Barbados, 2002

It is my pleasure to join

with preceding speakers in congratulating you, Sir, on

your election to preside over the General Assembly at

its fifty-seventh session. Barbados pledges its fullest

cooperation in the year ahead.

I also take this opportunity to convey our deepest

appreciation to Mr. Han Seung-soo for his leadership

during a very challenging fifty-sixth session.

We, too, wish to welcome the Swiss Confederation

and look forward to the Democratic Republic of Timor-

Leste's joining this family of nations.

The Preamble to the Charter of this Organization

expresses in the simplest yet most eloquent of terms

the essential goals of multilateralism. We know its

every phrase and recognize its solemn commitment

“to promote social progress and better standards

of life in larger freedom”

as well as

“to practice tolerance and live together in peace

with one another as good neighbours and to unite

our strength to maintain international peace and

security”.

These goals remain as relevant today, and yet, in many

ways, as painfully elusive as they were in 1945.

In January 2001, the international community

ushered in a new century with the highest of

expectations for the successful implementation of the

millennium development goals, which we had just

adopted. We were resolved to work with renewed

vigour to eradicate poverty and hunger, fight the

scourge of HIV/AIDS and disease, raise the level of

human development and bring an end to debilitating

economic and social injustices. Tragically, the events

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of 11 September 2001 eclipsed our millennium vision

and brutally reshaped the global agenda.

In the intervening year, we have been forced to

re-examine our traditional notions of security and to

come to terms with the reality of our growing political

and economic interdependence. For no single nation

can hope to have all the answers to the complex issues

that confront us and no lasting solutions are possible

except through collective effort. If nothing else, the

lessons of 11 September have served to reinforce the

value of multilateralism.

For the past several years, Barbados has argued

for a redefinition of the concept of security to embrace

the new and non-traditional threats that have the

greatest potential to cause harm to our citizens,

destabilize our societies and erode the basic institutions

of governance. At the hemispheric level, we promoted

dialogue on these issues among foreign ministers of the

Organization of American States at our recent General

Assembly session in Barbados, where we adopted the

Declaration of Bridgetown on the multidimensional

approach to hemispheric security. We believe that this

approach to security is equally valid in the wider

international context.

As we are well aware, threats to world peace are

no longer exclusively found in military conflict

between opposing countries, where the enemy is

recognized and a state of war formally declared.

Today's greatest sources of instability and threats to

national, regional and international security lie in areas

where the enemies are often unidentified non-State

actors with global reach. Terrorism is but one of those

insidious new elements. We are equally alarmed by the

growing danger posed to democratic societies and

Governments by the modern transnational phenomena

of narco-trafficking, organized crime, money-

laundering, corruption and illicit trafficking in small

arms and light weapons. We are also aware of the

potential for grave economic and social dislocation

posed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, environmental

degradation and ecological and natural disasters. In

addition, the inequitable application of the benefits of

trade liberalization has created the very real prospect of

increasing poverty and further economic

disenfranchisement for the smallest and most vulnerable

countries in the developing world. Under the

circumstances, we have little choice but to persist in the

struggle to gain international acceptance for our demands

for special and differential treatment to prepare our small

economies to meet the challenges of globalization.

Modern threats to international peace and security

constrain the capacity for political and economic

development and social progress. All nations share in

the responsibility to respond to those threats, but we

can only do so successfully through collective

strategies, which address all aspects of the problem

simultaneously. Diversion of resources and attention

from the development agenda to the fight against

terrorism cannot produce lasting results. As Dr.

Brundtland warned in 1992, our global village may yet

become a global jungle if States adopt unilateral

measures to combat global problems.

Small developing countries are beset daily by

fundamental challenges to their economic

sustainability. From our perspective, security has of

necessity revolved around policies in support of social

development, economic viability, good governance and

the promotion of democracy. For us, military

engagement is not an affordable option.

For Barbados, as for all small States, the doctrine

of non-intervention is of paramount importance for our

survival. Pre-emptive unilateral action, no matter what

the apparent cause, is a precedent that occasions in us

the gravest discomfort. It is, therefore, vital that, at this

dangerous and uncertain juncture in world affairs, we

reaffirm our commitment to multilateralism and to the

pre-eminent role of the United Nations in seeking to

impose responsible behaviour through diplomacy and

dialogue rather than through the use of force.

In response to the events of 11 September and to

the mandates of Security Council resolution 1373

(2001), Barbados has deployed considerable financial

and human resources to the anti-terrorism effort. In

May this year, our Parliament adopted comprehensive

domestic legislation, which entailed an amendment to

our Constitution, to criminalize acts of terrorism and

support or financing for such acts. Yesterday I

deposited with the United Nations Secretariat the

relevant instruments to make Barbados a party to the

International Convention for the Suppression of

Terrorist Bombings and the International Convention

for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

We have been prompt and responsible in fulfilling

our obligations to the international community in that

regard, despite the heavy financial strain that has

placed on our national economy, already deeply

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affected by the adverse impact of 11 September on its

major productive sectors — tourism and financial

services. As I reminded the General Assembly last

year, small countries like my own are not part of the

problem, but we are committed to being part of the

solution, in circumstances that place a disproportionate

burden on our financial, human and administrative

resources, already struggling to respond to the global

economic recession.

Regrettably, that burden has been further

exacerbated by the words and actions of some

lawmakers who now seek, through misguided zeal, to

brand the operations of financial services centres, even

the most transparent and well regulated, such as the

Barbados regime, as havens for corporate tax evasion

and for the laundering of terrorist assets. It is important

to emphasize that the Barbados jurisdiction is more

transparent and better regulated than many in the

developed world, and certainly no less so than what

obtains in the states of Delaware and Vermont, among

others. My country fully intends to defend its

reputation against those renewed, unwarranted,

duplicitous and discriminatory attacks.

In this post-11 September, post-Doha, post-Enron

world, many of the assumptions about peace and

progress in a globalized economy have been

challenged. We have entered a prolonged international

recession, whose consequences have impacted on all

countries. It is trying times such as these that force

policy makers at the national level to simplify, refocus

and prioritize.

It is opportune for us to undertake a similar

exercise in respect of the United Nations. We must

return this Organization to its basic mandate, and seek

to have its energies and focus redirected towards

substantive action in the twin areas of peace and

development. The unique attributes of the United

Nations and its multilateral structure can serve to build

consensus and promote cooperation in the search for

solutions to the most pressing problems affecting

human security.

The international summits and global

conferences, which have proliferated over the last

decade, have been successful in mobilizing

Governments and, to a greater extent, civil society, as

well as sensitizing people to the most compelling

development issues facing the planet. Although they

have created awareness and raised expectations, they

have not delivered with respect to implementation, and

most of their fiercely negotiated plans of action remain

under-funded and under-executed. The promises and

pledges of the past 15 years have not been fulfilled. It

is high time that we review the utility of those costly

processes and seek simpler, more effective structures to

carry forward our development agenda. The dwindling

resources available for developmental programmes are

better used for development itself than for scripted

dialogue to discuss the process of development.

Fundamental changes are needed in the way that

development is financed, and in the structure, operation

and coherence of the global financial architecture.

Monterrey must not become just another failed process.

Barbados welcomed recognition by the World

Summit on Sustainable Development of the vulnerability

and sustainable development challenges of small island

developing States, and looks forward to a frank,

comprehensive review of the implementation of the

Barbados Plan of Action in Mauritius in 2004. The

Summit made a commitment to the sustainable

management of ocean space, and it is in this vein that

Barbados will continue to work towards achieving

international recognition of the Caribbean Sea as a

“special area” in the context of sustainable development.

For Barbados, our greatest resource lies in the

creativity and resilience of our people. We are

persuaded that the betterment of the human condition is

the fundamental objective of economic progress. The

HIV/AIDS pandemic rates with terrorism and narco-

trafficking as one of the major new and emerging

threats to human security. According to information

provided by the Pan American Health Organization,

there are currently 2.8 million people living with

HIV/AIDS in the Americas. Of that number, 420,000

live in the wider Caribbean, accounting for over 2 per

cent of its adult population. In response to the

international Declaration of Commitment, Barbados

has established a target of a 50 per cent reduction in the

HIV/AIDS mortality rate and in the incidence of the

disease over the next three years. We are also working

towards the enactment of appropriate anti-

discriminatory legislation by 2006. Our National

Commission continues to support the Pan-Caribbean

Partnership against HIV/AIDS, which is coordinated

by the Caribbean Community Secretariat. Barbados is

one of four English-speaking Caribbean countries

selected to participate in the Caribbean HIV/AIDS

Regional Training Initiative. The World Bank, of

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whose programmes Barbados is a graduate, made

special provisions for the securing of a $15.1 million

loan to procure the highly active anti-retroviral therapy

programme for HIV-positive Barbadians, free of cost at

point of delivery.

Barbados' commitment to the principles and

purposes of the United Nations Charter has been

unwavering over its three and a half decades of

membership in this Organization. We have paid our

contributions faithfully and have consistently

supported the Organization's efforts to promote and

protect human rights, to eradicate poverty and to

cultivate a global culture of peace.

A tangible demonstration of that commitment was

made on 2 January of this year, when the Prime

Minister of Barbados had the honour of officially

handing over to the United Nations Secretary-General,

for the exclusive use of the United Nations agencies

operating in the Eastern Caribbean, a custom-designed

common premises building, now known as United

Nations House. Secretary-General Annan's personal

presence in Barbados for the inauguration ceremony

was interpreted by Prime Minister Arthur as a clear

expression of his understanding that every part of the

United Nations family matters and that the contribution

of the small States of the Caribbean to the objectives of

the Organization is not without significance. For in the

words of the Secretary-General, small States have become

the backbone of the Organization in terms of their support

and encouragement for the multilateral process.

The principles which guarantee a better quality of

life for all peoples lie within our Charter. The global

landscape has undergone tremendous change in the last

57 years, but the ideals of the Charter are indelible.

Today we revisit this place to recommit to a process

which, admittedly, is not perfect, but it is all that stands

between us and anarchy. It is still our greatest hope for

peace, development and social justice. In our

generation, we cannot be expected to complete the

monumental task which lies before us, but neither are

we at liberty to abstain from it.