to the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change and the further

opportunities for progress that it presents.

As a developing ocean State, we continue to seek

our fair share of the harvest from the ocean which

bounds us on all sides. We welcome in particular the

preparations for making effective the Convention on

the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory

Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

We urge the distant water fishing nations in our region

with a real interest in fisheries to make every effort to

become party to a convention that is the hallmark of

our commitment to the conservation and sustainable

management of a critically important resource. Tonga

continues to value the work and decisions this year at

the eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the United

Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the

International Seabed Authority and the United Nations

Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans

and the Law of the Sea — UNICPOLOS.

We continue to view information and

communication technologies as the way to go, and we

35

are making our own efforts to bridge the digital divide

to take full advantage of the digital revolution.

Maximizing such efforts will require complementary

efforts in tandem with the international community and

the United Nations. We urge continued support for the

Small Islands Developing States Network, SIDSnet,

and efforts to strengthen its capacity to support and

assist small island developing States.

Tonga welcomes the adoption of the Declaration

of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the establishment of

the global fund to combat this scourge. We look

forward to the implementation of the Declaration and

commend those Member States who have pledged their

financial support to the fund.

We continue to support the effort to reform the

Security Council. In this regard, as was presented by a

delegation during the debate on Security Council

reform, we could support either proposal for an

expansion of the number of permanent seats: by two,

with an expansion of the number of non-permanent

seats by three, or, alternatively, by three, with the

number of non-permanent seats increased by four.

While cognizant that issues pertaining to the veto and

its exercise in such an expansion would continue to

demand handling with the utmost sensitivity and care,

we urge that where there are issues of convergence,

steps should be taken to consolidate such convergence,

and where unresolved issues remain, that these be the

focus of continuing dialogue and discussion.

Finally, with respect to pertinent regional issues

in the Pacific, Tonga endorses the views expressed in

the Nauru communiqué, now contained in document

A/56/388, which was the outcome of the annual

meeting of Pacific Island Forum leaders at Nauru in

August this year.