Tonga, 2011

Like others who have

spoken before me, allow me to add my warm

congratulations to Mr. Al-Nasser on his election as

President of the General Assembly for our current

session. My delegation and I assure him, as always, of

our support and cooperation. I also wish to thank

Mr. Joseph Diess of Switzerland for a successful term

as President at the sixty-fifth session. We also

remember another former President of the Assembly,

Mr. Harri Holkeri of Finland, who passed away earlier

this year but who left a lasting impact on the good

work of the General Assembly and the United Nations.

As for the ongoing leadership of the

Organization, I wish to extend my congratulations to

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his appointment to

a deserved second term. He and the Secretariat

continue to show the firm resolve needed during these

challenging times of global crisis. We pay tribute also

to the memory of those members of the Secretariat who

have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of

international duty.

A further example of the critical role played by

the Secretary-General during these difficult times was the

convening earlier this week of the High-level Meeting on

the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases

(NCDs). The dangerous potential of NCDs, unchecked

in small States like mine, threatens not just livelihoods

and lifestyle but whatever gains may have been

achieved as they relate to Millennium Development

Goal (MDG) 6 and the other MDGs.

At our annual meeting of Pacific Island Forum

leaders in Auckland earlier this month, we adopted a

statement on NCDs in which, among other things, we

committed our Governments to implementing five key

interventions in areas known to reduce NCDs:

Controlling tobacco, improving diets, increasing

physical activity, reducing alcohol intake and

facilitating access to essential drugs and technologies.

17 11-51372

In that respect, Tonga was pleased to join other

Member States in adopting the Political Declaration

(resolution 66/2, annex) of the High-level Meeting on

the prevention and control of NCDS. I sincerely

believe that the Meeting was a good step in the right

direction for setting a healthier and enjoyable future

for us all.

We were pleased that the Secretary-General was

able to visit a number of countries in our region on his

way to his historic attendance at the Pacific Islands

Forum. He was able to assess for himself the dominant

impact of climate change on countries in the Pacific

and to validate the activities of Pacific small island

developing States like Tonga in international forums.

We must use the positive foundations laid down

collectively in Copenhagen and Cancún to embrace the

promise that might lie in Durban at the seventeenth

Conference of the Parties to the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change in

December.

We are pleased that, in July, under the able

presidency of Germany, the Security Council took solid

steps to seize the moral imperative by holding an open

debate and producing a presidential statement on the

Maintenance of international peace and security and

the impact of climate change (S/PRST/2011/15*). The

Council and its membership, now and in the future,

must not turn from their vigilant duty to keep

themselves in a position of leadership over this issue

and its implications for Member States like Tonga and

others in the Pacific.

While last year’s High-level Meeting on MDGs

offered small island developing States like Tonga an

opportunity to take stock of their progress towards

achieving those Goals in 2015, we consider that we

have a similar chance to do so as we all prepare for the

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

next year. We stress the critical importance of the

sustainable development, management and conservation of

our ocean and marine resources — living and

non-living — as a proper source of livelihood and

income for our communities and Governments.

Ensuring that States like ours enjoy a greater share of

the benefits derived from such resources is key. What

we within the Pacific small island developing States

have come to refer to as the “blue economy” will be

our challenge to the Rio Conference to meet the

expectations and development aspirations of our

peoples.

As such, Tonga continues to observe its

obligations under the United Nations Convention on

the Law of the Sea and notes the decision taken by

consensus by the States parties this year relating to the

workload of the Commission on the Limits of the

Continental Shelf, whose work is much valued by

coastal States such as mine. Tonga, together with

another sister State from the region, again actively

participated in the work of the International Seabed

Authority this year and noted the decision by the

Authority to grant exploration licenses to entities

sponsored by our respective Governments. This

represents a creative path for States like mine, within

the spirit of the Convention, towards solid partnership

and development. The common heritage of mankind, if

it is to have any true meaning, ought to be common to

all and not just to some or the few with the capacity in

that area.

Tonga reiterates its call for the creation and

definition of a formal small island developing States

category within the United Nations system. We are in

need of a definition that is not based upon a one-size-

fits-all approach. Like others, we must have a

definition that separates and addresses those States’

diversity of size, population, remoteness, isolation and

different levels of socio-economic development. Such a

definition would not only improve linkages within the

United Nations system but also, we believe, set a good

benchmark for the international community that is both

coherent and practical. It would strengthen the position

of the United Nations and the international system in

addressing small island developing States and the

special and unique challenges they face.

Like others, we, too, welcome the Republic of

South Sudan as our newest State Member of the United

Nations. Tonga has long been supportive of the efforts

to find a comprehensive, just and enduring peace in the

Middle East. The shifting sands of change known as

the Arab Spring throughout the surrounding region

earlier this year has made such a peace and genuine

security all the more challenging, but not impossible.

This is indeed a moment of truth for those with

genuine hope, not just for a secure Israel and a viable

Palestine, but for those who for so long have had such

hopes for an ambitious peace.

Tonga’s interest in developing renewable energy

sources, within the context of our Tonga energy road

map, continued to evolve with our election to the

Council of the International Renewable Energy Agency

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(IRENA) at the first session of the Agency’s Assembly,

in April 2011. We will work in earnest to ensure that

the voices of developing States such as Tonga and

others on the new Council are heard, given the key

leading role it will play in the Agency’s decision-

making and future direction. To take on such a role,

IRENA must be prepared to be innovative. The

Agency’s work will take on greater significance in the

coming International Year of Sustainable Energy for

All and its related activities. I would also like to

recognize the strong support of the Government of the

United Arab Emirates as host State for IRENA.

I am pleased to have addressed the Assembly as

the first democratically elected Prime Minister of

Tonga. In the wake of the elections held in November

of last year, I took office the following month, in

December, after an evolving process of principal

reforms that, within the context of our 1875

Constitution, included the peaceful transfer of

executive power from His Majesty in Privy Council to

the Government of the day; a Parliament in which the

majority of members are elected by universal suffrage;

a Prime Minister elected by a majority of the elected

Members of Parliament; a Cabinet nominated by the

Prime Minister and chosen largely from those elected

Members of Parliament; a constitutional monarchy;

and a strong and independent judiciary free of political

influence.

Notwithstanding this peaceful evolution, the

fundamental freedoms and values guaranteed under the

Constitution continue to afford legal protection and

comforting reassurance to all Tongans.

To address the uncertain future of the current

global economic and financial climate, my Government

has approved the Tonga strategic development

framework, which provides an overall framework to

guide the Government’s activities for the next four

years. It involves nine priority areas, from building

strong, inclusive communities to improving health and

education standards for a safe, secure and stable

Tongan society. Earlier this month, my Government

signed separate agreements with the Asian

Development Bank and the World Bank to improve

information and communications technology services

for Tonga so as to make them affordable and

accessible. Improving such services will enable Tonga

to enhance its related education, health and

Government services as well. My Government

sincerely believes that this framework will put Tonga

on a firm path to improving its ability to meaningfully

achieve the United Nations Millennium Development

Goals by 2015.

As such, in closing my Government happily

reaffirms its commitment to the principles of the

Charter of the United Nations, and we pledge to

support the ongoing work and reform of the

Organization.