Trinidad and Tobago, 1993

It is with

immense pride that I congratulate you, Sir, on behalf of the

Government and the people of Trinidad and Tobago, on your

unanimous election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its forty-eighth session. Your election to this

important position is a tribute to the active and constructive

role played by Guyana in international affairs over the years.

It is also a tribute to your own personal integrity and

diplomatic acumen. As a fellow representative of a member

State of the Caribbean Community, I am confident that you

will bring to the deliberations ahead the necessary measure

of impartiality and astuteness that will be indispensable in

reconciling the differing views on the many complex issues

before us.

My delegation joins in welcoming the six newest

Members admitted into this family of nations in 1993:

Andorra, the Czech Republic, Eritrea, Monaco, the Slovak

Republic and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

These new Members, all of which are relatively small, can

draw some inspiration from the election to the presidency of

the General Assembly of a representative from Guyana, the

smallest developing country in terms of population, ever to

assume that position. For indeed, small States must continue

to be afforded every opportunity to be full and active

contributors to the collective search for peace, security and

economic and social advancement for all.

All States, particularly the more vulnerable among us,

can derive much hope and encouragement from the

developments of September 1993, which set the course for

a new relationship between Israel and the Palestine

Liberation Organization and improved prospects for peace in

the Middle East. The historic exchange of letters of

recognition between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and

Chairman Yasser Arafat, and the subsequent signing of the

Palestinian-Israeli agreement, which extends limited interim

self-government to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and in

Jericho in the West Bank, constitute a momentous

development in the turbulent and violent history of the

region.

Who among us could have anticipated that, in the midst

of current growing tensions and conflicts worldwide, such

sworn enemies in the perennial theatre of conflict in the

Middle East would have conceded so much in the pursuit of

a better future? In today’s troubled times, these bold

partners in peace have renewed the faith of many the world

over in the capacity of diplomacy, political will and

enlightened self-interest to overcome decades of hatred,

mistrust and fear. We all recognize the tremendous

difficulties and challenges ahead. Trinidad and Tobago

wishes these leaders well and urges active United Nations

involvement in assisting all parties concerned in a smooth

transition from a state of belligerence to one of cooperation

and peaceful co-existence. Given the centrality of the

Palestinian question to the conflict in the Middle East, all

parties need to work indefatigably to translate this initial

success into a comprehensive and durable peace for the

region.

A similar concerted response on the part of the United

Nations and the international community will be imperative

in assisting the people of South Africa in their transition to

a united, democratic, non-racial South Africa. After more than 45 years of anguished attention to the despair, suffering

and injustice in that country, the provision of token measures

of assistance would be unacceptable.

If the world is to give any credence to the United

Nations new thrust towards post-conflict peace-building, a

tangible commitment to the success of the transition in South

Africa needs to be made. We therefore join the call for an

enhanced United Nations presence in South Africa, a

presence that is urgently needed prior to the elections of

April 1994. Trinidad and Tobago is taking the necessary

steps to implement the decision taken on 8 October by the

Assembly to lift economic sanctions against South Africa

(resolution 48/1). It is our hope that the international

community will respond positively and generously to this

historic decision; and that it will quickly lead to the

provision of ample financial and technical assistance, as well

as to appropriate investments, that will allow a new

non-racial Government to begin redressing the grave

inequalities in all aspects of life in South Africa. We also

hope that, in time, the advancement of greater economic and

social equity in South Africa will mitigate, and eventually

resolve, other problems that are the legacy of apartheid,

including the rampant and widespread violence which

threatens the process of transformation in the country.

Over the years the Government and people of Trinidad

and Tobago have faithfully monitored the progress of the

South African people on their arduous journey to this critical

point in their history. We have adhered assiduously to the

various sanctions and other restrictive measures adopted

against South Africa by the United Nations. Within our

limited means we have also extended a helping hand to the

victims of apartheid. Trinidad and Tobago has shared in the

anguish of South Africans in their long struggle against the

racist system of apartheid. We will also rejoice with them

in their victory as we anxiously await the dawn of a free,

just, non-racial and prosperous society in South Africa.

Here at the United Nations let us seek to emulate the

courage and statesmanship recently demonstrated by the

major political actors in the Middle East and South Africa.

We too must seize the opportunities for peace and seek to

employ fully the machinery at our disposal in the active

pursuit of a better future. Amid the growing anxieties and

insecurities pervading many societies, member States have

a collective responsibility to the millions around the globe

who continue to repose much faith and hope in this

Organization and its ability to address successfully the

myriad political, economic, environmental and social

problems now confronting us all. Trinidad and Tobago

therefore joins in celebrating a reinvigorated United Nations,

which is seeking to have a more meaningful impact on the

lives of the world’s peoples.

Trinidad and Tobago applauds the heightened

involvement of the United Nations in the effort to restore

democracy to Haiti and to secure the safe return of President

Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the helm of a legitimate

constitutional government. The United Nations, with its

active involvement in the organization of the 1990 elections

in Haiti, facilitated the free expression by the Haitian people

of their unfulfilled dreams and yearnings for freedom and a

decent standard of life. It is therefore only fitting that this

Organization, with the consent of the legitimate government

of Haiti, should provide maximum support to efforts to

guarantee a peaceful return to democracy and national

reconciliation in that country, without which those dreams

would not be realized.

Trinidad and Tobago is concerned at the serious

deterioration in the situation in Haiti since the welcome

signing in July of this year of the Governors Island

Agreement and the New York Pact. We deplore the flagrant

violations of human rights and the blood-letting, which must

be stopped. We express the hope that international efforts

to establish a new police force in Haiti and to

professionalize its armed forces will lead to greater

guarantees of life and liberty in Haiti. My delegation takes

this opportunity to commend the Special Envoy for Haiti,

Mr. Dante Caputo, as well as the able staff of the

international Civilian Mission in Haiti for their invaluable

contribution towards resolving the crisis.

Developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in

Somalia are among the more worrisome of those in which

the United Nations has been involved, particularly in view

of the Organization’s inability to stem the tide of violence

and suffering. United Nations interventions in these areas

are also increasingly being regarded as test cases for the new

United Nations of the post-cold-war era.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the horror and savagery of

the persistent attacks on innocent civilians, particularly on

the Muslim population, have elicited entirely inadequate

responses from the international community.

Notwithstanding the efforts of the United Nations Protection

Force and the various international and non-governmental

humanitarian organizations, thousands continue to starve, are

expelled from their homes and regions, or perish at the

hands of perpetrators of genocide and "ethnic cleansing".

Yet, despite threats of punishment on the part of the Security

Council, these and other atrocities are committed with

impunity, while violent attempts to dismember the sovereign

State of Bosnia and Herzegovina persist. The United

Forty-eighth session - 12 October l993 3

Nations can ill afford to fail Bosnia and Herzegovina, for

that failure will have serious repercussions in the region and

beyond, as well as repercussions for the Organization.

We have also witnessed alarming developments in

Somalia. In the early stages of United Nations involvement

in the country it was faced with a unique combination of

factors, including massive starvation and famine, widespread

violence, the ready availability among the populace of

weaponry of varying sophistication, and a total absence of

any centralized authority. Today, with the assistance of the

United Nations and other organizations, Somalis of good will

can be proud of the successes achieved in breaking the

backbone of the devastating famine and in making

significant, though limited, strides towards the restoration of

civil government and political reconciliation.

It is impossible, however, to be oblivious to the major

military engagements in the Somali capital of Mogadishu,

which have led to tragic loss of life and have seriously

imperilled the United Nations operation in that limited area.

Trinidad and Tobago deplores the vicious attacks on the

peace-keeping forces of the United Nations Operation in

Somalia (UNOSOM II), which could ultimately derail efforts

to restore peace and security to the country and frustrate the

attainment by the Somali people of their goals and

aspirations.

We also support the call for urgent steps to be taken to

ensure the safety and security of the tens of thousands of

men and women who are engaged in these difficult and

dangerous United Nations peace-keeping operations around

the world.

The extent of human suffering and instability now being

experienced as a consequence of general economic

stagnation is as disconcerting and disheartening as that

visited upon us by war and strife. Many communities are in

the midst of economic and social crisis. Poverty,

unemployment and crime are increasingly threatening the

very fabric of societies and are clamouring for the concerted

attention of the international community. The United

Nations must heed this call since, as stated by the

Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali:

"social peace is as important as strategic or political

peace". (A/47//277, para. 59)

This issue is of utmost importance to Trinidad and

Tobago, which has not been spared the ravaging effects of

a decline in economic activity. The price of the single

product which represents the mainstay of our economy, and

which accounts for more than 40 per cent of government

revenue and over 80 per cent of foreign exchange earnings,

has been in steady decline. This reality, and the structural

adjustment policies which have had to be implemented in

support of long-term development, have resulted in serious

dislocations in the short term. The ranks of the unemployed

have grown to approximately 20 per cent and there is an

increasing need to provide safety nets for the more

vulnerable in this society at a time when government

revenue continues to fall.

Further, Trinidad and Tobago’s very capacity to provide

sufficient social services to those not in a position to make

the burdensome sacrifices required of the general population

has also been severely hampered by onerous debt-servicing

payments. These challenges which we are experiencing in

Trinidad and Tobago are widely shared by other developing

countries.

The same spirit of cooperation and activism which now

characterizes the United Nations approach to political and

security questions must also impel the international

community to address economic and social questions with an

equal sense of urgency. The United Nations agenda for

development, which the Secretary-General has been

mandated to prepare, must be given priority attention in the

year ahead. In this context, and with the aim of forging a

new partnership in the quest for solutions to global economic

problems, it may be opportune to consider the convening of

a world economic summit.

Trinidad and Tobago is of the view that the United

Nations agenda for development should not be restricted to

providing guidelines for future action by the United Nations

in the economic and social sectors. It should also include

recommendations for strengthening the capacity of this

Organization to enhance international cooperation in these

fields and to promote the advancement of developing

countries.

At its forty-seventh session the General Assembly

reaffirmed that development is a shared responsibility. If

our collective war on poverty, disease, unemployment and

other challenges to development is to succeed, it must also

be undertaken on the basis of a true partnership, a

partnership involving individuals, States, regional and

international organizations and non-governmental entities, for

we must engender a sense of inclusion among all of

society’s economic and social actors, while giving due

recognition to their respective roles and responsibilities.

However, Trinidad and Tobago also shares the

perspective of the Secretary-General, as stated in his 1993

report on the work of the Organization, that

4 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

"States and their sovereignty are increasingly

recognized as indispensable building-blocks of

international order and problem-solving." (A/48/1, para.

13)

While all credible entities should be allowed to contribute to

their greatest potential towards our shared objectives, States

must not be deprived of the proper tools of governance and

the opportunity to utilize them effectively on the basis of

considered national strategies and priorities.

The concept of partnership must apply equally to the

area of development finance and to trade. As regards the

latter, Trinidad and Tobago has steered the steady course of

trade liberalization but, like many other developing nations,

has encountered persistent restrictions in the markets of the

industrialized countries. It is hoped that the formation of

mega-trading blocs will not compound these difficulties

further.

We witnessed the application of the principle of global

partnership in the convening of the United Nations

Conference on Environment and Development and the

adoption of Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. To

date the first important steps have been taken towards the

implementation of the comprehensive programme of

activities for sustainable development contained in Agenda

21. The 1994 Global Conference on the Sustainable

Development of Small Island States presents the next

important opportunity for the international community to

demonstrate the continued political will to fulfil the

commitments undertaken at the Earth Summit in 1992.

For small island nations like Trinidad and Tobago, this

Global Conference, to be held in Barbados in April of next

year, is critical to our efforts to forge, with the assistance of

the international community, appropriate strategies for the

implementation of Agenda 21, as it pertains to our specific

situation. We strongly believe that small States should not

be penalized for their limited capacity to inflict major

damage on the global environment. Positive recognition

should instead be given to their greater propensity for

attracting a disproportionate share of environmental damage.

Trinidad and Tobago hopes that adequate concessional funds

will be provided for the sustainable-development activities of

the small island developing States, as an important

complement to initiatives taken at the national and regional

levels.

The urgency that developing countries, such as my

own, attach to the elaboration of the proposed agenda for

development signals the importance we attach to achieving

a proper balance in the level of resources devoted to political

and security questions and those allocated to economic and

social programmes. The World Conference on Population

and Development in 1994, the Fourth World Conference on

Women in 1995 and the preparations for these Conferences,

will also contribute significantly to a strengthened economic

and social agenda within the United Nations.

In addition, it is our hope that substantive preparations

for the 1995 World Summit for Social Development will

reinforce the importance of focusing on the ultimate

objective of our development policies and programmes: the

well-being and advancement of people.

Trinidad and Tobago intends to follow closely the

high-level plenary discussions to be held on international

cooperation in the fight against drug abuse and illicit drug-

trafficking. Our country has fallen victim to the increased

transit of illegal drugs through its territory. As is often the

case, increased levels of illicit trafficking have led to

widespread drug abuse and an accompanying rise in other

crimes. We note that this problem continues to plague a

growing number of nations and therefore urge that higher

priority be given to the United Nations programmes designed

to combat this menace.

The United Nations has not been provided with the

financial resources needed to implement its legislative

mandates. We have now exhausted some of the funds from

which relief was frequently obtained in past years, resulting

in a serious threat to the daily operations of the

Organization. However, while it will be readily agreed that

any organization must be provided with the resources it

needs to carry out its functions, it must also be admitted that

there is a growing imbalance between the demands being

made upon the United Nations and the ability of a growing

number of States to meet the cost of these demands. This

is particularly the case with the peace-keeping budget, which

in 1993 is expected to be almost three times the amount of

the regular budget.

The United Nations is now in a critical period of

adjustment and reorientation. Trinidad and Tobago concurs

with the view that there must be improvements in the

administrative and operational performance of the United

Nations in all its activities. Transparency and accountability

must be the watchwords of the Organization.

As we approach our fiftieth anniversary, we the States

Members of the United Nations must remain steadfast in our

support for the fundamental purposes and principles which

have promoted order and security in the world community.

We must also meet the challenges and grasp the

opportunities presented by the altered global environment.

Forty-eighth session - 12 October l993 5

Let us forge ahead, confident in our ability to work together

and to succeed in advancing the cause of peace and

development.