Federated States of Micronesia, 2004

I am honoured by the opportunity to speak before the

General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session on behalf of

the people of my Pacific island nation, the Federated

States of Micronesia, and on behalf of our President,

Joseph J. Urusemal.

Allow me to extend my congratulations to you,

Mr. President, on your well-deserved election to this

high office. I would also like to recognize Mr. Julian

Robert Hunte of Saint Lucia for his distinguished

service as president of the General Assembly at its

fifty-eighth session.

Sadly, there have been so many recent disasters in

which innocent lives have been lost that time does not

permit me to mention them all. Whenever we learn of

human suffering brought about by the forces of nature —

whether by earthquake, storms or otherwise — our

hearts go out to the victims. As Pacific islanders, my

people feel a special sympathy for the victims of the

recent typhoons and hurricanes in Haiti, Grenada,

Jamaica, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas,

Florida and in Japan and China, as well as in our own

country and elsewhere in the Pacific, such as in Guam,

the Mariana Islands and in Niue. It does not take a

scientist to see that such storms are now occurring with

increasing frequency and devastating intensity.

We must also express our great sadness over the

continuing loss of life at the hands of terrorists, and we

condemn in the strongest terms all those who wrongly

think their causes are advanced by such misguided

acts. All human life is precious, but the recent terrorist

atrocity committed against schoolchildren in Beslan,

Russia, was particularly vile. The world must speak out

with one voice in utter contempt of those who were

responsible.

I regret to say that, in addition to working to

defeat terrorism, this body must also find more

effective means of combating genocide that is

sponsored or tolerated by a Government. There must be

no refuge for those who would deny entire populations

the basic right of existence.

It is obvious today that expressions of

condemnation and even multilateral treaties do not

deter such people. As our technology provides even

more effective and readily available means of mass

destruction, the bright promise of the coming years

could be overwhelmed by an unthinkable nightmare.

The people of the Federated States of Micronesia

know that even we, the inhabitants of a remote island

nation, do not have the luxury of remoteness from the

threats posed by such crimes against humanity. These

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are threats to which all are exposed and from which all

are at risk. Though our numbers are relatively small,

many of our finest young citizens are standing today

with others on the front lines against tyranny and

oppression. We will not shirk our commitment, but, if

there is any hope of making such crimes a thing of the

past, that commitment cannot be conditional or

selective. It must be universal.

Even if we summon up the will to act collectively

to put down the darker side of human nature through

collective action, we must work much harder on a

global scale to move towards eliminating the

conditions that provide fertile ground for the sponsors

of terrorism and genocide. These include conditions of

poverty, hunger and inadequate access to clean water,

sanitation, health care and education. All those

conditions, of course, are familiar to students of the

United Nations Charter. Thanks in no small part to the

work of the Organization, statisticians are able to

identify significant, even dramatic, progress over the

past 60 years, and those trends can be expected to

continue as we dedicate ourselves to the attainment of

the Millennium Development Goals.

But trends do not mean much to the children who

will die of starvation today, tomorrow and the day after

tomorrow. Growth in gross domestic product is of little

comfort to the man desperately trying to support a

family on less than $1 a day, who sees no hope of

improving his situation. The world — acting through

this and other bodies, in addition to providing direct

assistance — must redouble its efforts, because there is

still a long way to go, and this planet of ours becomes

more dangerous every day.

As if what I have just mentioned were not

challenging enough, we also now know that the global

community faces a wide variety of complex tasks in

protecting the planet from environmental catastrophe.

We humans, sitting at the top of the genetic ladder,

have the capacity to foul the nest of Creation, and most

agree that that is happening to one degree or another.

One thing is clear: we are the only ones who can do

something about it. Considerable costs will be

involved, and not just in funds. Some say that the

industrialized world must change its deeply ingrained

patterns of energy consumption and make other

adjustments. Others say that the developing world must

switch to more sustainable development approaches, at

a higher initial cost.

Can the nations of the world afford the price tag

of achieving all those things? The economic

indications are that we can; it is a question of will,

determination and perseverance. There is no lack of

wealth in this world. By just about any measurement,

people in the industrialized world today enjoy a far

higher standard of living than has ever been known

before. Many developing countries are not far behind.

But, when it comes to actually taking the steps

necessary to overcome the dilemmas I have mentioned,

we confront the real challenge: to determine the wisest

allocation of our resources and to act accordingly, in

the spirit of the eight Millennium Development Goals.

It does not take a great deal of wisdom to

conclude that mankind must continue to place high

priority on the eradication of poverty and hunger.

Likewise, the need for prudence in protecting our

earthly environment and its resources is increasingly

obvious. But allocating our resources properly,

identifying the correct timing, and acting so as to attain

those goals will require virtually every scientific,

economic, political and ethical capacity that we can

summon.

The process must involve an even-handed

approach, without room for guilt, blame or jealousy.

While there is a real need for action, there is no need

for panic. The planet can still be saved, and the social

conditions for despair can be overcome. We must,

however, all play our respective roles with

commitment, compassion and in accordance with an

equitable division of responsibility. Let us put aside the

finger-pointing and the tyranny of self-interest, and let

us set about the task.

There are several issues of concern to my country

regarding which I would like, briefly, to be more

specific.

First, Micronesia looks forward to the convening

of the International Meeting, in January 2005 in

Mauritius, which will conduct the critical 10-year

review of the Barbados Programme of Action, focusing

on the particular needs and vulnerabilities of the small

island developing States as they pursue sustainable

development. During the past 10 years, we have seen

progress in implementing the Programme of Action,

with the close involvement and support of the

Secretariat. However, that progress needs to be

accelerated. The International Meeting will enable us

to identify and make essential course corrections.

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Naturally, over the past 10 years, we have also seen the

emergence of new challenges and issues that were not

originally addressed. Now these can also be

considered. Overall, the outcomes of the International

Meeting should be target-oriented so that progress in

implementing the Programme of Action can be tracked

and measured.

Of course, the International Meeting will be

successful only if the representatives of island States

are able to attend. Micronesia thus calls upon the donor

community to provide generous support to the trust

fund so that island States may be adequately

represented at the Meeting. In that regard, I must

acknowledge and express appreciation to those

countries that have already contributed. Developing-

country partners and developed countries should also

make every effort to be represented at the highest

possible political level to ensure that the International

Meeting receives the political support it needs for the

effective implementation of its outcomes.

Perhaps foremost among the vulnerabilities of

Micronesia — together with other members of the

Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) — is our

extreme exposure to the adverse effects of global

climate change. For more than a decade now, we have

been vocal in this body and elsewhere on virtually

every aspect of climate change. One aspect of that

issue is a source of increasing concern to me as the

debate evolves beyond whether climate change is real

to what should be done about it, and that aspect has to

do with environmental ethics.

In Micronesia, as in most island States, our

people have a tradition of living in harmony with

nature. Consequently, our ecological “footprint” has

been small. While we who live on islands can and need

to do more to curb unsustainable practices, it is clear

that we have contributed little to the climate crisis and

that we can contribute little to its solution. Yet we are

among the first to be affected and even face possible

extinction.

For the populations of low-lying small islands,

however, practical options are few. Land is in short

supply on islands in the best of times, and that land has

long been taken. Contrary to the romantic fantasy,

there are no desert islands available; island populations

already tend to be concentrated. Previous efforts to

relocate island populations have brought suffering and

cultural losses to the people concerned. To those of us

facing the prospect of cultural eradication, the

unabated advancement of already-inflated lifestyles in

the industrialized world does not seem a “greater

good”. We continue to support the call of AOSIS for

immediate implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.

Export and licensing income from the bounty of

Micronesia’s waters and its vast exclusive economic

zone is by far the greatest contribution to the nation’s

budget, next to foreign assistance. Fisheries are also a

vital resource of virtually every Pacific island country.

A cooperative approach on the part of coastal States

and distant-water fishing nations in the sustainable

conservation and management of those resources is

essential, since we now know that they are not

inexhaustible.

Thus, Micronesia welcomes the entry into force

of the Convention on the Conservation and

Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the

Central and Western Pacific Ocean, established

pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Law

of the Sea. We call upon all States and entities that

have participated in the process of establishing the

Conservation and Management Convention to assign

high priority to cooperating fully in the implementation

of its provisions.

I would like to put on record my country’s

growing concern over the practice of deep-sea

trawling. The region of the Pacific contains literally

thousands of seamounts, which scientists are finding to

be extremely rich in biodiversity and which hold great

potential value for future generations. Yet, short-

sightedly, too many are dragging trawl nets over these

deep-ocean areas, unknowing and uncaring as to the

damage they are causing to the seabed below.

There is an urgent need for an improved and

coordinated scientific focus on identifying and

managing risk to biodiversity and the environment in

the deep oceans. We need to broaden our presently

inadequate knowledge about these unique ocean

habitats and ensure that they are managed in a

sustainable way. Meanwhile, given the risk posed by

present practices, we urge the international community

to impose and observe a moratorium on deep sea

trawling.

Despite the extension in 2001 of the time frame

set by the parties to the United Nations Convention on

the Law of the Sea for a delimitation of the continental

shelf, Micronesia and many small island developing

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States face continuing difficulties in meeting our

obligations in this regard. The problem is a lack of

financial resources and the scientific and technical

expertise needed to acquire and collate the highly

complex scientific data. Without targeted assistance

from the donor community, countries like Micronesia

will find it extremely difficult to make the required

submission on the limits of the continental shelf, even

within the extended time frame.

As neighbours and fellow islanders, we are

saddened by the inability of the people of the Republic

of the Marshall Islands, after almost 50 years, to secure

full compensation for the death, sickness and

destruction they suffered as a consequence of nuclear

weapons testing. Recently declassified documents

make it clear that the original settlements were not

based on the full story of what happened to the

Marshallese people as well as other peoples of the

former Trust Territory. We join other Members in

calling upon the United States to meet its responsibility

in full.

This year, Micronesia wishes to again express its

support for United Nations reforms, particularly for the

reform of the Security Council and the inclusion of our

neighbour, Japan, among its permanent members. We

are increasingly concerned over the seeming lack of

progress on this critical matter.

My final topic is security in the region of the

Pacific. Our President shared with leaders at the

recently-concluded annual meeting of the Pacific

Islands Forum in Apia, Samoa, a common concern that

amidst all the current attention to global security

issues, the nations of the Pacific islands are being left

largely to their own devices in dealing with threats

related to organized crime and terrorism. We are

working hard to address our vulnerabilities in these

areas, but I would like to simply note here that the rest

of the world, especially the North, is not serving its

own best interests by giving short shrift to the

possibilities for criminal and terrorist exploitation that

are presented by our vast region. Over and above other

traditional official development assistance, we need a

range of targeted assistance in our region.

Once again, it has been our most valued

opportunity to appear and address the General

Assembly. The need for this Organization has never

been stronger, and as each year goes by, it seems that

the significance and relevance of our Charter increases.

In these difficult times, we in Micronesia choose not to

lose heart, but rather to take heart that we, the nations

of the world gathered here, can together build not just a

better world, but one that is a worthy inheritance for

future generations.