São Tomé and Príncipe, 2009

Before anything else, allow me to congratulate His

Excellency Mr. Ali Treki of Libya, a country with

which we maintain excellent relations of brotherhood,

for his election to the important post of President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session, which

role he will certainly carry out with his usual level of

excellence. I would also like to congratulate His

Excellency Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann for his

excellent work on the world economic crisis during his

presidency at the sixty-third session.

A year has passed since the opening of the

Assembly’s sixty-third session, and yet we have still

not recovered from the full effects of the global

economic crisis, despite enormous efforts on the part of

developed countries. The same distortions in the

world’s economy remain.

But it is not just economic and financial problems

that we face. Our biggest challenge today is

guaranteeing the future of our planet, not just in the

economic sense, but also resolving climate change

issues that threaten the very survival of small island

nations like Sao Tome and Principe. Though our carbon

emissions are insignificant and our forests play a key

role as part of the world’s lungs, rising sea levels are

already causing coastal erosion around our country.

Time is no longer on our side but has become our

unforgiving judge. There is no time for more

unfounded justifications for the non-fulfilment of the

Kyoto Protocol. We cannot continue evading these

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essential environmental issues, which are not a

question of developing countries against developed

ones. We need urgent measures that are global and

concrete to save us from this crisis.

The report of the Secretary-General on the work

of the Organization (A/64/1) contains some important

points to which we have given considerable attention,

because my country shares similar concerns. I am

referring to the urgent need for reform of the United

Nations system. Africa, especially its small countries

on the periphery, continues mired in the deepest

poverty. Our problems are particularly difficult to solve

due to a combination of adverse factors that deserve an

approach from the international community that is

more systematic, more diligent and more coordinated.

There have been several crises in 2009, and we

have to re-think together the future of the new world

economic order. Those crises affect all countries and

demand a global response. Sao Tome and Principe is a

micro-State with a micro-economy, and thus it is poor

and vulnerable. As such, it is not immune to the effects

of those crises.

We need to reinforce the merits of multilateralism

as an instrument through which the international

community can promote peace and development.

Therefore, Sao Tome and Principe wants to

demonstrate its support for the institutionalization of

this agenda within the framework of the United

Nations. In a world confronting a global economic and

financial crisis, along with the negative impact of

climate changes, there is a need to guarantee food

security and energy security, to deal with migrations

and pandemics and numerous regional conflicts of

increasing complexity and associated risks.

The only way we can face these crises is through

active multilateralism, based on international law and

on the principles of the United Nations Charter, and

through reaffirming our commitment to achieving the

goals set out in the United Nations 2005 World

Summit. We are well aware that we will achieve those

goals only through a renewed multilateral system,

integrated in a world organization that is stronger,

more egalitarian and with more solidarity.

In this framework we call for support for the oft-

repeated proposal for reforming the United Nations

system, and particularly the issue of permanent

members of the Security Council. We believe that this

issue cannot be endlessly put off. There must be more

justice in the context of the United Nations. The

African States must have a voice and cannot be ignored

in this process of reform of our Organization. That is

why I want to state my complete agreement with what

was said from this tribune yesterday, at the

3rd meeting, by the President of the African Union, our

brother-leader Qadhafi, reclaiming better participation

by the African countries as permanent members of the

Security Council.

We are beginning the last five years in the

implementation of the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs). The past five years have presented us with

the biggest challenges facing global society: poverty,

pandemics, environmental degradation — everything

that galvanized the world’s position that was translated

into the declaration that we heard yesterday. The goals

and hopes that this declaration embodies need

attention. I can say that in Sao Tome and Principe we

have made determined efforts, especially to achieve the

Goals in the areas of health and education. We are

almost there, although we are yet not completely

satisfied.

The biggest debates related to global warming

concentrate on substitutions for fossil fuels in order to

reduce carbon emissions that contribute to the

greenhouse effect. This debate has gone on as

temperatures have risen, causing the glaciers and polar

ice caps to melt, which in turn has already caused a rise

in the sea level. As I mentioned earlier, that is

threatening our country.

These environmental changes present a strategic

challenge for countries, with increasing global

insecurity caused by the effects of violent storms,

droughts, massive migrations and pandemics, which

lead to an increase in poverty, environmental

degradation and weakening national Governments.

Experts in this field call our attention to the fact that

these climate changes may result in an unprecedented

need to provide emergency food aid, which could cause

a crisis of sustainability for the international

community.

The negotiations in the framework of the United

Nations are aimed at creating a substitute for the 1997

Kyoto Protocol, which establishes limits on greenhouse

gas emissions by 2012 for 37 countries in the

developed world and is an attempt to profoundly alter

the world climate situation.

17 09-52320

We hope the 2020 objectives can be formalized

during the Copenhagen summit. Even in the meetings

this week, at the Assembly’s current session, we have

seen growing concern on the part of the international

community, at the level of the Secretary-General and in

the Alliance of Small Island Developing States, with

regard to the success of this process.

Whenever I speak before the General Assembly, I

conclude by mentioning two continuing cases of

injustice: that of the Republic of China on Taiwan and

that of the trade embargo against Cuba.

Despite everything, there are positive signs on the

international scene, for which we are grateful. We

welcome the recent positive developments between the

Republic of China on Taiwan and the People’s

Republic of China. We continue to support increased

participation at the United Nations for the Republic of

China on Taiwan. In that regard, we welcome the

admission of that nation of 23 million people as an

observer at the World Health Organization. We hope

that other United Nations agencies, such as the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

and the International Civil Aviation Organization, can

also take advantage of the valuable contributions that

that developed country can make with respect to the

urgent needs of the Organization.

Unfortunately, however, while we can express a

certain satisfaction concerning the issue of the

Republic of China on Taiwan, we cannot do so with

regard to the trade embargo against Cuba; indeed, we

are greatly disappointed in that area. But we dare to

remain hopeful that the new United States

Administration will have the courage and

determination to shortly address this issue in the same

manner as it has dealt with that of Guantánamo.

I wish to stress that the road ahead of us is very

difficult and long. There must be global cooperation in

a context of availability and responsibility to ensure

sustainable development for all countries. I therefore

appeal for greater cooperation between donor and

beneficiary countries and greater consultation not only

with Government institutions, but also with institutions

more familiar with the needs of people on the ground. I

am referring specifically to rural communities,

teachers, doctors, nurses, farmers, fishermen and all

those in the productive sectors of our countries.

For the Government and the people of Sao Tome

and Principe, the United Nations remains an

indispensable Organization where there should be no

differences among Member States. The United Nations

must continue its mission of maintaining peace and

security and promoting international development.

Those are the Organization’s objectives to ensure the

betterment of our world.