Federated States of Micronesia, 2006

I

am honoured and grateful to address the General

Assembly at its sixty-first session, and in so doing I

join other Members in congratulating you, Madam, on

your historic assumption of the presidency of this body.

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Let me assure you of my country’s full support. We are

confident that under your leadership, the Organization

will be steered safely through the challenges ahead. I

would also like to pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr.

Jan Eliasson, for his dedication and stewardship of the

Organization during the past year.

Just recently, the Pacific island countries lost one

of its leaders. The Federated States of Micronesia is

deeply saddened by the passing of King Tupou IV of

the Kingdom of Tonga. We express our profound

condolences to the people and the leaders of Tonga

during their period of national mourning and wish them

well in their transition to a new leadership.

We are keenly aware of the remaining awesome

task of implementing measures to reform the

Organization. We are nonetheless encouraged by the

significant achievements made so far since the

adoption of the Outcome Document of the World

Summit last year. The United Nations has made great

strides, for instance in constituting the Human Rights

Council, in launching the Peacebuilding Commission

and in adopting the resolution on implementing

international development goals.

Reform of the Security Council should remain a

high-priority agenda item. My country would like to

reiterate its position as expressed in previous years. We

support a restructured Security Council that reflects the

current realities of international society. For the

Council to be effective and its work meaningful, its

working methods should be improved and its

membership, both permanent and non-permanent,

expanded. We must give new impetus to the reform

process and seek, with an open mind, new ways to

achieve the institutional reform of the United Nations.

The small island developing States in the Pacific

such as my country, recognized as among the most

vulnerable, stand to benefit from an efficient and

relevant United Nations. It is for that reason that we

place high hopes on the relevant reforms. We hope that

such reforms will facilitate our achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other

internationally recognized commitments, which, if left

to our own devices, we cannot reach, even with the

best of intentions and efforts.

Thus, we are pleased with and grateful for the

decision to establish additional United Nations offices

in our Pacific region, including in my country. Taken

within the context of the overall reform of the

Organization, the presence of those offices is mutually

beneficial to the United Nations and to our peoples in

many ways, including through effective coordination in

the delivery of much-needed assistance and services.

My country, with a large exclusive economic

zone, attaches great importance to the sustainable

development and conservation of our marine resources

and ecosystem. Consistent with that priority, we have

joined forces with some of our neighbouring States in

calling for an immediate moratorium and a total ban on

deep bottom trawl fishing. The Organization must not

close its eyes to activities that result in commercial

gain for only a few at the expense of the integrity of

the ecosystem that supports the livelihood of our

people, especially those living in areas that are widely

recognized as vulnerable. We appeal to the

international community to mobilize support to put an

end to bottom trawl fishing and other activities that are

ecologically destructive and unfriendly to the marine

ecosystem.

It is well established by the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other highly

respected scientific organizations that the Earth’s

climate is adversely changing due to our carbon

economy and the emission of greenhouse gases. Within

this decade alone, we have witnessed unprecedented

destruction caused by extreme weather events. The

increasing magnitude, intensity and frequency of

typhoons, hurricanes and other natural disasters,

including the unprecedented melting and disappearance

of glaciers, are directly linked to human activities. This

obviously calls for a more robust post-Kyoto regime.

As an island nation composed mostly of low-

lying small islands with large coastal areas, the

Federated States of Micronesia is vulnerable to the

adverse impact of climate change. Exposed to the

effects of extreme weather events, our livelihood and

traditions as an island people — in fact, our whole

civilization — are under greater threat than ever

before.

The sad irony is that those of us who contribute

little to the causes of climate change and sea-level rise

are the first in line to suffer the consequences. In the

face of that reality, Micronesia will continue to speak

out for concerted global action to mitigate the adverse

impact of climate change, taking into consideration the

principle of common but differentiated responsibility.

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While adaptation measures require national

actions, the “polluters pay” principle should apply.

Therefore, those who pollute should underwrite the

costs of adaptation, particularly for small island

developing States.

Sustainable development remains a top priority

for small island developing States such as Micronesia,

but it cannot be achieved by us alone. Our development

still requires official development assistance from

bilateral and multilateral donor partners alike. But

official development assistance on its own is not

sufficient. Ongoing propositions for active foreign

direct investment and effective development

partnerships, among others, should be translated into

concrete action, as they are critical components of

sustainable development.

The small island developing States continue to

pin their hopes on the Mauritius Strategy as a blueprint

for their sustainable development. But what good is the

Strategy if the support necessary to implement it is not

forthcoming? The international community must

provide that support, which would include facilitation

and improvement of access to existing resources and,

where appropriate, allocation of dedicated financial

resources. For the Mauritius Strategy to be effective

and meaningful, it must be mainstreamed into all

United Nations processes, including the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change process.

In addition to the Mauritius Strategy, we support

the principles of the Information Society and the

Community of Democracies as vital to our national

progress. In particular, we seek help in the formulation

of our national plan on information and communication

technologies and in access to broadband connectivity,

which we believe will help overcome the obstacles to

our development that result from the geographical

configuration of our island country.

Dependency on fossil fuel is an obstacle to our

sustainable development. To mitigate that obstacle and

prevent the perpetuation of this carbon economy, my

Government has prioritized renewable energy as the

way forward. I therefore reiterate the call made by

many small island developing States, including my

own, for accelerated efforts in the development,

utilization and distribution of renewable energy

technologies to small island developing States. We will

continue to look to the international community,

including our development partners, to help ensure that

such technologies are transferred and put in place

effectively.

Terrorism affects all countries, large and small,

rich and poor. Micronesia condemns, in the strongest

terms, terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

The taking of innocent life is unambiguously

unjustifiable, regardless of one’s grievances.

We therefore call once again on the United

Nations to do everything in its power to prevent

terrorism and to mitigate its root causes. While we are

doing our best to uphold our responsibilities and

obligations under the United Nations counter-terrorism

resolutions, we need the assistance of the international

community to more effectively implement and carry on

the fight against this scourge.

In that spirit, we would like to commend the

efforts that resulted in the recent ceasefire in Lebanon.

We hope that the ceasefire will lead to a lasting peace

for the Israeli and Lebanese peoples. We also hope

that, by building on that momentum, the conflict

between Israel and Palestine will be resolved. The

people of Israel have the right to live within secure,

recognized borders, free from the fear of terrorism. The

Palestinian people have the right to have their own

State and to coexist peacefully with their neighbours.

Micronesia is concerned about the threats to

regional stability and international peace and security

posed by nuclear proliferation. We urge the

international community to continue its efforts to

address that problem.

In closing, I would like to pay tribute to our

outgoing Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Kofi

Annan, for his distinguished leadership and his decades

of dedicated service to the Organization. My country

expresses to him our gratitude and best wishes.