Belize, 2012

It is my distinct honour

to address the Assembly on behalf of the Government

and people of Belize. I wish to congratulate Mr. Vuk

Jeremić on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-seventh session. I am confident

that he will guide the deliberations of the Assembly in

a forthright and skilful manner.

I take this opportunity to reaffirm Belize’s

unequivocal commitment to the principles, goals

and ideals of the United Nations, and to pledge our

unconditional support for the success of its endeavours.

Based on its performance over the past 67 years, we

feel confident to opine that, whereas the United Nations

is unquestionably imperfect, just as our democracy is

imperfect, our United Nations is also, however — like

democracy — the best institution devised by mankind

dedicated exclusively to achieving a safer, more just

and prosperous world.

As the twenty-first century inexorably evolves,

laying bare the fragility and vulnerability of our planet

to dangerous global forces, both natural and man-made,

which threaten the existence of all living things on

our planet, the genius and prescience of the founding

fathers in creating the United Nations is illuminated

beyond doubt. It is probably debatable whether in

1945 the imperative for mankind to work together

in harmony to ensure the survival of our very planet

was appreciated by all nations. It may be questionable

whether it was universally appreciated in 1945 that it

was absolutely necessary to have a global institution

dedicated to the protection of mankind against man’s

penchant for causing destruction as well as against

Nature’s destructive elements and forces. Today,

however, the need for the United Nations is not only

manifest to everyone, but there are clarion calls for it

to do more and to be more inclusive, representative and

democratic, calls to which Belize adds its voice.

My country gained its independence largely in

consequence of a resolution of the United Nations

calling upon the United Kingdom to grant us our

independence by the end of 1981, thereby bringing to

an end more than 100 years of colonial administration.

But whereas we attained our political independence in

September 1981, our sovereignty over our homeland is

still being threatened by a territorial claim dating back

to the post-1940s by our neighbour Guatemala. We therefore find the theme for this session’s

debate a timely and fitting one, namely, bringing about

adjustment or settlement of international disputes or

situations by peaceful means. Happily, I can today

inform the Assembly that the Governments of Guatemala

and Belize both have agreed to a recommendation of

the Secretary-General of the Organization of American

States to allow the Guatemalan claim to be adjudicated

upon by the International Court of Justice if that is

the will of the citizens of our respective countries, as

expressed in simultaneous referendums to be held on

6 October 2013.

The resolution of the territorial differendum

between Belize and Guatemala will not only consolidate

Belize’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also

enhance the peace and security of our subregion and be

conducive to the strengthening and deepening of our

regional integration process.

Belizeans are a peace-loving people. We abhor

conflict. We believe in the rule of law. And we have

faith in the United Nations.

With almost half of our population under the age

of 25 and approximately 37 per cent under the age of

18, our nation’s future and destiny are inextricably tied

to the welfare of our children. And in order for them

to attain their full potential, they must be properly

nurtured and fed with balanced, nutritious meals. They

must be safely and comfortably housed and they must

be properly educated and trained, beginning from the

time they are in the cradle. Our children must be trained

and educated especially in science and technology.

They must be trained to think creatively, to be fiercely

competitive, to be industrious and to be prudent in

the management of our resources. Our Government is

convinced that it is only with this type of training and

development that our citizens will be able to compete

successfully in the world market and generate the

wealth that is required to transform our society into a

truly developed nation. If we fail our children today, we

are setting ourselves up to fail in our common future.

With a view to attaining development objectives,

our Government has initiated some ambitious,

comprehensive pro-poor policies. For example, our

Government is committed to a programme to ensure that

low-income Belizean families do not have to face the

difficult choice between sending their children to school

or buying food. Qualifying families in underserved

rural or urban areas can already rely on our conditional

cash-transfer programme and on our food pantry

programme. We provide education subsidies to families

of children attending secondary school. We continue

to emphasize and expand early childhood education

and to improve access to alternative education. We are

investing in improving the quality of the health care to

which our citizens have access.

As a small State that took its place among the

nations of the world only 31 years ago, Belize is

experiencing all the growing pains that naturally afflict

the young. Furthermore, our situation is aggravated by

the fact our population is less than 350,000 persons,

who trace their origins to all over the globe and are

consequently multi-ethnic, multi-faith, multilingual

and multicultural. With such a diverse population, the

urgency of social cohesion cannot be overstated. When

we add to this mix the challenges which today confront

us all, occasioned by natural disasters such as climate

change and by man-made ones such as the global

financial collapse and transnational criminal activity,

it becomes readily apparent that it is wholly beyond

the capacity of any one Government to discharge its

obligation towards its citizens solely through national

initiatives and devices and solely with domestic

resources.

For this reason, the Belize Government has

embraced the multilateral system and our cooperation

partners around the world. We are partnering with

them in many fields, including economic, social,

environmental and humanitarian, in our perennial

quest to better secure all our citizens and develop them

to their fullest potential. In this regard, United Nations

funds, programmes and agencies such as the United

Nations Development Programme, the United Nations

Population Fund, UNICEF, UNESCO, the Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the

World Health Organization are working tirelessly with

countries like Belize to carry out the decisions of the

international community and support efforts to meet

the aspirations of our people. Belize avails itself of this

opportunity to thank all our development partners for

the tremendous contributions they make daily to the

security and development of our country and people.

We know that more can and, indeed, must be done

to raise our ambitions in delivering for the poor, for the

needy and for the vulnerable. It is therefore urgent that

we move to shape a post-2015 development agenda that

reflects our equal stake in a common future, addresses the concerns of the wealthy and strong, and meets the

needs of the poor and the vulnerable.

Belize remains fully supportive of all regional

initiatives. We have sought and obtained membership

in the Organization of American States, the Caribbean

Community (CARICOM), the Central American

Integration System and the Community of Latin

American and Caribbean States. We work closely in all

these subregional groupings on the issues of concern

to us such as climate change, security and economic

development. And here we feel constrained to point

out that the impact of climate change on our region has

been direct, dire and devastating, compelling us to join

forces with our CARICOM partners and with the wider

Alliance of Small Island States to advance our interests

in the climate change negotiation process. In that

connection, Belize is proud of its contribution as host

nation of the CARICOM Climate Change Centre, which

is tasked to provide technical and scientific advice

to inform subregional policy positions in executing

adaptation and mitigation projects in our subregion and

to raise awareness of the deleterious impact of climate

change in our respective countries. We thank the staff

of that institution for the sterling work they are doing.

With respect to the nefarious enterprises of

transnational trafficking in humans, drugs and arms,

Belize subscribes to the view that a regional response

is imperative to combat these pernicious scourges.

Our countries are not the markets for these illicit

commodities. Our countries do not benefit from

the immense profits generated by these criminal

enterprises, yet we bear the burden of having to divert

scarce resources, badly needed for development, to

combat the activities of these merchants of death and

destruction. Indeed, our countries are overwhelmed by

the grim tasks which now befall us of having to mend

the shattered lives of our children and of mourning

their untimely deaths. That is why Belize is committed

to the implementation of the Central America Regional

Security Strategy and to working with our partners

to ensure that the Strategy has the level of support

necessary to guarantee that it is effective.

Our region, Central America and the Caribbean,

has been labelled as among the most violent regions

of the world, with homicide rates that have reached

crisis levels, occasioned largely by the use of small

arms and light weapons. But almost all small arms and

light weapons found in our region start out as legally

manufactured and legally traded arms. Every Member

of the United Nations is involved in some measure in this

trade, which we believe is of dubious value to mankind.

It is therefore deeply regrettable that, despite what

appeared to be an emerging consensus and despite the

underlying global urgency of a multilateral response,

the conclusion of an arms trade treaty has so far been

beyond the reach of the international community. It

is urgent, in our view, that we redouble our efforts to

break the gridlock and reach the compromise necessary

to arrive at a consensus on an arms trade treaty as soon

as possible.

The States of Latin America and the Caribbean are

almost all classified — wrongly and unjustly, in our

view — as middle-income countries. That is a generic

classification that masks the varied challenges our

countries continue to face arising from poverty, high

levels of income inequality, economic vulnerabilities

and debt. As a consequence, all our countries have

been calling for a change in paradigm so that the

classification of countries as middle-income countries

no longer guides development cooperation. We urge all

our development partners to heed this call and address

this situation.

Finally, we would like to echo the call of other

Members of this institution who have advocated the

lifting of the economic embargo against Cuba, which

continues to fetter the development of that sister

Caribbean nation and its people.

Belize also notes and joins those positive voices

that support Taiwan. We therefore urge Taiwan’s full

participation in the United Nations.

We ask also that urgent attention be given to the

concerns of the people of Israel and Palestine, whose

legitimate expectation to live peaceful, fruitful lives

continues to be frustrated. And we stand in solidarity

with the citizens of the Middle East, particularly those

in Syria, in their quest for those democratic freedoms

to which we all aspire.

As we move ahead to take on the new challenges

that will emerge during the sixty-seventh session, as

we redouble our efforts to address the long-standing

problems our world faces, and as we renew our faith

in the multilateral system, the role of the Assembly

and of our United Nations Organization will become

increasingly critical and relevant. This is the only body

that is truly universal in character and which commands

legitimacy and authority. The entire world looks to the

United Nations to solve the multitudinous problems which beset mankind. In the circumstances, the United

Nations is simply just too big to fail in the discharge of

its singular obligation: to safeguard the well-being and

safety of humankind and planet Earth.