Dominica, 2006

I would like to extend

my congratulations to Her Excellency Ms. Haya

Rashed Al-Khalifa and to her country, Bahrain, on her

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-first session. I am confident that she will ably

build upon the legacy left by her predecessor, His

Excellency Mr. Jan Eliasson of Sweden. Mr. Eliasson

deserves special recognition for the competent and

dedicated manner in which he presided over the

sixtieth session and facilitated the positive outcomes

that we have witnessed so far in the United Nations

reform agenda.

Let me also pay tribute to His Excellency

Mr. Kofi Annan for his distinguished career as an

international civil servant, specifically his 10-year stint

as Secretary-General. His wisdom and his unwavering

commitment to multilateralism have contributed

immensely to a revitalized United Nations. He will

most certainly be remembered for his steadfast

promotion of human rights, for creating space at the

United Nations for civil society and the private sector

and for his visionary outlook for the future of the

United Nations in the current global dispensation. We

wish to thank him for his invaluable service to this

Organization and its Member States, and to extend our

very best wishes to him in his future endeavours.

The World Summit last year started us on the path

of re-engineering the United Nations to make it more

relevant and responsive to the many challenges that

threaten peace and security in the world at the

beginning of this century. The Summit Outcome clearly

reflected a historic compromise by Member States on a

number of core principles and attendant actions to face

squarely the myriad problems confronting the planet.

Most importantly, we reaffirmed the commitment we

made at the beginning of the millennium to confront

the scourge of poverty and to improve the living

conditions of millions of people living in abject

poverty. Our challenge today is to clarify how the

international community can more effectively

contribute towards the global goals of poverty

alleviation, peace and development for all humanity.

The dynamics of today’s world, conditioned by

immense forces of change, have forced us to accept the

stark reality that no nation can prosper alone and that

the problems we face demand global consensus.

Consequently, all of us must emphatically reaffirm

central role of the United Nations in the cooperative

management of the world’s problems. Dominica firmly

supports a rejuvenated United Nations and universal

application of its ideals, in particular the maintenance

of international peace and security, the protection of

human rights and fundamental freedoms and the

promotion of international cooperation in solving

economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems.

We welcome progress towards realizing some of

the commitments made by world leaders last year.

Creation of the Peacebuilding Commission now

06-53615 26

presents a great opportunity for ensuring a tangible

connection between conflict resolution and

development. It is our hope that the new Human Rights

Council will remain focused on its mission and avoid

becoming entangled in the politicization that

contributed to the eventual demise of its predecessor.

The Human Rights Council has made a commendable

start with the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights

of Indigenous Peoples, which in turn gives great

impetus to the aspirations of the Second United

Nations Decade of the World’s Indigenous People,

which the Commonwealth of Dominica has steadfastly

supported, as one of the few Caribbean countries with

a thriving indigenous Carib population. We, therefore,

call on the General Assembly to give full support to the

adoption of this declaration by consensus.

The Commonwealth of Dominica, located as we

are in the hurricane belt, in an earthquake zone and in a

volcanic region, particularly welcomes the

establishment of the Central Emergency Response

Fund, which we believe will significantly enhance the

capacity of the United Nations to respond more

effectively to the increasing frequency of natural

disasters brought about by climate change and global

warming. We, the Member States, now have an

obligation to contribute to the building of the Fund,

while at the same time taking steps to put in place

measures to combat climate change and reduce our

emission of greenhouse gases. Member States must be

commended for the movement in a few important areas

that will contribute to a revitalized United Nations. The

first relates to progress in the area of Secretariat and

management reforms, which we hope will contribute to

greater transparency and accountability in United

Nations operations. The second is the finalization on

26 August 2006 of the new treaty protecting the rights

of persons with disabilities, and I am pleased to

announce that my Government is committed to signing

and ratifying that treaty. We believe that that

convention provides a solid basis for breaking down

the discrimination directed towards people with

disabilities.

The next area is the adoption by the General

Assembly on 8 September 2006 of a United Nations

Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Through this

action, we have in a small way honoured the numerous

victims of international terrorism and demonstrated our

resolve to combat the scourge of terrorism wherever it

exists. We must continue to work towards a counter-

terrorism convention.

My country is continuing to make progress

towards realization of the Millennium Development

Goals, despite the many challenges with which it is

confronted. In the aftermath of the devastation wreaked

upon our economy by the rulings of the World Trade

Organization disputes settlement mechanism, which

resulted in the virtual dismantling of our banana

industry, we had to undergo stringent fiscal

adjustments to deal with unsustainable debt. The great

sacrifices of the Dominican people resulted in modest

economic growth and helped to consolidate our

economic recovery. Spiralling oil prices, however, are

seriously threatening the modest gains we have made.

National effort is, therefore, focused on developing

alternative, renewable energy sources, such as hydro,

wind and geothermal.

Recent global events have not been encouraging.

The collapse of the Doha Development Round further

threatens to marginalize small island developing States

like Dominica in the global trading system. Trade is

one central element in the international agenda that can

foster sustainable economic growth, reduce our

dependence on declining aid and contribute to

realization of the Millennium Development Goals and

the development aspirations of the small vulnerable

economies.

The global trading system must recognize,

however, that there is no such thing as a level playing

field, even among developing countries, as there are

varying levels of size, vulnerability and development.

There are large developing countries, there are small

developing countries and there are very small

developing countries. In addition, there are the least

developed countries, which may be large or small.

Where the very small developing countries are islands,

their vulnerability is multiplied several fold. In

addition to market access, therefore, small island

developing States require increased development

finance for trade and productive capacity enhancement

combined with trade rules that are responsive to their

development aspirations. In this regard, small

vulnerable economies and the least developed countries

urgently need a trading system that acknowledges their

vulnerability and grants them the necessary special and

differential treatment. This will ensure that they benefit

from their participation in the global system and lead

to greater equity and fairness in the process.

27 06-53615

Increasingly, South-South cooperation has

become vitally important to countries like the

Commonwealth of Dominica, as the developed nations

retreat from fulfilling their commitment to contribute

0.7 per cent of their GNI for development assistance.

South-South cooperation from China, Cuba, Libya,

Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela is

contributing positively to our human resource

development, revitalization of our infrastructure and

implementation of our public sector investment

programme. We believe that the developed countries

can make a greater effort to assist us in realizing the

commitments made under the Barbados Programme of

Action and the 2005 Mauritius Strategy for the Further

Implementation of the Programme of Action for the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing

States. We in the Caribbean Community and Common

Market (CARICOM) understand the critical

importance of deepening regional integration and that

is why we agreed this year to move towards the

CARICOM Single Market and Economy. That

development, we believe, is an important pillar in

maximizing regional trade and development and in

minimizing the negative impact that is likely to be

inflicted upon us, as small vulnerable economies, from

the forces of globalization. We look forward to the

support of the donor community in this important

endeavour.

Good neighbourliness is an important plank in

our foreign policy, and through this approach we seek

to continuously build and strengthen relations with all

the countries of the greater Caribbean Basin, including

Cuba, the United States of America and Venezuela. We

believe in harmonious and friendly relations with all

our neighbours. We should not be expected to choose

one over the other, but should be seen more as a bridge

across the Caribbean Basin. Maritime and border

disputes within our region, and particularly between

CARICOM Member States and our neighbours in

Central and South America, are best resolved in an

atmosphere of friendship and cooperation, using the

good offices of the United Nations, the Organization of

American States and other forums that can bring about

resolution to such disputes.

The year 2007 will mark the bicentennial of the

abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in the former

British Empire. We anticipate a commemorative event

in the General Assembly to mark this historic occasion.

The Caribbean Community and Common Market

(CARICOM) Group of nations will table a resolution

in the General Assembly to mark the occasion and

expects the support of all Member States of the United

Nations in this regard.

We welcome the return to constitutional

government in Haiti, the first country to declare its

independence from colonialism and slavery. We

commit ourselves to work closely with President René

Garcia Préval and his Government in their

development efforts. We also welcome the recent

announcement of commitments to Haiti by the

Government of the United States of $492 million over

three years, and by the Government of Canada in the

amount of $100 million annually. We appreciate greatly

the many pledges of assistance for Haiti’s

reconstruction from various bilateral and multilateral

donors and wish to emphasize the necessity for these

pledges to be disbursed on a timely basis to provide the

Haitian Government with the capacity to bring about

improvements in the physical and social infrastructure

of the country and the quality of life of the people of

this CARICOM member State.

The situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon,

Darfur, and the Middle East continue to occupy our

attention. Regarding the unfortunate devastation

caused by the war between Israel and Hizbollah, we

believe that Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) is

a good basis for a future peaceful relationship between

Israel and Lebanon, and we urge both countries and the

neighbouring States to abide by the provisions of that

resolution. The Commonwealth of Dominica has stated

before in this forum that the only solution to the

Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the establishment of a

sovereign and independent Palestinian State alongside

the State of Israel, both with secure and defensible

borders recognized by the international community.

The situation in Darfur is very troubling and the

international community must take action now. We

commend the African Union for renewing the mandate

of the African Union Peacekeeping Force, and urge the

Sudanese Government to reconsider its opposition to

the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force

to bolster the efforts of the African Union to provide

protection and security for the people of Darfur, which

is a prerequisite for a lasting solution to the underlying

problems giving rise to the state of conflict.

In conclusion, let me express my delegation’s

wish for a successful sixty-first session under

06-53615 28

Ms. Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa’s leadership. It is our

hope that the development agenda will once again

assume the highest priority of the General Assembly

and that we can more effectively promote peace and

security, eradicate terrorism, and above all promote

poverty alleviation. We must also focus on moving

forward with the reform agenda of the United Nations

system, including Security Council and Economic and

Social Council reform. We can prevail if we act

responsibly and together. Support for multilateralism

and the ideals of the United Nations must remain our

priority.