Jamaica, 2002

On behalf of the delegation

of Jamaica, I express congratulations to you, Sir, on

your assumption of the presidency of the General

Assembly at its fifty-seventh session. We pledge our

full cooperation with you in the work of this session.

We also express our deep gratitude to the outgoing

President, Mr. Han Seung-soo, under whose guidance

the fifty-sixth session was successfully completed.

Jamaica welcomes the Swiss Confederation as a

Member of the family of the United Nations, and we

look forward to welcoming East Timor when it

assumes membership in the Organization later during

this session.

Forty years ago on this day, 18 September,

Jamaica joined the family of the United Nations as its

106th member. It was one of our first foreign policy

initiatives upon achieving independence. In taking that

step, Jamaica signalled its readiness to assume its

obligations as a member of the international

community and to contribute to the maintenance of

international peace and security and to the promotion

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of economic and social progress through multilateral

cooperation within the United Nations system. Today,

on its fortieth anniversary, Jamaica reaffirms its faith in

the United Nations and proclaims its unwavering

commitment to multilateralism.

Over its 40 years Jamaica has played its part

through active participation in widening the reach of

the United Nations into a range of activities and

programmes critical to global development and world

peace. Our policy is to support the strengthening of the

United Nations system and to uphold its moral

authority. In a world of many nations with diverse

interests and of great disparities in wealth and military

power, it is an indispensable instrument in the

promotion of the rule of law in international affairs and

in the peaceful settlement of disputes.

With the changing nature and growing complexity

of international affairs, especially in the context of

globalization and with the emergence of new

challenges to peace and security, the fulfilment of the

United Nations' role remains critical. Now, more than

ever before, we need to strengthen the structures and

institutions of the international system to safeguard our

common interests in achieving a global order of peace

and economic and social progress for all.

Over the past year, dramatic events have occurred

which have brought old and new issues to the forefront

of attention. We recall the shock and horror of the

terrorist attacks on 11 September; the ensuing war in

Afghanistan; the outbreak of renewed violence in the

Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians; the

escalation of old tensions in South Asia; and more

recently, the threat of a new war in Iraq. All of these

were given special attention by the Secretary-General

in the presentation of his report to the General

Assembly last Thursday. Jamaica commends the

Secretary-General for the clarity of his vision on the

role of the United Nations in the resolution of current

global problems.

Of high importance on the agenda for immediate

action is the situation in the Middle East, where

recently we have witnessed so much death, destruction

and human suffering, particularly among civilians. It

should now be clear that the only true way to find

peace and security is through laying the foundations for

a just and durable settlement. What is needed now is a

plan to move the process forward towards the

convening of a peace conference. There has emerged a

significant level of consensus on the main elements of

a settlement — the withdrawal of Israel from occupied

Palestinian territory; the exercise of self-determination

for the Palestinian people and the establishment of

arrangements for the two States of Israel and Palestine

to coexist within clearly defined and internationally

recognized boundaries. We believe it is important and

urgent that advantage is taken of the present situation

of relative calm to proceed towards negotiations

involving the leadership of Israel and the Palestinian

Authority.

With regard to Iraq, which has been the subject of

so much debate in recent weeks, it is up to the Security

Council to carry out its responsibilities in a manner

broadly acceptable to the international community and

to preclude unilateral actions that could lead to

unpredictable consequences and to wider instability in

the region. This is an important moment for the United

Nations, and we expect the Security Council to act in

accordance with the Charter to safeguard the integrity

of the international system and to ensure the

maintenance of peace.

To make the world a safer place requires

measures to be adopted on a broad front. The

elimination of terrorism is a task requiring cooperation

by the entire international community. The

comprehensive measures set out in Security Council

resolution 1373 (2001) establish the framework for

action, and Jamaica is doing its part in that effort. At

the same time, it should be recognized that for

achievement of the long-term objectives, it is necessary

to address the root causes of terrorism in their political,

economic, social and psychological dimensions. It is

also important that, in the campaign against terrorism,

there should be no targeting or stigmatizing of

particular ethnic groups or religious communities; nor

should it become the basis for intolerance, persecution

or discrimination against minority groups or for the

violation of human rights.

Linked to the question of terrorism are security

problems arising from the continued growth in the

illicit trade in narcotics and the illicit transfer of guns

and other weapons which have become inseparable

elements in the operations of transnational crime. This

is particularly the case in the Caribbean, where this

phenomenon has assumed alarming proportions in the

era of globalization. A growing network of illicit trade

has developed in drugs and weapons, which is

subverting the internal security of our Caribbean States

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and threatening social stability. We acknowledge

ongoing efforts at the regional and bilateral levels to

address these security concerns, but more needs to be

done, particularly in regulating, monitoring and

reporting transfers in small arms in jurisdictions in

which these weapons are produced.

These are some of the negative features that

accompany globalization and add to the problems

facing developing countries. The globalization of trade,

finance and the means of production presents even

greater challenges. The contraction of overall

development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct

investment flows, and the volatility in short-term

capital flows, have resulted over time in declining

growth rates and increasing poverty, thus widening the

gap between rich and poor countries. The opportunities

for economic growth and prosperity promised by

globalization have, therefore, not materialized for the

majority. Instead, developing countries have been

placed in peril in a system in which survival will

remain an uphill struggle against dislocation and

marginalization. Without some arrangement to promote

greater equity in the sharing of the benefits of

globalization, we will witness a pattern of continued

enrichment of only those endowed with the resources,

capital stocks and technology, who can reap the

advantages of competitiveness.

In this context, the very important forums held

during the past year, which sought to advance the

development agenda, were both timely and welcome.

At Doha last November, there was some

acknowledgement of the wide differences in levels of

development and capacity of States, and the

consequential need for special and differential

treatment for developing countries. We look forward to

having these principles incorporated into the

architecture of World Trade Organization rules. This,

for us, would be an important step in pursuing a

development dimension within the trade agenda. Since

trade is the engine of development, it is vital that real

opportunities be made available in export markets for

developing country products, without the barriers, in

various forms, which continue to hamper market access

and restrict the expansion of exports.

There should also be significant strengthening of

productive capacity through new investment and

capital transfers to developing countries. At Monterrey

in March, we sought to put in place a framework for

the more effective mobilization of resources for

development from many critical sources. Some

indications were given of ODA increases, which we

welcome, although these still fall below the agreed

targets. In the absence of a system of global

governance that would assure equity in investment

opportunity and protection from the volatility of

private financial flows, official sources of finance

remain a critical form of development assistance. It is,

therefore, important that these new resources are made

available to achieve concrete results without the

complications of conditionalities and selective

processing.

As we pursue implementation of the Monterrey

Consensus and the Doha Agenda, we also look forward

to progress in the democratization of the decision-

making process within the international system for

finance and trade. For it is only when developing

countries are accorded fair space and an effective voice

in the setting of international finance and trade policies

that we will begin to see greater equity in the

distribution of the world's wealth.

Most recently, in Johannesburg, we embraced a

new opportunity to advance the sustainable

development agenda by furthering progress in the

implementation of Agenda 21. We welcome the

important new targets agreed, which give fuller

expression to the commitment of the international

community to the Millennium Development Goals. The

real test will be to see whether the commitments are

translated into action, through the mobilization of

resources, to meet the requirements of the programme

and the targets that have been set. Johannesburg is thus

the climax of an important year that reshaped and

refocused the development priorities of the global

community for the new millennium. For sustainable

development will not be achieved without financing for

development, nor without a development agenda in

trade. Jamaica welcomes in particular the commitments

made at Johannesburg in respect of small island

developing States (SIDS). We continue to underscore

the need for special attention to be paid to the

challenges of vulnerability faced by SIDS. What is

needed is a fair opportunity to secure the welfare of our

people, and to protect our fragile environment.

This cannot be achieved without the full support

of the international community. The Barbados

Programme of Action, adopted in 1994, represented

that commitment of support. As we now prepare to

review its implementation in 2004, we encourage

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renewed engagement on those issues critical to our

very survival, such as the dangers posed by global

warming, sea level rise and natural disasters.

Jamaica welcomes the positive indications for

Africa, where the reduction of political conflict and

turmoil offers a real opportunity for building stability

and economic progress. Africa has suffered for far too

long from a myriad of difficult problems and should be

given a new start.

The formation of the African Union and the

inauguration of the New Partnership for Africa's

Development (NEPAD) are commendable initiatives

aimed at bringing Africa closer to the mainstream of

international development, at containing the HIV/AIDS

pandemic and at combating the spread of poverty. What

are really needed now are resources and we urge that

every effort be made to ensure that the new initiatives

achieve a breakthrough for African development.

In the field of social development and human

rights, the United Nations has made significant

achievements in extending and promoting the rights of

persons in vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.

Notwithstanding those achievements, the Organization

is faced with growing social challenges, including the

HIV/AIDS pandemic, which threaten to reverse

decades of progress in many parts of the world.

Concerted action to control the spread of this disease

should remain a priority of the Organization. So too

should be the protection of the rights of children. The

specific time-bound targets adopted during the special

session on children require our unequivocal

commitment.

One of the important areas of contribution on the

part of the United Nations is in the development of

international law as a means of promoting universally

accepted rules and the creation of multilateral legal

regimes to achieve common goals. The most recent

achievement is the Rome Statute on the International

Criminal Court (ICC), which came into force in July

2002.

Another outstanding example is the United

Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This year,

the international community will be observing the 20th

Anniversary of its signing, which took place at

Montego Bay, Jamaica on 10 December 1982. The

immense significance of this Convention in

safeguarding the interests of all countries, in the

exploitation of ocean resources, and in maritime issues

has been widely acknowledged.

We applaud the work being carried out by the two

institutions that have evolved out of the Convention —

the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which is

entrusted with the implementation of the concept of the

common heritage of mankind, and the International

Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which is the forum for

resolving maritime disputes under the Convention.

This is a good example of the result of working

together to achieve common solutions through a

multilateral process to advance the common interest. It

shows that the United Nations is working. We should

safeguard and strengthen it as the guardian of our

common future.