Dominica, 1993

On behalf of the

delegation of the Commonwealth of Dominica, I am

honoured to congratulate you, Sir, and your country, the

Cooperative Republic of Guyana, on your election as

President of the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session.

I am particularly pleased that this position is held this year,

for the first time, by a national of a country that is a

member of the Caribbean Community and I have no doubt

that your intellect and wide experience as one of the

Caribbean’s most outstanding diplomats will ensure

excellence in the performance of your duties. I assure you

of the full cooperation of the delegation of the

Commonwealth of Dominica in the conduct of the affairs of

this General Assembly.

The Commonwealth of Dominica wishes to congratulate

Andorra, the Czech Republic, Eritrea, The Former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia, Monaco and the Slovak Republic on

their admission to membership of the United Nations. The

international community is, in the words of Secretary-

General Boutros Boutros-Ghali:

"Humanity’s best hope in the pursuit of peace,

development and human rights". (A/48/1, para. 513)

We therefore welcome these new Members as they join in

the commitment to world peace, development and support

for democracy and human rights.

The universality of membership is an important

principle of the United Nations. We believe that, in keeping

with this principle and in accordance with the established

pattern of parallel representation of divided countries in the

United Nations, the exceptional case of the Republic of

China on Taiwan should be seriously considered by the

international community at the next session of the General

Assembly. The Republic of China on Taiwan, with its rich

natural and human resources could, if given the opportunity,

make a significant contribution to the international

community. Its people are also entitled to enjoy the rights

enjoyed by all populations of the Members of this world

body. The Commonwealth of Dominica therefore supports

the efforts of the Republic of China on Taiwan to obtain full

membership of the United Nations after being unable to

participate for 22 years.

Permit me to congratulate Secretary-General

Boutros Boutros-Ghali on his ongoing reform efforts aimed

at streamlining the operations of the United Nations. The

state of the Organization’s finances is an issue which should

be of concern to all its Members. In that regard the

Commonwealth of Dominica is making every effort to

honour its financial commitments to the Organization.

As the international community takes on greater

responsibilities in its efforts to establish a more stable world

order, restructuring the Organization with improved cost

effectiveness is becoming ever more critical. The

Organization must do its utmost to avoid wasting limited

resources. However, the effect of cost-cutting on the

interests of small developing countries needs to be examined

closely. While the United Nations becomes more active in

peace-keeping in various parts of the world, programmes

aimed at assisting developing countries must not be allowed

to suffer. We firmly believe that the right to development

is an inalienable right, a right of every human person and of

all peoples.

Dominica’s economy is entirely dependent, at the

present time, on the banana industry and on favoured access

to our traditional markets in Europe. Our industry, vital to

the survival of the Dominican people, is being threatened by

the major banana producers of Latin America, although the

Windward Islands industry accounts for only 2 per cent of

the world’s production of bananas. A threat to the banana

industry in Dominica is also a threat to the fundamental

human rights of its people as the collapse of this industry

could lead to economic collapse, social upheaval and

political disaster. The same prospect looms over the other

Windward Islands of St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada,

with consequential effects on the other States of the

Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Indeed,

just last week we heard of serious unrest in St. Lucia as a

direct consequence of adverse trends in banana prices. This

is an augury of what could happen in any or all of the

Windward Islands.

We call on the international community to support

Dominica in its efforts to ensure the survival of its economy

and the protection of its peoples’ political, civil, economic,

social and cultural rights. More particularly, I call on our

Latin American neighbours to honour the spirit of the

Declaration of Managua and to take into account the

severely adverse impact on the economies of OECS States

that their policies on bananas, not critical to their own

economies, are likely to have on ours.

Democracy and human rights have been a priority of

the world community since the inception of the United

Forty-eighth session - 11 October l993 15

Nations. Over the years there has been much debate on the

universality of human rights and its indivisibility from, and

link to, development. The decision of the General

Assembly, by its resolution 45/155, to convene the Vienna

Conference to deal with crucial issues surrounding the

promotion and protection of human rights was timely and

significant. Dominica applauds the efforts of those who

worked towards the success of this important and historic

Conference. I am particularly proud of Dominica’s

participation in the preparatory process as well as in the

World Conference, which is an indication of our full

commitment to the universalization of respect for human

rights and the preservation of democracy.

Representatives at the World Conference gave a clear

signal that it is necessary to increase financial and other

resources to the United Nations Centre for Human Rights

and the regional Commissions in order to reinforce their

ability to provide greater technical cooperation between the

United Nations and regional and national human rights

institutions. As the focal point for human rights activities of

the United Nations and the primary organizational institution

within the Secretariat for the implementation of the human

rights programme, the Centre for Human Rights must be

provided with adequate means for carrying out its mandate.

On the international scene, the breakthroughs made in

the Middle East and South Africa must be celebrated.

Recent decisions taken by the leaders of those countries are

encouraging and augur well for the future. The Madrid

peace process launched in 1991 has not been in vain.

Dominica noted with great satisfaction and pleasure the

signing of the peace agreement between Israel and the

Palestine Liberation Organization - an agreement which will

serve to secure a firm foundation for the mutual recognition

of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. We sincerely hope

that this agreement will eventually bring an end to the

persistent violence and conflict that have plagued the Middle

East for over four decades.

One year ago in this body, Dominica called for

constructive and open dialogue between the African National

Congress and the Pretoria regime in an effort to arrive at an

early agreement on majority rule in South Africa. President

De Klerk and Nelson Mandela’s recent actions are a clear

indication of their interest in peaceful progress towards a

truly just and democratic society in the affairs of that

country.

The finalization of the demarcation of the boundary

between Kuwait and Iraq is a step towards the enhancement

of stability and security in that region. We welcome the

adoption of Security Council resolution 833 (1993), in which

the inviolability of this boundary is guaranteed, and we call

upon Iraq to respect the terms of the resolution.

It is indeed disheartening that while progress is being

made in the protection of human rights in certain parts of the

world, the rights of the people of our Caribbean sister island,

Haiti, continue to be violated even after moves by members

of the international community to suspend sanctions against

Haiti. Dominica, acting on Security Council resolution

861 (1993), ordered the immediate suspension of all

sanctions against Haiti, following the confirmation of Robert

Malval as Prime Minister.

The Governors Island Agreement of July 1993 offered

a glimmer of hope for the restoration of democracy and

constitutional order in that country and for the eventual

return of President Aristide to power. These hopes were

shattered by the actions of those who officially sanction

violence, threatening the lives of constitutionally appointed

officials. The members of the de facto regime must

understand that the international community will not stand

idly by if the terms of the Governors Island Agreement are

not respected. If the parties in Haiti fail to comply in good

faith with this Agreement, Dominica will be ready to

reactivate sanctions in keeping with the United Nations

resolution to that effect. We will also do whatever we can

within our limited resources to contribute to the restoration

of democracy in Haiti. In that regard, Dominica is willing

to contribute to the civilian police and training contingent to

Haiti to assist in the return of President Aristide to the full

exercise of his constitutional office and the stabilization of

Haiti. In the meantime, we support President Aristide’s call

for the immediate replacement of the Chief of Police, a

precondition to the security of the officials of the legitimate

regime in that country.

The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in

Somalia continues to be cause for concern to all those who

support the promotion and protection of human rights. We

deplore the human tragedy resulting from ethnic differences

and more specifically the barbaric torture and killing of

hundreds of innocent people. We also condemn recent

events in Nigeria, which demonstrate a lack of respect for

the wishes of the people and a violation of their rights to

participate in the affairs of their country.

While we are focusing on the subject of human rights,

it is fitting that we make reference to the International Year

of the World’s Indigenous People launched on 10 December

1992. The rights of indigenous people all over the world

continue to be violated as they fight to preserve their culture

and identity. This is of particular concern to us in Dominica

as our country is one of the few countries with an

16 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

indigenous Carib population, a courageous and hard-working

people with a rich history and culture. I urge the

international community to lend its support to programmes

and activities designed to allow for the participation of our

indigenous peoples and other minorities in every aspect of

the life of our countries. We in the Caribbean should have

a special interest in this matter when we recall that within 28

years of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in our part of

the world, the entire indigenous population of the Bahamas

had been wiped out by the European conquerors. The

failure of the industrialized nations to contribute significantly

to the special fund is a matter of deep regret, which can yet

be reversed.

Dominica has played a vital role in the regional and

international effort to include women fully in the

development process and it hopes to participate in the Fourth

World Conference on Women to be held in Beijing in 1995.

We are particularly concerned about the needs and situations

of our indigenous women and the necessity for special

programmes to address these needs. I wish to express

satisfaction at the establishment of a regional office of the

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

in the Caribbean and look forward to its support and

cooperation in all aspects of women’s affairs.

General Assembly resolutions 46/91, 46/94 and 45/106

called for a set of global targets on ageing for the year 2001

to provide a pragmatic focus for the broad goals of the

International Plan of Action and to accelerate implementation

of the Plan. In accordance with the aforementioned

resolutions, a National Committee on Ageing was established

in Dominica. The Committee is responsible for developing

a national plan of action and making inputs into a regional

plan of action on ageing. We call on the international

community to support programmes tailored to the needs of

senior citizens in keeping with national policies.

The sustainability of life on our planet is dependent on

the importance we place on conservation of the environment.

Dominica reaffirms its political commitment made at the

Earth Summit held last year to pursue sustainable

development.

We have recently acceded to the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Vienna

Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, and the

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone

Layer and its amendment, conventions which play a key role

in the protection of our environment. Sustaining the

environment is compatible with economic growth and

development and is essential to sustainable development.

However, it demands considerable additional resources

which developing countries such as Dominica do not

possess. We realize that we have an obligation to contribute

to global solutions but additional finances are needed to

assist in the many actions we will have to undertake to

conserve the environment and follow sustainable

developmental practices. We call on the international

community to strengthen and give fuller support to

institutions such as the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP) which are concerned with assisting

developing countries to achieve sustainable development.

We also call on the industrialized countries to offer greater

assistance to developing countries in the latter’s efforts to

make the transition to environmentally friendly technologies

and economic activity. The industrialized countries of the

world, which have disproportionately contributed to the

environmental devastation that has occurred over the past

200 years, must take seriously their responsibility to

contribute to the Global Environment Facility. The ability

of developing countries to contribute to environmental

sustainability depends on this.

Dominica welcomes the decision of the United Nations

to organize the Global Conference on the Sustainable

Development of Small Island Developing States in Barbados

in 1994. We intend to participate fully in this laudable

effort.

The United Nations now offers hope for a future of

peace, security and development. Let us not allow our

legitimate emphasis on peacemaking and peace-keeping to

divert our attention from the equally legitimate demands of

the developing world for development and security.

The delegation of Dominica salutes you, Mr. President,

and wishes you a very successful presidency of this session

of the General Assembly.