Barbados, 2009

On behalf of my

delegation, I am pleased to join the speakers who have

preceded me in congratulating Mr. Ali Abdussalam

Treki on his election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. He may rest

assured of the full support and cooperation of Barbados

as he carries out his important duties. I wish also to

take this opportunity to express appreciation to his

predecessor, Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, for his

leadership of the sixty-third session.

We meet at a pivotal moment in the history of the

United Nations. Never since the founding of this

Organization has our community of nations been tested

by a confluence of so many devastating crises as we

have witnessed in the recent past. It is therefore with a

sense of honour, fully recognizing the responsibility

entrusted to me and to all of us here, that I address this

General Assembly for the first time in my capacity as

Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs and Foreign

Trade of Barbados.

Barbados commends Mr. Treki for his choice of

theme for this year’s general debate, given the myriad

crises that we face and the need for effective global

responses. Indeed, the world is facing major economic,

political and social upheaval. The threat of food and

fuel scarcity, the worst economic and financial crisis in

decades, the challenge of climate change and the

influenza pandemics have all assumed an international

and multidimensional character. Together, these have

undermined the very foundations of our multilateral

system, exacerbating already existing disparities.

The approach of the developed economies to this

crisis has been to create national stimulus packages and

to bail out their failing industries — in short, to turn to

policies which address their domestic interests almost

exclusively. Developing countries are suffering the

brunt of the effects of the financial crisis created by

greed and poor regulation in developed countries.

Faced with stagnating or falling economic growth due

to factors beyond our control, we are now left to deal

with declining economic activity and a resulting rise in

unemployment along with its resulting problems at a

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time when we are forced to battle increasing debt and

decreasing external trade and foreign investment

revenues.

While we welcome the initiatives to create rescue

packages for the least developed countries, there is a

clearly demonstrated need to expand these initiatives to

include a wider group of developing countries.

Barbados is one of a small group classified as small,

highly indebted middle-income countries, which has

been overlooked, but which is deserving of

international attention and assistance from bilateral

partners and the multilateral institutions alike. As we

discuss the effects of the global crisis and propose

assistance for affected countries, there is a need to

ensure that countries like Barbados are recognized

within the broad category of small vulnerable

economies.

Multilateral agencies such as the World Bank

have established through empirical research and their

ongoing interventions that these countries are unique in

the openness of their economies and in their

susceptibility to external shocks. However, this group

continues to be excluded from concessionary financing

and debt relief. Focus continues to be placed on per

capita income data, which is a poor indicator of

economic sustainability and national vulnerability. Our

countries are in need of adequate support mechanisms

with revised eligibility criteria in order to prevent the

derailment of our development processes.

This crisis presents an opportunity for the

developed economies and the international financial

institutions to address the existing failures and

shortcomings of the current financial system. The time

is right for the crafting of a new, more transparent

architecture that is supportive of development

objectives.

Barbados, for its part, is extremely proud that

despite its handicaps it has managed — through good

governance and the observance of democratic

principles, human rights and the rule of law — to

provide an adequate standard of living for its people.

However, this does not negate our inherent

vulnerabilities, our limited resources or our restricted

capacity to respond to the vagaries of the economic

environment.

One of the major positive consequences of the

current crisis is the increase in South-South

cooperation, which has played a quiet but important

role over the years in promoting trade and investment

among developing countries. This has served to

enhance the value of such cooperation and presents

great potential for future growth and development.

At the national level, an important lesson learned

is that development requires the active involvement of

communities, the public and private sectors and civil

society. This has been clearly demonstrated in the

implementation of our social partnership agreements, a

strategy that has been very successful in the Barbadian

context since the early 1990s and has been used as a

model in other developing countries.

Recent world events have highlighted the

importance of taking a multilateral approach to solving

global problems. The United Nations is perhaps the

institution best suited to the task of mobilizing global

responses. Regrettably, over the past year the United

Nations has been relegated to a subordinate role in the

search for solutions to the ongoing economic and

financial crisis.

Barbados will not be complicit in any effort to

marginalize the United Nations, which has a unique

and legitimate role in global economic decision-

making and rule-setting. We will not join the sceptics

in questioning the relevance or legitimacy of this vital

multilateral organization. However, we will continue to

be at the forefront of calls for its reform to ensure that

it is fully equipped and empowered to assist Member

States in confronting global challenges.

To date, efforts to reform the United Nations have

been piecemeal in nature, largely uncoordinated and at

times even conflicting. The extraordinary challenges

we face demand comprehensive reform. This will

require a level of transformation that equips the United

Nations for the twenty-first century. At this session,

priority needs to be given to securing commitment at

the highest level to finalizing the reform agenda.

Security Council reform must be prioritized if

effective change within the United Nations system is to

be achieved. It is evident that the structure,

composition and working methods of the Security

Council fail to reflect current global realities. Barbados

believes that membership in the Security Council

should be expanded in both the permanent and the

non-permanent categories. Our goal must be to ensure

that the Council is more representative, democratic and

accountable to the full membership of the United

Nations without placing its effectiveness in jeopardy.

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The reality of global interdependence is that our

destinies are inextricably linked. We cannot retreat to

isolationism or radicalism. We must, with a sense of

urgency and purpose, create the multilateral

infrastructure necessary to manage a complex and

interdependent world. This new quest for a better and

more effective multilateralism must be shared by all.

Our collective effort must also seek to restore the role

of the United Nations envisaged by its founders: “to be

a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations”.

In his address to the General Assembly at its

sixty-third session, the Prime Minister of Barbados

(see A/63/PV.12), The Honourable David Thompson,

reaffirmed his belief in the positive role that small

States can play in advancing the cause of international

peace and equitable social and economic development

and emphasized the importance of building an

international system that operates on the principle of

multilateralism and that respects the sovereign equality

of States and the tenets of genuine non-alignment.

Barbados is concerned by the growing tendency

of limited-membership groups to assume decision-

making powers on issues affecting the entire

international community without the consent or

involvement of that community. We stand to squander

the opportunities to create a fair and more equitable

system of global governance if responsibility for rule-

and decision-making remains vested in limited-

membership groupings which are accountable only to

themselves. No exclusive group of countries, no matter

how big, powerful or rich, has a monopoly on

solutions.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of

the Sea, the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change and the International Criminal Court

were all championed by some of the smallest members

of the United Nations and represent just a few

examples of the invaluable contribution that small

States have made to strengthening multilateralism and

providing solutions to complex global problems. Small

States can be effective partners in the search for global

solutions to the ongoing crises, and those countries

must have a seat at the table when decisions are being

made on issues of global concern.

In this regard, the targeting of small offshore

jurisdictions in the wake of the global financial crisis

on the pretext that these jurisdictions in some way

contributed to the crisis represents an injustice worthy

of the strongest possible condemnation. For those who

would wish to rewrite history, we must recall that the

financial crisis had its origins in the developed world

and resulted from excessive risk-taking, corruption,

fraud and ineffective regulatory controls and oversight

in those countries.

Barbados fully supports the proposal of the States

members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to

build upon the existing programme already in place

within the United Nations to address issues related to

international financial services. Specifically, we call

for the Committee of Experts on International

Cooperation on Tax Matters to be transformed into an

intergovernmental subsidiary body of the Economic

and Social Council. The central goal of the proposed

intergovernmental committee would be to give

developing countries an effective voice when issues of

cooperation on tax matters are being decided by the

international community.

Small democratic States like my own are

convinced of the need to ensure adherence to the rule

of law and respect for constitutional norms. We are

therefore compelled to register our deep concern at any

interruption of the constitutional order of any

sovereign State and the dangerous precedent this could

create if left unchallenged by the international

community. Barbados fully supports the position of

CARICOM and the Organization of American States,

which calls for the immediate reinstatement to office of

the legally elected President of Honduras.

Barbados is equally concerned to ensure that, in

our hemisphere, the relics of a past cold war era give

way to a new spirit of regional partnership, in which

diverse political systems can coexist in harmony. We

are therefore heartened by the positive developments

with respect to the reintegration of our sister Republic

of Cuba into the mainstream of hemispheric affairs. We

are hopeful that the renewed dialogue between the

United States and Cuba will lead in the near future to

the complete removal of the embargo and the

normalization of relations between those two countries.

Barbados welcomes the support provided by the

United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti

(MINUSTAH), which has been a vital tool for

capacity-building in Haiti in the key areas of

governance, the strengthening of the rule of law, and

human rights. We therefore call upon the Security

Council to extend the mandate of MINUSTAH so that

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the international community can continue to provide

support to the people of Haiti in their quest for

sustainable peace and development.

As a small island, Barbados is aware of the grave

dangers posed by climate change. The damage done to

our coastline and coral reefs illustrates the potential

threats that flow from the phenomenon of global

warming. Such threats are not peculiar to Barbados,

but are posed in myriad ways to nations across the

globe, both developed and developing.

In three months we will meet in Copenhagen to

decide on a course of action to address this global

threat of unprecedented proportions. We know the

catastrophic consequences of failing to reduce global

greenhouse gas emissions. What is required is a

massive transformation of the way energy is generated

and used to propel economic growth and development.

In Barbados we have committed to reducing our

dependence on imported oil and have significantly

increased our use of renewable energy. Furthermore,

we have identified transitioning to a green economy as

a national priority. We have established a number of

key milestones and indicators to assess progress

towards the achievement of that goal. We have

undertaken those activities with minimal support from

the international community, utilizing our own

resources. We have been forced to divert an increased

share of our national budget to finance adaptation

measures. According to World Bank estimates, the total

annual impact of potential climate change on all

CARICOM countries is estimated at $9.9 billion a

year, or around 11.3 per cent of the total annual gross

domestic product of all CARICOM member States and

associate members.

The international community has a moral and

ethical responsibility to support urgent and ambitious

global action to provide adaptation funding for small

island developing States. In the Caribbean, our ability

to address climate change has been severely hampered

by the effects of the global financial and economic

crisis. An essential measure of success at Copenhagen,

therefore, will be the extent to which the decisions that

we take serve to ensure the survival and continued

viability of small island developing States.

Before closing, permit me to seek the support of

the General Assembly on an issue that has emerged as a

crucial health challenge for many countries, including

those of the Caribbean. Chronic non-communicable

diseases have become one of the major causes of

morbidity. We believe that that issue must be included

in the global discussions on development. We therefore

support the call made by the Prime Minister of Trinidad

and Tobago for a special session of the General

Assembly on that issue (see ).

Finally, in these difficult times we have a number

of challenging issues before us for consideration.

Despite our various agendas and differing priorities,

we share an ultimate common goal: to achieve peace,

security and development for all the peoples of the

world. Until that becomes a reality, no country is truly

secure. I reaffirm Barbados’ commitment to working

with other Member States to attain that goal.