Antigua and Barbuda, 2006

Antigua and

Barbuda joins other Members of the United Nations in

congratulating Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa on her

election to the presidency of the General Assembly at

its sixty-first session. Madam President, we wish you

success in all your efforts and assure you of our full

cooperation. I wish also to thank and congratulate your

predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, for his outstanding

leadership of the sixtieth regular session of the General

Assembly.

Permit me also to convey the appreciation of the

Government of Antigua and Barbuda to Mr. Kofi

Annan for his many years of service to the United

Nations and for his overall dedication to the pursuit of

world peace and development. Every year brings new

and unique challenges which add to the burdens of the

office of the Secretary-General, and this past year has

been no exception. In bidding Mr. Annan farewell, on

behalf of the Government and people of Antigua and

Barbuda, I pay tribute to his indomitable courage over

the past 10 years and say to him that success is never

final and failure is never fatal; it is courage that counts,

and he has risen to the challenge when it counted most.

Among the many accomplishments achieved in

the twentieth century was the establishment of the

United Nations. Among the accomplishments of the

United Nations in its 60 years of existence is its

advocacy of decolonization by peaceful means; its

advancement of the concept of sovereignty as a natural

right of all nations and all peoples; and the awareness

it has brought to the international community that, in

this era of globalization, the majority of humanity is

afflicted not by inter-State wars but by the ravages of

poverty, hunger, disease, environmental degradation

and human rights violations.

We are aware of the awesome task of

implementing reform measures for this Organization.

We are, however, encouraged by the significant

achievements made since the adoption of the Outcome

Document of the 2005 World Summit. We are pleased

that some progress has been made in areas such as the

establishment of the Human Rights Council, the

Central Emergency Response Fund, the launching of

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the Peacebuilding Commission and agreement on a

counter-terrorism strategy.

Respectfully, Antigua and Barbuda joins this

community of nations in underscoring the importance

of social and economic development, basic human

rights and their importance to the maintenance of

international peace and security, mutual respect, and

lasting goodwill among nations.

Slavery is today perhaps the most under-

recognized crime against humanity, in spite of its

consequences: the vicious displacement and brutal

treatment of an entire race. Next year — 2007 —

marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the

trans-Atlantic triangular slave trade. The 14 members

of the Caribbean Community, whose people are

principally of African slave descent, are committed to

bringing this anniversary to the attention of the world,

and we look forward to members’ unanimous support

in the General Assembly for our forthcoming

resolution and to their joining us in the appropriate

recognition of this event, which foreshadowed the

abolition of slavery.

In a few weeks, on 1 November, Antigua and

Barbuda will celebrate 25 years of political

independence. As we take stock of our challenges and

experiences in nation-building and our actions in

attempting to achieve and maintain a decent standard

of living for our people, our progress report is one of

mixed successes and failures punctuated with hope and

frustration.

The reality is that we are a politically

independent small island nation with limited resources,

existing in an economically interdependent yet fiercely

competitive world.

Our challenges are many. But, having emerged

from a past dominated by colonialism, we are indeed

proud of our history as an independent democratic

State where people of whatever race, creed or political

affiliation are free to express and exercise all basic and

fundamental human rights, which are inherent features

of the United Nations legal framework. However, for a

politically independent nation like ours to survive in

this economically interdependent world, that requires

effective multilateralism and the forging of real

international partnerships. In other words, our future

depends on our ability to work well with each other in

a spirit of understanding and respect, given our diverse

cultures, histories and economies.

Antigua and Barbuda is acutely aware of the

importance of partnerships and of the necessity of

working within a multilateral framework to meet the

challenges we face as a young developing nation. That

brings me to the importance of the United Nations in

its role as a melting pot of ideas for constructive and

positive action.

The United Nations development agenda is an

ambitious, noble, worthy and necessary one. Were we

to accomplish the goals we have set within the

specified time frames, it would be a testament to the

greatness of humankind. My Government and my

people therefore support any process of reform of the

United Nations that will enhance the level of

representation in all its principal organs, increase its

effectiveness and improve its legitimacy. It should be

more democratic in its representation, more reflective

of modern-day geopolitical realities and more timely

and effective in delivering on the outcomes of its many

international conferences, summits and agreements,

including, of course, the Millennium Declaration.

We wholeheartedly agree with those who believe

that multilateralism should not be subverted and that

the United Nations framework for the peaceful

resolution of international conflicts should not be

undermined or replaced by unilateralist tendencies.

Additionally, in our efforts to revamp and

revitalize the various development bodies of the United

Nations, we should pay particular attention to the

vulnerability of States. When the entire gross domestic

product of a country can be wiped out by a single

commonplace natural disaster, that country’s economy

is most definitely vulnerable. When the economic

mainstay of a country can be cut off by activities and

events that occur in another country many, many miles

away, that country is indeed vulnerable. When a

country’s economic activity can be effectively stymied

by the failure or refusal of another country to abide by

international rules, accepted norms and arbitral

determinations, that country’s economic prospects are

certainly vulnerable. For small island States like ours,

such vulnerability is our greatest insecurity.

Over the years, Antigua and Barbuda has joined

the rest of the world in mourning immeasurable losses

from natural disasters, be they monsoon flooding, sub-

Saharan drought or Asian tsunamis. Our Caribbean

subregion is particularly susceptible to the annual

ravages of a hurricane season that lasts from June —

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which the popular ditty says is “too soon” — to

October, when it just may be “all over”. My country’s

Government feels that a review of existing

international disaster relief funds and an increase in the

amount of financial resources made available are

necessary for the elimination of the sad state of the

economic vulnerability of so many of our nations.

With regard to international peace and security,

the Government of Antigua and Barbuda does not

believe that war benefits any country — not the

warrior, not the vanquished and not the passive

onlooker. As leaders of nations, therefore, international

peace is the greatest gift we can give to our peoples

and to our children. Hence, a world where friendly

diplomatic relations and dispute-solving discussions

between countries are promoted is a world in which

our children and grandchildren will inherit a legacy

worth cherishing.

Our present-day values and our hopes for a better

tomorrow have been reason enough for my country’s

compliance with a significant number of United

Nations-mandated anti-terrorism treaties. Terrorism

breeds insecurity and exacts a severe financial burden,

even on countries and communities far removed from

the actual terrorist act. We join others in encouraging

the Members of the United Nations to continue to deal

comprehensively with the threat of terrorism by all

means necessary, including the promotion of, and

respect for, religious, cultural and ethnic tolerance.

We must of necessity be more responsible when

we speak as influential world leaders. With the growth

and development of technology, all of the world is a

stage in a manner that William Shakespeare never

foresaw. It therefore behoves us all to constantly and

continuously mind our exits and our entrances and the

many parts that we play on the global stage.

Today we join a list of countries that have time

and again in these hallowed halls repeated the clarion

call for greater action by the international community

to realize the laudable objectives and full intentions of

the United Nations Charter in the areas of meaningful

development financing and the concept of fair trade.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan was correct politically

when he said a few days ago from this very rostrum

that “the ‘global partnership for development’ is still

more a phrase than fact — especially in the all-

important area of trade” ().

Too often we have taken corrective steps at home

on the domestic level to create, in the jargon of the

United Nations, an enabling environment. Yet we see

little or no real or tangible results, because developed

countries do not deliver on their commitments but

continue, in spite of their rhetoric, to support or

continue systematic imbalances in the international

trading system.

Antigua and Barbuda, in spite of its limited

resources and its highly vulnerable economy, has

embarked upon a strategy of economic diversification

guided by the rules and regulations of the World Trade

Organization. Yet, unfortunately, even as we play by

those rules, the unfair trading practices of some of our

international partners threaten to diminish the modest

economic gains that we have made in recent times. We

need to ask ourselves, are we really serious about

raising standards in the developing world? Are we

really serious about sustainable development?

Rest assured that in spite of the continuing

rhetoric, we in Antigua and Barbuda will continue our

efforts to achieve a high standard of living and

improved economic and social well-being for our

80,000 people. We will continue to partner with our

sister countries within the Organisation of Eastern

Caribbean States and Caribbean Community

subregional groupings. We will continue our advocacy

for good environmental stewardship and the

advancement of the fundamentals of sustainable

development at home, in our region and beyond. In

addition, we will continue to insist on nationally owned

development strategies as we seek deeper North-South

and South-South cooperation for more meaningful,

tangible and lasting economic development.