Dominica, 2003

Allow me to

start by congratulating you warmly, Mr. President, on

your election to the high post of President of this

respected global forum and to wish you success during

your tenure. Your election to the post of President of

the General Assembly is indeed an honour and a source

of pride for all Saint Lucians, as well as for your

brothers and sisters in the Organization of East

Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Community

(CARICOM) and Latin America.

Your presidency is, as such, a CARICOM-Latin

American presidency, and your record of prudence and

diplomatic skills will certainly be instrumental in

meeting the lofty goals sought commonly by all of our

nations and peoples.

I take this opportunity to congratulate your

predecessor, His Excellency Jan Kavan, for the

leadership he provided to the fifty-seventh session of

the General Assembly, a session that brought out

clearly the many challenges confronting the United

Nations in this decade.

The delegation of the Commonwealth of

Dominica assures you of its full cooperation and

support. Profound appreciation is also due to our

Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his tireless

efforts to make the United Nations more responsive

and effective.

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Over the last nine months, the relevance of the

United Nations has become a burning issue worldwide.

We must all appreciate that it remains the only

universal multilateral institution with the capacity to

address the complex set of global problems of the

twenty-first century, ranging from peace and security to

development.

Today's world is entangled in a web of complex

problems that threaten global security. These problems,

which require the urgent attention of the United

Nations, include HIV/AIDS and other diseases,

poverty, the marginalization of indigenous people,

terrorism and global crime, the growing scarcity of

freshwater, global warming, the spread of light arms,

which threaten peaceful countries like Dominica,

nuclear proliferation, armed civil conflicts and the

refugees they give rise to, trafficking in humans and

unfair trade rules that contribute to growing poverty in

the developing countries.

All of these problems require a strong and

effective multilateral organization, which enjoys the

trust and confidence of the people on this planet and is

capable of articulating collective approaches towards

some solutions.

The world has changed considerably, yet present

institutions for global governance the United Nations,

the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the

World Trade Organization continue to operate on

outdated political and economic foundations. The

legitimacy, effectiveness and credibility of the United

Nations continue to erode in the face of the

democratic deficit', which was an integral part of the

original design but which needs to be remedied now.

The reform of the Security Council and the

General Assembly is indispensable to the restoration of

the moral authority lost because of failure to enforce

resolutions. Effective governance, predicated on the

principles of accountability and transparency to the

people of the Member States, is a highly desirable

objective that we must strive for.

I wish to reaffirm our country's total commitment

to, and support for, the United Nations.

Let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to

Sergio Vieira de Mello, Special Representative of the

Secretary-General, other staff members of the United

Nations and the citizens of Iraq who lost their lives or

sustained injuries in the tragedy of Baghdad last

August. We share the sorrow of the Secretary-General

and his staff, and extend our heartfelt condolences to

the bereaved families.

The return of peace and stability to Iraq has now

become the responsibility of all States members of the

international community. If the international community

must accept and shoulder this important responsibility,

then we must commit to a greater role for the United

Nations. We strongly hold the view that stability in Iraq

is inextricably linked to the transfer of sovereignty to

the Iraqis, who must have sole responsibility for their

future. The coalition forces must give a clear mandate

to the United Nations for the creation of a

multinational force, led of course by the main troop

contributors, in order to ensure the security of Iraq.

While the attention of the international

community is focused on restoring peace and security

in Iraq, we cannot turn a blind eye to the breakdown in

the Middle East peace process. My delegation supports

the road map for peace in the Middle East and calls for

the removal of the obstacles that have stalled the

process. We embrace the two-State solution as the only

mechanism for a lasting peace in the Middle East. The

State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority must both

commit to a ceasefire and return to the agreed

obligations under the road map framework.

The fight against international terrorism remains

a priority for Dominica given the horror of 11

September. In that regard, we have taken many steps to

comply with the obligations of Security Council

resolution 1373 (2001). This year our Parliament

enacted the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism Act,

which complements two earlier pieces of legislation

related to the prevention of terrorism, the Money

Laundering Act and the Exchange of Information Act.

The passage of these pieces of legislation has contributed

to significant strengthening of the regulatory regime for

banks operating in our offshore financial sector and to

efforts to combat money-laundering.

We welcome the assistance of the Commonwealth

in a review of our legal system to allow its alignment

with the global strategy to fight terrorism, as well as

the guidance of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.

The numerous terrorist actions this year in

Indonesia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Iraq

underscore the central importance of being vigilant and

prepared to manage any crisis from a terrorist attack.

We appeal to Member States to continue collaborative

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efforts in this global fight to combat terrorism and to

ensure that the capacities of small States are enhanced

through transfer of intelligence information, surveillance

technology and training in prevention strategies.

The United Nations International Year of

Freshwater has helped the world community to focus

attention on the millions of poor people who lack

access to clean sources of water. Dominica is one of

the islands in the Caribbean blessed with abundant

freshwater resources, largely thanks to our high

rainfall. Our experience with conserving our mountains

and forests, which contribute to the maintenance of the

water table, is one of the many experiences that our

people are prepared to share with the world community.

Mankind faces a great challenge as growing

scarcity of freshwater becomes a reality of this century.

This is clearly an arena for constructive global action

by the United Nations. Let us hope that concern for and

attention to freshwater remain a core part of our

continuing commitment to the Millennium

Development Goals.

My delegation is indeed pleased at the

tremendous progress made by the International

Criminal Court over the last year. We have moved one

step closer to punishing war crimes, genocide, and

crimes against humanity.

This year is an important year for the

Commonwealth of Dominica because we are

celebrating the silver jubilee of our political

independence, as well our twenty-fifth anniversary of

our membership in the United Nations. Twenty-five

years of nation-building has given us some experience

in the global arena and allowed us to build a foundation

for the next 25 years of national development.

As a peace-loving people, we highly value the

right to self-determination and the full, fair and

unhindered expression of the will of the people. We

reaffirm our commitment to the rule of law, good

governance at all levels and deepening of our

longstanding democratic tradition.

Dominica and its sister islands of Saint Lucia,

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and

Jamaica are island nations adversely affected by the

World Trade Organization (WTO) banana regime,

which will bring to an end preferences and quotas for

bananas exported to the European Union. The

impending abolition of the banana quota at the end of

2005 has contributed immensely to an economic crisis

in these Caribbean Community States. Thousands of

small farmers in these island nations have lost hope

and left banana production altogether. This has led to a

60 per cent decline in banana export earnings and has a

negative impact on our national savings.

In Dominica, this situation has necessitated the

implementation of an austerity program, in tandem

with a standby agreement with the International

Monetary Fund. We are, however, working assiduously

to create the conditions for economic revitalization and

transformation.

As we struggle to eradicate the mono-crop nature

of our economy, a remaining vestige of the colonial

period, we are determined to anchor our future

economic foundation in the following areas:

sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, ecotourism,

information technology, financial services and water

resource management. Our resolve to build a new

economic order is based on our assertion of the

principle of responsibility for our own development.

Our efforts at economic re-engineering urgently

require a complement of new foreign direct investment,

official development assistance (ODA) transfers,

technology transfer and deepening of cooperation with

Member States and global civil society. We remain

hopeful that our donor partners will soon translate the

ODA commitments that they made at Monterrey last

year into action, since these commitments have become

critical for economic reconstruction throughout the

developing world.

Our call for special and differential treatment in

the trade arena continues to resonate loudly. The

outcome of the WTO meeting in Cancun was not

encouraging. We join other developing nations in the

call for an end or drastic reduction of agricultural

subsidies in the developed world.

Let me take this opportunity to commend the

United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

for organizing the high-level plenary meeting with

respect to the implementation of the Declaration of

Commitment on HIV/AIDS, which took place on

Monday, 22 September. This meeting will only be

successful if it renews the resolve of Member States to

accord a higher priority to national integrated efforts to

fight the disease, which is exacting a toll on the youth

and adult populations of African and Caribbean

nations.

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The Commonwealth of Dominica has developed a

five-year plan of action to guide our efforts to manage

the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and we are increasing our

efforts to ensure a coordinated and participatory

national response that involves schoolchildren,

workers, the private sector and the voluntary sector.

I also wish to acknowledge the great initiative of

President George W. Bush for the global fight against

HIV/AIDS. It is a bold and assertive commitment that

will contribute much-needed financial resources for the

global campaign, particularly in Africa and the

Caribbean. I also want to pay tribute to the tremendous

efforts of UNAIDS, the United Nations Development

Fund for Women, the United Nations Children's Fund

and the World Health Organization/Pan-American

Health Organization in HIV/AIDS prevention. The

programmes of these United Nations organizations

deserve additional resources from Member States,

international financial institutions, private foundations

and transnational corporations if we are to expect

higher levels of effectiveness and greater positive

outcomes in HIV/AIDS prevention.

In 2004, the Decade of the World's Indigenous

People will come to an end. The Decade was important

in that it highlighted, for the first time since Columbus

came to the Americas, the marginalization of the

world's indigenous people. Although the Decade has

fallen far short of expectations, it did have one positive

outcome, namely, greater awareness on the part of the

international community about the continuing plight of

the indigenous peoples of the world. Dominica's

indigenous people, the Caribs, made some important

gains during the decade. These include the building of

links with other indigenous groups across continents,

the consolidation of a Caribbean grouping of

indigenous organizations, and the Government's

establishment of a Department of Carib Affairs.

Indigenous peoples around the world continue to

face marginalization and to wallow in abject poverty.

The world community must demonstrate greater

responsiveness to improving their condition through

more generous contributions to the Voluntary Fund.

We welcome the first report of the Secretary-

General on the New Partnership for African

Development (NEPAD) and we are greatly encouraged

by the number of African actions to institutionalize

NEPAD along with the incremental steps towards

alignment of United Nations activities with the

priorities of NEPAD. We commend the African Union

and the African nations for all the efforts towards

strengthening the organization's momentum.

Dominica reiterates its continuing support for the

efforts of our brothers and sisters in Africa to take full

responsibility for their own development.

Next August, the international meeting for the 10-

year review of the Barbados Programme of Action

regarding the sustainable development of Small Island

Developing States will be held in Mauritius. This

meeting will address the future of the world's small

island developing States and will be a momentous

occasion for Dominica and all the members of the

Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to finally get

the much-needed international support to address the

range of vulnerabilities we confront.

Dominica is honoured to host next week a

meeting of sustainable development experts, who will

assess the performance of the indicators of the

Barbados Programme of Action. The Mauritius

Conference is especially important given the

marginalization of small island developing States by

unfavourable World Trade Organization (WTO) trade

rules and the trade liberalization process.

The international community must pay greater

attention to the social and economic vulnerabilities

faced by small island developing States. The sudden

adjustment to trade liberalization and the WTO trade

regime has contributed to the economic decline in

many small island States. Averting the rapid descent

into a downward economic spiral and social dislocation

in SIDS requires a wider embrace and understanding of

our call for special and differential treatment in the

trade arena.

The Dominican delegation believes that we have

an obligation to be responsible to future generations by

ensuring that they will have an earth that is safe, secure

and can sustain life. Let us not forget the commitments

we made last year at the World Summit for Sustainable

Development, especially regarding small island

developing States. We reiterate our concern once again

about all manifestations of climate change, and our

opposition to continuing trans-shipment of nuclear

waste through the Caribbean Sea.

We therefore call on all Member States to support

and participate in the Mauritius Conference for the 10-

year review of the Barbados Programme of Action next

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August. We also appeal to corporations, private

foundations, bilateral and multilateral organizations to

lend support for significant participation of civil

society organizations, particularly from the AOSIS

member States, at this conference.

The delegation of the Commonwealth of

Dominica wishes once again to address the

participation of the Republic of China on Taiwan in the

work of the United Nations.

Taiwan has demonstrated its willingness to

provide much needed assistance to countries around the

world, including relief to war-torn and devastated

countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Article 4 of the

United Nations Charter invites all other peace-loving

States to join the Organization and compels us to consider

the participation of Taiwan's 23 million people.

The problem of Severe Acute Respiratory

Syndrome (SARS) ably demonstrated that progress

towards the noble goals of the United Nations is only

impeded by not integrating the Republic of China on

Taiwan into international efforts to confront global

challenges. The situation regarding the Republic of

China must be addressed to ensure a more meaningful

contribution to global peace, security and poverty

eradication.

In conclusion, Dominica repeats its call for a new

global framework to redress the imbalances brought

about by the galloping forces of globalization. We urge

the international community to rally behind the banner

of multilateralism and to support the bold initiative of

General Assembly President Julian Hunte to make

development and its attendant components, poverty

eradication and the Millennium Development Goals,

the central focus of the fifty-eighth session of the

General Assembly.

We call also for the leadership role of the United

Nations in the quest for peaceful resolution to the

conflicts in Iraq, Liberia and the Democratic Republic

of the Congo, and for the unwavering support of the

international community to the special needs of the

small island developing States.