Marshall Islands, 2003

I am honoured to

address the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth

session, on behalf of His Excellency President Kessai

H. Note and the people of the Republic of the Marshall

Islands.

Allow me to extend my sincere congratulations to

you, Mr. President, on your election to your high

office. At the outset, I would like to take this

opportunity to express our deepest condolences to the

bereaved families that lost loved ones in the recent

bombing attack on the United Nations offices in

Baghdad. That tragic event was also a great loss to the

international community. Such horrific acts of

terrorism are utterly condemnable, and those

responsible should be swiftly brought to justice.

My delegation is especially pleased that this

session of the General Assembly will be presided over

by the representative of a fellow member of the

Alliance of Small Island States, and we wish you well,

Sir, in your endeavours throughout the session. We are

hopeful that your presidency will help to highlight the

special needs of small island developing States. It has

long been recognized that such States suffer particular

disadvantages in terms of both environment and

development. This was recently reaffirmed by the

World Summit on Sustainable Development, which

called for a full and comprehensive review of the

Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable

Development of Small Island Developing States.

The coming year will be a particularly important

one for the Marshall Islands and for all small island

developing States as we prepare for the 2004

International Meeting in Mauritius to review the

implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action.

In preparation for that Meeting, the Marshall Islands is

currently completing an assessment of the

implementation of the Programme of Action at the

national level. I would like to take this opportunity to

encourage the international donor and development

community to engage with the small island developing

States in the preparatory process and to actively

participate in the International Meeting so that it can

produce successful and practical outcomes for all such

States.

The Marshall Islands is faced with challenges

shared by many small island States. Our land

comprises small, scattered islands and atolls, spread

over vast areas of ocean. Our unique environment is

fragile and highly vulnerable to the threats posed by

global warming and environmental pollution and

degradation. Our natural resource base is extremely

narrow, our economy very small and we are

disadvantaged by our remoteness from world markets.

Given these factors, in our interactions within the

international community, the Marshall Islands is

particularly concerned about the following issues. The

first issue is sustainable development. Pursuing the

three pillars of sustainable development — economic,

social and environmental — poses many challenges for

small island States. During last year’s general debate,

we introduced our national blueprint for sustainable

development. This document forms the basis of our

long-term sustainable development plans, which we are

currently working hard to implement.

In this context, and in the follow-up to the World

Summit on Sustainable Development, we continue to

seek opportunities to form partnerships that will assist

us in the practical implementation of projects under the

Pacific’s 14 Type II Umbrella Initiatives. Areas of

particular importance for our people include the need

for greater access to fresh water, the availability of

affordable, renewable and environmentally sound

energy sources and the development of waste

management systems that minimize hazardous impacts

on society and the environment.

Also in this regard, we welcome the new work

programme of the Commission on Sustainable

Development. We are particularly pleased that small

island developing countries will be considered as a

cross-cutting issue in relation to the themes of each

two-year work cycle, and that the theme of the 2014-

2015 work cycle will focus on small island developing

States issues.

Our second main area of concern is the

environment, and in particular the threats posed by

global climate change and sea level rise. These threats

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are felt most acutely by low-lying island and atoll

countries such as the Marshall Islands and many of our

Pacific neighbours.

I am pleased to announce that the Marshall

Islands has recently completed its ratification process

for the Kyoto Protocol. I take this opportunity to

commend those States that have ratified the Protocol,

and I urge remaining States to do so without delay.

This matter is surely the most urgent facing the

international community today. If we fail to act now,

the future will see the complete disappearance of many

small island nations.

In relation to environmental matters, the Marshall

Islands is particularly concerned about the state of the

world’s oceans and fisheries. As a nation whose very

livelihood depends on the resources of the sea, the

Marshall Islands Government reaffirms its unwavering

support for the regime established under the United

Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. I am also

pleased to state that the Marshall Islands is now a party

to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement.

The Marshall Islands is seriously concerned about

instances of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

within its exclusive economic zone. Such fishing

gravely undermines the livelihood of our people that

depend on these resources as their primary means of

survival. Regional and international cooperation must

focus on addressing this issue.

Within our region, we are pleased to note the

recent progress of the Convention on the Conservation

and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in

the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. We are also

particularly pleased with the development of the

Pacific Islands Regional Ocean Policy and we look

forward to broad participation in the upcoming Pacific

Islands Regional Ocean Forum.

An ongoing issue of major concern for the

Marshall Islands is that of nuclear weapons testing.

The people and the environment of the Marshall

Islands continue to suffer as a consequence of the

nuclear weapons tests that were conducted in our

territory between 1946 and 1958.

As we continue to seek resolution of this issue

our people continue to suffer from ongoing health

effects, the food chain still contains dangerously high

radiation levels and our development capacity is

restrained by an inability to use contaminated islands

and atolls.

I have briefly addressed a few issues of major

concern to the Marshall Islands. There are, of course,

many other significant issues to be addressed during

the upcoming session.

One of the most important challenges facing the

international community is the need for a

comprehensive, unified response to combat acts of

international terrorism. I am pleased to be able to say

that the Marshall Islands has ratified all 12 of the core

Conventions against terrorism. We are continually

working to implement the provisions of Security

Council resolution 1373 (2001), and we have taken

many steps at the national level to combat money

laundering and terrorist financing. We reiterate our

solidarity with all Member States that are working to

eliminate terrorism in all its forms.

Another important issue facing this body is the

continued exclusion of the Republic of China on

Taiwan from the United Nations. The Marshall Islands

Government reiterates its concern that the exclusion of

a nation of peaceful and law-abiding citizens is not

consistent with the inclusive ideal of the United

Nations. I therefore strongly urge every Member State

to reconsider this matter.

The Marshall Islands welcomes the progress

achieved by the International Criminal Court over the

past year. Many positive developments have taken

place, not the least of these being the election of a

prominent panel of judges and the chief prosecutor. We

look forward to the Court becoming fully operational

and we are confident that the Court will prove to be a

valuable mechanism in the administration of justice at

the international level.

Finally, in terms of the need for further United

Nations reform, the Marshall Islands Government

wishes to reiterate its support for the expansion of the

Security Council. We believe that the number of both

permanent and non-permanent members should be

increased, and that such expansion should include

members from both developed and developing

countries. This expansion is urgently needed to

increase the representative base of the Council and to

enhance its legitimacy in the light of the geographic

and political realities of the world today. We also wish

to emphasize the need for further streamlining of the

work of the General Assembly and its six Main

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Committees in order to enhance the efficiency and

effectiveness of the Organization.