Saint Kitts and Nevis, 2000

The

delegation of Saint Kitts and Nevis congratulates you,

Sir, on your election to the presidency the General

Assembly at its fifty-fifth session. We pledge our full

support and our assistance in the work ahead. Permit

me also to pay tribute to the work of your predecessor,

who took us through a challenging fifty-fourth session.

As the new Foreign Minister of Saint Kitts and

Nevis, I am deeply honoured to be addressing the

Assembly at this historic moment of increasing

expectations at the national level. At the same time, we

salute the dawn of this millennium with consternation

in the face of the unprecedented challenges that

confront us.

The United Nations has matured in the past five

decades, but we recognize that this is an institution

where maturity cannot be measured in days or decades.

The maturity of which I speak should be measured by

the quality of our commitment and the depth of our

vision.

The phenomenon of globalization has been

characterized by growth in the level of trade, increased

flows of capital, and advanced technology. Although

we do not question this reality, we are cognizant of the

inherent challenges and inequalities of globalization

resulting from our varied levels of development. Small

island developing States such as Saint Kitts and Nevis

have yet to access a significant share of the vaunted

benefits that globalization has brought in its wake. We

continue to bear a disproportionate share of its costs

while experiencing continuous marginalization due to

our small size and to the volatility of financial flows.

We urge the United Nations to influence

developed countries to improve market conditions for

exports from small developing States, which are

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especially vulnerable. We are inclined to ask the

pertinent question: Why is globalization, with all its

inherent benefits, not improving the lot of the poor

among us?

It is evident that globalization is creating new

scenarios on our landscape; as these new situations

emerge, we must develop new strategies to remain

relevant. What is critical, therefore, is the need for

increased cooperation among Member States in our

efforts to secure our various interests.

Saint Kitts and Nevis would like to stress the

imperative of giving the United Nations the political

impetus necessary to address the inequalities

characterizing inter-State relations. This Organization,

with its tradition of democracy, should resolve the

anomalies created by globalization. We welcome the

recommendations of the Secretary-General intended to

ensure that this multifaceted phenomenon will work to

the advantage of small island developing States. We

intend to persevere in our efforts to adopt the requisite

macroeconomic policies. However, effective

governance and cooperation at the global level must

complement our democratic will and our political will

at the national level.

We should commit ourselves to strengthening the

United Nations as the multilateral institution which

provides a forum of inclusion. We shall also persist in

our efforts to ensure the development of mechanisms

and modalities to make possible equitable results. In

particular, we urge the use of a vulnerability index to

be factored into any assessment of small island States

by the United Nations and by international

development and financial institutions.

As for globalization and governance, Saint Kitts

and Nevis is concerned by the recent action taken by

the financial action task force of the Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

countries, which has sought to put pressure on the

already weakened economies of several Caribbean

States, including Saint Kitts and Nevis. In recent times,

many of us, in our efforts to diversify our economies,

have undertaken to build a strong financial service

sector. But sadly, as I speak, my people find

themselves, along with the collective populations of

four other Caribbean neighbours, assaulted through

negative advisories.

We urge the United Nations, through the

Secretary-General, to impress upon OECD countries

that unilateral attempts to effect multilateral solutions

in their own self-interest weaken the democratic fibre

of international relations. We urge, therefore, that any

discussion on the development strategies of countries

large or small must be raised to the level of inclusive

discussions or multilateral forums.

We would like to emphasize that there is no harm

in a competitive, well regulated, supervised financial

service sector. However, a unilateral challenge to the

sovereign rights of States to implement legal tax

regimes is an unwarranted attack on the integrity of

those States. We believe that the development of the

financial services sector holds valuable opportunities

for small developing countries. We understand also the

need for due diligence and for appropriate checks and

balances to frustrate and deter money laundering.

The coupling of the financial services sector and

money laundering without distinguishing between the

two does grave injustice to a legitimate economic

enterprise. Saint Kitts and Nevis is committed to

ensuring that no individual or entity abuses our

financial services sector for illicit purposes. To that

end, we have enacted legislation and have established a

financial intelligence unit. We will be vigilant and will

continue to take the necessary steps to keep this sector

free from abuse. Members can thus see that we are

aware of the difference, and that we are committed to

ensuring that our jurisdiction complies with

international standards.

The convening earlier this year of the special

session on the World Summit for Social Development

allowed us to focus attention on the human face of

poverty, which is overlooked by globalization. While

we, as developing countries, continue to adopt a

proactive approach to our social development agenda,

the United Nations, through its specialized agencies,

should continue to support national poverty reduction

programmes so as to promote favourable economic and

financial opportunities for all young people.

Saint Kitts and Nevis, therefore, regards as

critical the meeting on financing for development,

scheduled for the year 2001. We hope that it will

provide the appropriate opportunity to adopt measures

to strengthen the international financial system; this

could ensure long-term access to resources and

technical assistance.

St. Kitts and Nevis welcomes the Secretary-

General's initiative for the establishment of a disaster

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response programme that would complement the

resilience of our people to contribute to effective and

timely reconstruction efforts. However, the impact

from man-made disasters is even more devastating. The

frequent passage through our waters of shipments of

toxic and hazardous waste poses a serious threat to our

fragile ecosystems. We urge the United Nations to

assume a greater role in mobilizing support within the

international community to implement this policy. We

have to take action to avert the threat of pollution from

ship-generated waste, as well as accidental release of

hazardous and noxious substances.

We regard the progress achieved in promoting

women in development as vital to the global agenda of

human rights. Hence, St. Kitts and Nevis welcomed the

convening this year of the special session on the status

of women, which allowed Member States to review and

assess the progress made since the Beijing Declaration

and Plan of Action.

My Government is currently implementing a new

gender management system and has introduced

measures to ensure that the national budget and

development programmes are more gender sensitive.

We are committed to strengthening and promoting the

mainstreaming of a gender perspective at all levels.

There has been much debate about the critical

role of information technology in bridging the global

digital divide. We welcome the Secretary-General's

proposal for a United Nations Information Technology

Service, which could go a long way towards our efforts

to sustain our future through capacity-building.

In the Group of 77 Summit convened earlier this

year, the developing countries committed to

strengthening South-South cooperation through the

transfer of knowledge and technology. St. Kitts and

Nevis intends to forge ahead on the information super-

highway. My Government has embarked on a

programme to make each child in St. Kitts and Nevis

computer literate by the year 2005. We encourage

developed countries to use the availability of

appropriate technologies, not only to generate wealth

for themselves but also to advance the economic and

social well being of the citizens of the world. In the

words of Dr. Martin Luther King,

“Through our scientific genius we have made the

world a neighbourhood; now, through our moral

and spiritual development, we must make it a

brotherhood”.

The plethora of issues on the United Nations

agenda is complex and involved. Indeed, these

challenges sometimes even exceed the capacity of

individual States. Therefore, we need to harness the

collaborative energies of States and non-State actors to

cope with the fundamental changes in the world. This

Organization should be guided by the foresight of

President Truman who, in reference to the Charter,

stated,

“The Charter will be expanded and improved as

time goes on. Changing world conditions will

require readjustments”.

Change is the only constant. St. Kitts and Nevis

encourages Member States to recognize the importance

of change as we embrace the true concept of

democracy within the Security Council. The

undemocratic structure and lack of fairness within the

Security Council threaten to undermine Member

States' commitment and trust in the Organization.

Even as we forge ahead into a new millennium,

we still are witnessing some of the most gruesome

forms of man's inhumanity. War and other inter-State

conflict still litter the landscape of many societies

throughout the world. We must continue to support

peacekeeping operations to ensure that the rhetoric of

violence is silenced. The concepts of peace-making and

peacekeeping must also be complemented by the

imperatives of development. Once we have established

peace, we must also lay the foundation to support

lasting peace.

We welcome and congratulate the State of

Tuvalu, admitted at the opening of this fifty-fifth

regular session. As a vulnerable small island Caribbean

developing State, St. Kitts and Nevis is pleased to

welcome another vulnerable small State from the

Pacific, convinced that it is seized of its obligations to

uphold the principles of the Charter.

In addition, St. Kitts and Nevis reiterates its call

for discussion of the Chinese people on Taiwan. Again,

we emphasize that our policy seeks to promote respect

for the sovereignty of States. However, as we reflect on

the mission of this institution, we deem it appropriate

to consider the invaluable contribution of the 23

million Chinese people on Taiwan who can add great

substance to international discourse.

This Millennium Assembly affords us the

opportunity to reflect on the Secretary-General's

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report, which focuses on the world's people and the

United Nations role in ensuring their well-being.

We welcome the importance attributed to peace

and security on the agenda of the United Nations and

welcome the proclamation of the year 2000 as the

International Year for the Culture of Peace. We further

applaud the decision to declare the decade beginning in

2001 as the International Decade for a Culture of Peace

and Non-violence for the Children of the World. Our

children are our future; the new millennium belongs to

them. It behooves us to dissipate the ominous clouds

on the horizon of their dreams so they can awaken to a

world free of fear.

The experts contend that there is an obvious

correlation between the persistence of poverty and poor

health.

The statistical reports on HIV/AIDS paint a

sinister picture. Saint Kitts and Nevis is disturbed by

the rapid increase in the number of persons infected

with the HIV/AIDS virus and its economic and social

consequences for growth in developing countries. This

disease does not recognize national boundaries and

threatens to undermine future economic and social

development in many of our nations. We look forward

to a United Nations special session on HIV/AIDS to

intensify and better coordinate our approaches at the

international level.

Despite all its shortcomings, the United Nations

has a critical role to play in the international system.

Without the United Nations, many small States like

Saint Kitts and Nevis would lose a champion of

collective interests. That is unacceptable. One of the

most valuable gifts to humanity in the last millennium

has been the United Nations. We must therefore

commit ourselves to preserving it.