Dominica, 2004

Allow me first of all to

congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the mantle

of the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-

ninth session. My delegation wishes to assure you of

its full support and cooperation in bringing about the

successful outcome of this session.

My Government expresses its deepest

appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Julian Hunte, for

the outstanding manner in which he presided over the

work of the fifty-eighth session. Under his visionary

leadership, significant progress was made in advancing

the revitalization of the General Assembly and in

ensuring the return of development to the forefront of

the issues addressed by the Assembly.

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No words of praise are adequate to describe the

yeoman’s task undertaken by the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan. In an international environment of

turmoil and a world going through the turbulence of

economic reconstruction as globalization proceeds, the

Secretary-General has remained a clear, calm and

moderating influence on all parties to conflict. His

level-headed approach has done much to ensure the

relevance of the United Nations, which the people of

the Commonwealth of Dominica cherish highly.

The numerous challenges facing the globalized

world demand a common endeavour from all the

nations of the world. Guaranteeing human rights, peace

and security and ensuring social and economic justice

for all require international cooperation and concerted

multilateral action.

Dominica is of the firm conviction that the

United Nations continues to be the global institution

most suited to the pursuit and coordination of these

global initiatives. The multilateral institutions,

however, need to be reformed if they are going to be

relevant in the current global dispensation.

The coordination of the United Nations effort, in

harmony with national efforts, must be the focus of this

institution if it is to positively impact on the lives of

the majority — the vulnerable and marginalized people

of the world.

Dominica is a small island State with all the

strengths, as well as the weaknesses, of countries with

small economies. That is why we look to the United

Nations as a forum in which small countries can air

their views, with the aim of collectively influencing the

agenda of the Organization in some way.

The central question for all countries in the world

today relates to the kind of arrangements that will

constitute the economic order when the globalization

process is complete. At this stage, globalization

consists of a wide variety of treaties, some bilateral

and others multilateral. From this slew of agreements,

there is yet to be discerned a clear set of principles that

address the idiosyncratic features of small island States

when they function as economic units.

Within the past six years, the economy of my

country has had to withstand a number of shocks — the

byproducts of multilateral treaties to which States in

situations similar to that of my country have had only a

minuscule input. A dispute between the United States

of America and the European Union resulted in a

ruling by the World Trade Organization that destroyed

the banana industry, which was the backbone of the

economy of Dominica.

A subsequent decision by the Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development to publish

what has been described as a “blacklist” had a very

adverse impact upon the offshore banking sector in my

country.

Dominica would like to make a plea for greater

transparency and inclusiveness in the formulation of

agreements which relate to development financing,

trade and international tax matters. Participation ought

to be substantive, not a mere formality, which is the

case more often than not. We do not subscribe to the

notion that mere presence constitutes significant

participation.

Notwithstanding our participation in multilateral

institutions, the two shocks to which I referred were

exogenous — originating outside our country and

having nothing to do with the internal economic

management of Dominica. A resolute commitment on

the part of the resilient population of Dominica, with

the timely help of some friendly countries and

institutions, saved our country from total disaster.

The lesson, which is abundantly clear to my

country and to other small States, is that a new global

economic order must be balanced and sensitive to the

interests of its weakest members.

The situation of small island developing States

will be the focus of attention in January 2005, when the

International Meeting to Review the Implementation of

the Barbados Programme of Action convenes in

Mauritius. The Barbados+10 Meeting will afford us the

opportunity to make a full assessment of the

Programme of Action and to evaluate its successes and

shortcomings.

Dominica and other small island developing

States attach great importance to the International

Meeting. We hope that it will galvanize the international

community to make a greater commitment to provide

the critical additional resources necessary for

advancing the implementation obligations of the next

phase of the Programme of Action.

My country is alarmed at the rise of terrorism in

the world. Indeed, as we move towards a more united

world where people of different races and colours are

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called upon to demonstrate greater respect and

tolerance for each other, violent attempts at solutions

are counterproductive and have the unintended

consequence of harming mere bystanders.

The brutal and bloody terrorist acts of 11 September

2001, committed in New York City, not only had

reverberations for relatives, friends and the society in

general in which the brutal murders took place, but

also had serious repercussions of an economic nature

in places quite distant from the scene of the crime.

That notorious event had a very deleterious effect

upon the Dominican economy. It drastically contracted

our tourist industry, which has yet to recover fully. The

focus on terrorism and the cost of complying with

requirements to prevent terrorist attacks in a region

that is renowned as a zone of peace are challenging our

commitment to social and economic development.

Every cent spent on addressing this threat is a

cent taken from our campaign to sustain the fight

against trafficking in narcotic drugs and human beings,

the pandemic of HIV/AIDS and other communicable

diseases and the degradation of our common

environment. Water security, food security, energy

security and health security are other important goals

that stand to suffer if additional resources are not found

to pursue them.

Conflicts in various parts of the world are

consuming scarce resources that are critically needed

for development and poverty alleviation. On the

African continent, civil conflicts in the Sudan, Burundi

and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are having

catastrophic consequences for the lives of large

numbers of people. The continuing attention and

support of the international community remain

important prerequisites in the pursuit of efforts towards

conflict resolution.

The Government of Dominica urges an

immediate end to attempts to use violence as a solution

to the problems of the people of our planet and calls

for a greater degree of rationality to be employed as we

address the very thorny problems of life today.

We are satisfied that the more rational approach

that we are suggesting can solve many problems that

have been in existence for generations. Prior to the

abolition of apartheid in South Africa, no one would

have believed that, after years of bloodshed between

the races, a post-apartheid political order could have

accommodated dialogue between the races in that

country. The South African example shows that when

persons of good-will and intellect get together

problems can be resolved without recourse to terror

and violence. The United Nations has demonstrated its

capacity to trigger the peaceful resolution of conflicts

in the past, and my Government is persuaded that it can

continue to do so if permitted.

I have the great honour to be the Prime Minister

of Dominica at the age of 32. We in Dominica

subscribe to the view that the young people of any

country are its best hope for a brighter future, to be

achieved through constructive change. My presence

here attests to the commitment of the Dominican nation

to treat younger generations not as inexperienced

know-nothings, but as people with the potential to

excel, to whom we must provide the best tools for

ensuring quality leadership. We believe that the early

exposure of young people to leadership and positions

of responsibility would help to accelerate the process

for achieving the goal of a world without prejudice.

I have sought to summarize those issues that are

of special concern to small, vulnerable States such as

Dominica and others in the Caribbean. In this regard, I

cannot overstate the importance of the Assembly

taking cognizance of some unique features of island

life, particularly in the tropics.

As you are aware, Sir, at this time of the year,

small island States in the Caribbean and parts of the

North American continent are exposed to the threat of

devastating hurricanes. This year, major disasters have

occurred on several islands. Unspeakable devastation

has taken place in Grenada; Jamaica has suffered

substantial loss of life and damage to property; parts of

the Cayman Islands were submerged, and the death toll

in Haiti and Santo Domingo has been horrendous. In

the United States of America, the state of Florida has

experienced disaster of immense proportions. The

recent experience of natural disasters underscores the

importance of the necessity to put in place

rehabilitation programmes that would enable destroyed

economies to be revived in the minimum time.

The Government of Dominica believes that an

insurance fund should be set up under the aegis of the

United Nations. States at risk of natural disasters that

devastate their economies ought to be able to receive

insurance payments to rehabilitate their economies

when they are damaged by such natural disasters.

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Participation in such an insurance plan would not be a

charitable act. Each Member State would be required to

pay a premium that is affordable for that country, and

the funds accumulated could be used to repair damage

done to the economy, especially in cases where the

productive sector of a country’s economy has been

reduced to paralysis.

Events in the last year have underscored that

peace and security in the world, social progress and

economic prosperity require the consensus of Member

States, the strict implementation of universal norms

and commitment to multilateral action.

In that regard, the United Nations Stabilization

Mission in Haiti deserves the support of all Member

States, especially those in the Latin American and

Caribbean region. My Government has made an

important decision to support the humanitarian efforts

to bring stability to the people of Haiti. We remain

convinced that only the full implementation of the

provisions of Security Council resolution 1542 (2004)

will lead to the return of democratic governance in Haiti.

Dominica commends the United Nations for

bringing visibility to the problems of the world’s

indigenous people during the International Decade of

the World’s Indigenous People. With the impending

end of that Decade this year, we urge the world

community to maintain the momentum of the Decade

and renew its commitment to support the future

aspirations of the world’s indigenous peoples through

greater contributions to the Voluntary Fund for

Indigenous Populations.

Consistent with the overriding principle of

pursuing universal consensus and our own national

development goals, Dominica chose on 24 March 2004

to act in conformity with General Assembly resolution

2758 (XXVI) of 1971 by establishing diplomatic

relations with the People’s Republic of China, thereby

honouring the one-China policy.

Dominica lauds the hand of friendship extended

and the demonstrated commitment of the People’s

Republic of China to assisting small developing

countries, which are hard-pressed to fulfil their social and

economic agendas in the light of the adverse impact of

the evolving new world order on their economies.

In the Caribbean region, as in other regions of the

world, we are witnessing the devastating impact of the

proliferation of small arms. As a consequence, crime

rates and civil conflicts are increasing, threatening the

stability and the security of developing countries such

as mine. We therefore call for the early conclusion of

the negotiations on a legally binding international

instrument to control the indiscriminate supply of small

arms and light weapons to non-State actors.

In conclusion, I reaffirm Dominica’s commitment

to the United Nations agenda. For us, the United

Nations is the embodiment of our collective will to

achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Given

that those goals will create a new world order that the

young people of the world will inherit, I urge that

greater numbers of youth be involved at all levels in

the decision-making process. That requires a massive

educational programme to demystify international

relations and motivate more young people to

participate and help shape their world.

I wish delegates every success in their deliberations

at the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly.