Grenada, 2012

I am honoured to address

the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session on

behalf of Mr. Tillman J. Thomas, Prime Minister of

Grenada, and the people of Grenada.

Grenada commends the work of the United Nations

over the past year, with special commendation for the

leadership and stewardship of the outgoing President,

Qatari diplomat Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser.

Looking ahead, we place our confidence in you, Sir,

and your team, and look forward to your guidance of

the work this year under the general theme “Bringing

about adjustment or settlement of international disputes

or situations by peaceful means”. We extend Grenada’s

full esteem and support to our able Secretary-General,

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, whom we thank for his continued

leadership and service to Member States.

Grenada recommits unwaveringly to the principles

of the United Nations, as embodied in the Charter.

Our commitment in national and international life

to the norms of peace, equality and justice, and to

human rights and multilateralism, is clear. Over the

past year, Grenada ratified and deposited instruments

of ratification with the United Nations, including for the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

In ratifying the Rome Statute, Grenada became the

Member State that brought that Treaty into force. That

exemplifies our commitment to the principle of the

rule of law, which resonates with every Grenadian as

a result of our enthusiasm for justice and for ending

impunity. Grenada welcomes the Declaration of the

High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the

Rule of Law at the National and International Levels

(resolution 67/1) of 24 September, and expects to make

a voluntary pledge.

On the domestic front, in April Parliament passed

the End Violence against Women Legislative and

Policy Reform Bill. Aware that by itself the passage

of a law is insufficient to change society’s entrenched

cultural attitudes and practices, we are also embarking

on public education and on strengthening the capacity

of Government departments, among other things.

We will continue on that path to secure the rights of

people, for we are convinced that law and security are

the sine qua non for the facilitation of the peaceful

settlement of disputes, which is itself the foundation

for an international environment of peace. Indeed,

democracy, good governance, social inclusion, conflict

resolution, development and sustained overall progress

are all helped by the rule of law within our countries

and in the international system.

Grenada is a small island developing State. Nature

has been especially generous to us, and our people

are extraordinarily hard-working and big-spirited. Yet

the fruits of nature and of our own efforts have been

undermined by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, Hurricane Emily in 2005 and the advent in 2008 of the global

financial and economic crisis. That notwithstanding,

we remain confident that a pathway to success exists

for us, based on our own efforts and the support of the

international community and this great Organization.

From Grenada’s perspective, the highlight of the

past year has been the renewed international political

commitment to sustainable development; indeed,

interest continues to grow and to gain momentum.

Sustainable development is one of our declared priorities

in Grenada. It is a priority this year since the Secretary-

General announced that sustainable development would

be the number one item on his agenda during his second

term, and you, too, Sir, declared it a priority.

In June, more than 120 heads of State and

Government endorsed the paradigm of sustainable

development in Rio, and the outcome document,

entitled “The future we want”, declares: “We resolve to

take urgent action to achieve sustainable development”

(resolution 66/288, annex, para. 12). Leaders agreed to

articulate policies and programmes that would promote

socially inclusive behaviour to quickly and equitably

bring about prosperity and to do so in a manner that

would instil hope and create livelihood opportunities

for those yet to come.

Because of our tremendous green and blue

endowments and the fact that our people live

intelligently with them, Grenada has long considered

itself an island of sustainability. That describes a

holistic policy framework that defines our consumption

and production path as spelt out in our five strategic

development pillars: energy development; education,

health and wellness; information and communications

technology; tourism and hospitality; and agribusiness.

Grenada is committed, then, to a path of

sustainability. Its determined efforts are led by our

energy policy aimed at reducing fossil-fuel usage by

20 per cent by the year 2020 and at being completely

carbon-neutral by 2030. The manufacturing sector is

rapidly emerging as a producer of indigenous green and

organic products, and the hotel sector is going green.

It should be recalled that Grenada is building itself

back from the World Bank-determined loss of 204 per

cent of its gross domestic product as a result of the

hurricane destruction we experienced in 2004 and 2005.

We have made great strides with recovery due to the

generosity of our neighbours and friends everywhere,

for which we remain forever indebted and grateful.

Since 2008, our situation has been compounded

by the weight of the global financial and economic

downturn, which is dwarfing development efforts

due to loss of tourism and port receipts and even

of remittances. However, we recognize with deep

appreciation that, as our economy has slowed in direct

response to the global economic crisis, our neighbours

are again coming to our assistance.

Grenada is defined as a middle-income country,

and yet its stability and growth are challenged by

serious socioeconomic predicaments. We are facing

the high cost of fuel and food, costs associated with

confronting the illicit trafficking in drugs and small

arms and light weapons and related crime, and an

increase in unemployment and poverty.

What is consistent in that context is that, like so

many of the Caribbean and small island developing

countries, Grenada contributes least to the financial

and economic crisis, greenhouse-gas emissions and

the production of arms and illicit drugs, and yet those

scourges have a disproportionate impact on us as

compared to the countries that produce them, and of

course our ability to respond effectively is far inferior.

So what, then, is the way forward? The way

forward lies primarily in improvement of the domestic

environment. We continue to achieve this through laws,

economic and social policies and our national spirit of

perseverance. Among our many initiatives, in January

2013, for example, Grenada will be co-hosting a meeting

in the Caribbean with business innovator Sir Richard

Branson on ensuring the sustainable management of

our marine and coastal resources.

Yet small island developing States need a far more

supportive international policy climate and affordable

financing for a safe and secure way forward into

greater sustainability. That will be the way we hold on

to the hard-earned progress made so far with respect

to the Millennium Development Goals and how we

will be able to expand it. We hope then to be guided

by the sustainable development goals and the post-

2015 development framework to further support our

ambitious economic and social transformation agenda.

We continue to believe that peace and security and

a reduction in military spending in the international

community will be good for a global economic

recovery, which in turn will be good for the financing

of sustainable development. Unless there is recovery in

the large economies to which our own economic life remains tied, we will see no sustained recovery. We

therefore call for commitments made to developing

countries to be met, and we remain willing partners in

South-South cooperation.

The staggering loss of life in Syria must be

brought to an end by all those responsible. We call for

a politically negotiated and urgent settlement, and we

reiterate Grenada’s support for the diplomacy work

being carried out, inter alia, by the United Nations and

the Arab League. We call for policies of inclusion and

openness that will accommodate all just aspirations of

all members of society in the Middle East and elsewhere.

We reiterate our call for a State for the Palestinian

people in a negotiated two-State agreement with Israel

through a peace plan. The injustices meted out to the

Palestinians, including widespread unemployment,

poverty and displacement, must end now. The

Palestinian people, led by their Government, the

Palestinian Authority, have our strong support for their

just aspirations. We are convinced that the two nations

can coexist side by side in peace and harmony, like so

many other countries.

Grenada takes this opportunity to extend once

again its heartfelt condolences to the Government

and people of the United States of America and to the

bereaved families of Ambassador Chris Stevens and

his colleagues. We deplore those senseless acts and

continue to call for the improvement of the protection

of all diplomats serving abroad.

Grenada calls for the cessation of the trafficking

of weapons through our Caribbean region and for a

firm and comprehensive, yet expeditious, agreement on

small arms and light weapons. We also renew our call

for the preservation of the Caribbean Sea as a zone of

peace and development and for the bringing of an end

to the passage of nuclear waste in our waters.

Grenada looks forward to the third Global

Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small

Island States in 2014, and we call on the international

community to lend its fullest and broadest support

to that Conference. We further call on the General

Assembly to designate 2014 as the International Year of

Small Island Developing States so as to raise awareness

of the special situation of small island developing

States (SIDS) and to mobilize international support

for their sustainable development. Support for SIDS

from China in energy efficiency and from Norway in renewable energy is already forthcoming, as is support

from Australia.

Without a legally binding climate regime to uphold

environmental integrity, Caribbean and other small

island States would lose the opportunity for achieving

sustainability soon, and some could even disappear. We

therefore see the upcoming eighteenth Conference of the

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention

on Climate Change in Doha, Qatar, as an opportunity

to move decisively away from that scenario, and we

welcome the commitment of the European Union to

agreeing to an ambitious second commitment period

of the Kyoto Protocol and to climate financing. We

call on other developed countries to do likewise, and

on the Secretary-General to encourage States parties

to move steadfastly towards finalizing a new binding

climate treaty by 2015 and a gap-free period of climate

financing starting in January 2013.

If the United Nations is to continue to lead the way in

sustainability, peace and security, it must be reformed.

The centrepiece of that change must be reform of the

Security Council, particularly so as to include a seat

for small island developing States. Only a revitalized

United Nations can continue to play its historic

role in guiding the world, its international financial

institutions included, through the geopolitical volatility

that is destabilizing the global economic and financial

order. Reorganization should not mean, however,

the loss of vital country programmes, especially for

small countries. The United Nations must continue its

irreplaceable work on behalf of women, and Grenada

is pleased to serve on the board of UN-Women and to

contribute to its endeavours.

Revitalization and reform must also take place in

the Caribbean. To that end, we call for the complete

removal of the economic, commercial and financial

blockade of our sister Caribbean State of Cuba. The

United States embargo against Cuba, now almost

50 years old, is in complete contradiction to the spirit

of the United Nations Charter. Removal of the embargo

has been specifically called for by the leaders of the

Caribbean Community as well as by an overwhelming

majority of States Members of the United Nations. Cuba

plays a significant humanitarian and development role

in the Caribbean and its economic liberation from the

embargo will allow it to contribute even more through

the dynamic of growing South-South cooperation.

Furthermore, Cuba is now playing a facilitating and

mediating role in one of the hemisphere’s longest political crises and thus making a major contribution

to peace and security in the Latin American and

Caribbean region.

Two years after the unfathomable national disaster

in our sister nation of Haiti in 2010, thousands of

Haitians are nonetheless still homeless and suffering,

as their Government remains without sufficient means

to complete national rebuilding. Grenada extends its

thanks, first and foremost, to all who have pledged and

realized those pledges for the benefit of the Haitian

people, for we are but one in the Caribbean. Grenada

remains steadfast in its commitment to this imperative,

and we renew our appeal to the international community

to fulfil all its commitments and, where possible, to

increase its contributions to the humanitarian and

development needs of Haiti.

Just some 100 days ago in the city of Rio de Janeiro,

our Prime Minister, Mr. Tillman Thomas, said:

“The United Nations is indispensable to the

future we need. Grenada considers the United

Nations to be best placed for decision-making

affecting the international body politic. Indeed,

the United Nations has the full legitimacy needed

to command authority [and] secure consensus and

the necessary trust among all global stakeholders.

We recommit to the United Nations and support its

reforms.”

To conclude, on 6 August, Grenada made history,

winning its first Olympic medal, a gold in the men’s

400-metre race, thus becoming, according to one

calculation, the country with the highest medal per

capita ratio in the world. Our people have not yet

ceased to celebrate winning gold. Another enduring

act celebrated around the world, however, was the

graciousness demonstrated by the eventual winner,

Kirani James, when he embraced and exchanged bibs

with his co-competitor Oscar Pistorius, the outstanding

double amputee from South Africa, who despite

running an extraordinarily good race came in second

behind the soon-to-be Olympic gold medallist. It was

a simple Grenadian gesture of admiration, friendship

and solidarity, but one that underscores that the human

spirit must prevail in relations among individuals and,

we dare say, among nations. That one simple act of

recognition of the right and, far more important, the

nobility of another human being transformed two

runners into two brothers, one South African, one

Grenadian, one shared humanity. We name that the Kirani spirit, and we charge

this institution with the Kirani spirit — “charge” as

in giving it energy; charge as in commanding to do

likewise; charge as in holding the collective responsible

for our humanity; charge as in charging each nation and

each people with their own big-spiritedness.