Dominica, 2008

On behalf of my

delegation and the Government and the people of the

Commonwealth of Dominica, I would like to

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congratulate the President on his election to preside

over the sixty-third session of the General Assembly.

We are especially pleased that, for the first time, a

national of Nicaragua is presiding over this body. Let

me assure him of my delegation’s fullest cooperation.

We are meeting at a time of great international

uncertainty. It stems from various global crises related

to the availability and affordability of food, an

increasingly unstable international financial system and

volatility in the supply and cost of energy. In a

statement to the High-level Segment of the Economic

and Social Council last July, China and the Group of

77 commented on the predicament currently facing the

world. They observed, quite rightly, that it was

“driven significantly by a severely unbalanced…

economic system, made even more unbalanced by

speculation; a climate … and environmental

crisis; as well as a crisis of confidence in

international institutions that were created to

provide policy advice and coordination on global

issues.”

Mr. Siles Alvarado (Bolivia), Vice-President, took

the Chair.

Today we endure the consequences. For small and

vulnerable States in the Caribbean, such as ours,

globalization continues to significantly change the

dynamics of economic survival and sustainability. Our

efforts to diversify our economies, adjust to global

developments and stay competitive represent a

formidable undertaking. As small States, we

increasingly feel we have fallen off the radar screen of

developed countries, which seem inconsiderate of our

plight, especially in the key areas of trade and

financing for development.

We keep hearing about a need for change. Indeed,

around the world, change is being proffered as the

panacea to all challenges and problems facing

humankind. When everything else has failed, change, it

would appear, becomes the only answer. As one of the

youngest heads of Government who will address the

General Assembly, I believe I have a duty to

communicate to the world body that the word “change”

is beginning to ring hollow with young people around

the world.

Over the past decade, many countries have taken

steps to effect change, as recommended. Sadly, in far

too many instances, things have remained pretty much

the same. What is really needed is meaningful change

and a greater global commitment to making that

change happen. When I speak of meaningful change, I

mean change that goes beyond lip service and makes a

noticeable difference in the lives of entire populations.

Many countries cannot achieve such change alone.

They need vital support from countries with advanced

economies.

Four years ago, when I addressed this body, I

appealed for meaningful structures to be instituted to

minimize the suffering and harmful effects of natural

disasters on small developing nations in particular. I

am disappointed that no real progress has been made.

Today, I address the Assembly against the backdrop of

hundreds of fatalities and thousands of casualties from

what so far has been a very active 2008 Atlantic

hurricane season. Besides the loss of lives and personal

injuries, natural disasters have inflicted billions of

dollars worth of damage on small developing States.

Most of those States are incapable of starting any

short- or medium-term recovery programme on their

own because of their limited resources.

Compare their plight with that of some developed

countries where regions have been similarly devastated

by hurricanes, earthquakes and mudslides. Those

regions have been declared disaster areas and national

resources have been mobilized to build and rebuild in

record time, in some instances better than before. Let

us compare the cases of two small countries: Haiti, in

the Caribbean, less than four hours away from where

we are meeting in the commercial capital of the world,

and Georgia, on the Black Sea coast. Soon after the

Georgia crisis, the United States Administration

announced a $1 billion reconstruction package for

Georgia, pledging that $500 million of that package

was to be delivered by December of this year. That is

commendable indeed; but what of Haiti?

That Caribbean country just south of the Florida

keys is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

It is virtually a ward of the United Nations and the

Organization of American States. It was devastated by

the two worst hurricanes of this season — Gustav and

Ike. We saw heart-wrenching images of women and

children who had lost everything, caught in razor wire

as they fought each other for inadequate relief supplies.

What is the response of the United States

Administration, the United States Congress and the

United States presidential campaigns to the devastation

in Haiti? What is the response of Canada and the

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European Union? Where is the billion-dollar

reconstruction package for the people and Government

of Haiti?

We, the international community, are in Haiti.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti has

been in the country for over three years now, and has

done a commendable job to help to restore the

democratic, social and economic institutions of Haiti.

But we know what is needed to bring about real and

meaningful change, in the quality of life of the more

than 8 million people of that great country of Haiti.

Yet, we shrink from committing the resources and

programmes needed to achieve those results. We are

providing life support to Haiti, not support for recovery

and reconstruction. My question is: Why is the

response to devastation in Georgia so different to our

response to devastation in Haiti?

In the international financial markets, turbulence

of unprecedented and horrific proportions has taken

place. The last fortnight alone has broken decades-old

records for corporate closures, collapses and job losses.

The effects of those events will be felt equally, and

perhaps even more severely, in small developing

countries such as those in Latin America and the

Caribbean.

I speak today as the leader of a small developing

island State whose economy was effectively paralyzed

due to a series of decisions taken by representatives of

developed nations and multilateral agencies who

seemed totally unmindful of or indifferent to the

impact of such actions on small and vulnerable

economies. In 2002 and 2003, the Commonwealth of

Dominica suffered one of the worst economic crises in

its history. That was due in part to the deteriorating

fortunes of the banana industry, precipitated by a

United States of America-supported challenge to the

European Union banana import regime before the

World Trade Organization. What might have been an

academic argument for some became an issue of

survival for us.

There is no country in the world that has been

more dependent on banana exports than Dominica.

That fact meant nothing to those who engineered the

near-demise of the industry in the Caribbean members

of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

as they put the WTO mechanisms to work to their

benefit. The result was severe economic crisis and

hardship, from which our farmers are yet to recover. I

briefly recall those dire circumstances to emphasize the

resolve, resilience and determination of our people, as

well as what may be described as the insensitivity or

indifference of others to the plight of small developing

Member nations.

The meaningful change of which I speak and for

which our populations yearn must be reflected in our

attitudes and approaches to each other. Why speak of

and proffer change if our attitude to the issue of the

fundamental differences between nations — small and

large, rich and poor — remains the same?

I think here of the issue of climate change. The

fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change found that sea-level rise

caused by global warming is likely to exacerbate storm

surges and coastal erosion on small islands. What that

means for us is severe damage to the infrastructure of

human settlements, including contamination of fresh-

water supplies and agricultural lands and the pollution

of marine eco-systems caused by the indiscreet and

unsustainable practices of others.

Why speak of change if industrialized nations, in

particular, refuse to heed the warnings and show

greater commitment to saving the planet and reversing

climate change? Meaningful change should quicken the

pace of the climate change negotiations at Poznan,

Poland later this year, with the objective of providing a

realistic and attainable framework for the 2009

agreement in Copenhagen.

Change ought not merely to be a slogan or an

excuse for inaction. Let me reaffirm that change can be

real and meaningful.

Take, for example, the response of the nations in

the Caribbean and Central America to the global

energy crisis. As expected, the surging price of oil has

adversely impacted the economies of the small island

States of the Caribbean. To address the energy crisis in

the region, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela came

up with an innovative initiative known as Petrocaribe

in 2005. That initiative supplies fuel through a flexible

payment facility to some 18 net oil-importing countries

in the Caribbean and Central America. Petrocaribe also

makes provisions to guarantee regional energy

sovereignty by establishing an energy security

arrangement through providing a reliable and timely

supply of oil from Venezuela and increasing fuel

storage capacity in the Caribbean.

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Since the volatility in oil prices has placed

national balance of payments and foreign exchange

reserves at risk, the Petrocaribe pact has taken on

increased economic importance as a critical lifeline for

many developing economies of the Caribbean and

Central America. The initiative has become the single

largest source of concessionary finance to the

Caribbean region, with credits to importing countries

from June 2005 to December 2007 amounting to some

$1.17 billion. In contrast, traditional donors and

multilateral assistance during the period in question

amounted to approximately one quarter of the

Petrocaribe figure.

The Commonwealth of Dominica joins with other

countries of our hemisphere in expressing our

appreciation to Government of Venezuela for the

Petrocaribe initiative. We also applaud the Government

of Trinidad and Tobago for establishing in 2004 a

Special Petroleum Fund for member States of the

Caribbean Community, which has provided timely

grant funding to meet general development objectives.

Those two initiatives by the petroleum-exporting

States of Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago are

shining examples of South-South cooperation and are

deserving of emulation by other oil-producing States.

They demonstrate that meaningful change, if earnestly

pursued, can make a difference in the lives of the small

and most vulnerable.

The global crisis in the availability and price of

food presents yet another unprecedented challenge to

developing countries. It is another area where

meaningful change can make a difference.

Reports by the United Nations Conference on

Trade and Development, which have helped to

underscore the gravity of the problem. One states that

“World food prices have roughly doubled over the past

three years, but between April 2007 and April 2008

alone they increased by 85 per cent.”

Of particular concern is the price of rice, a staple

for many people in the developing world. The price of

rice has trebled since September 2007, rising by some

160 per cent just within the first quarter of this year.

We concur with the views of the Secretary-General

about the worsening food crisis, which could push an

additional 10 million people into hunger and poverty,

over and above the existing 800 million.

We endorse the Secretary-General’s conclusion

that the crisis is a moral outrage, as well as his concern

that the achievement of the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) is threatened by the double jeopardy of

high food and fuel prices.

All of that calls for meaningful change — change

in attitude and change in practice. The people we are

elected to serve are committed to and long for that

change. They have mandated us to make the necessary

change. The question is, are we so committed? Are we

ready? Are we going to agree to and effect meaningful

change?

That, for many, is what the sixty-third session of

the General Assembly is all about: meaningful change

for the good of all, meaningful change that will make a

difference, meaningful change that will transform

lives, meaningful change that will replace talk with

action. For many small island States, securing a new

global commitment to meaningful change will be the

benchmark for judging the success of the session.

Let us therefore resolve at the sixty-third session

of the General Assembly to effect the meaningful

change that can make a difference in the lives of our

peoples. Dominica stands ready to play its part.