Saint Kitts and Nevis, 2012

On behalf of

the Government and people of Saint Kitts and Nevis, I

extend my sincere congratulations to Mr. Vuk Jeremić

on his election to the presidency of General Assembly at

its sixty-seventh session. His task, we know, will be far

from easy in the light of the wide range of taxing issues

that will be brought before him. As he embarks on his

tenure, it is our hope that under his astute leadership,

the myriad issues that define the work of the Assembly

will continue to find relevance for all of us.

It is imperative, therefore, that the mobilization of

commitments required to advance the agenda of this

sixty-seventh session begin now. We are aware that

the challenges associated with that task are demanding

and will indeed require our focused attention, strong partnership and visionary leadership if we are to make

significant strides in an era embattled by a plethora

of issues that threaten the realization of our various

development goals. We have no doubt that he will

provide the degree of attention they so urgently deserve.

I must also at this point, on behalf of my delegation,

thank Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, for so ably

presiding over the work of the Assembly during the past

year.

Our focus this year is on continuing to steadfastly

promote an environment of peace and security, which are

the critical requirements for sustainable development

for our peoples. As the geographic distance that divides

us shrinks into insignificance and becomes increasingly

reduced by our interdependence and partnership, it is

equally significant that we strive for the effective and

lasting settlement of disputes.

Libya and Syria, of course, are just two of the

many cases that come to mind, with the myriad and

multifaceted questions that they raise, not only

regarding the advisability of intervention, but also

with reference to such issues as the timing of any

intervention, the form of any intervention and, of

course, the associated humanitarian and relief-related

consequences of any such intervention. The complexity

of those challenges demands a sober redoubling of our

efforts and underscores the fact that social upheaval

and human trauma anywhere must indeed concern us

all.

The Security Council must continue to ensure that

it executes its mandate to enable the institutionalization

of a culture of peace and security. Respect for

democracy and the democratic principles espoused

by the United Nations must inform the thrust of our

engagement as we reject intolerance for diversity and

embrace peaceful coexistence for all people. I take this

opportunity to condemn the recent, senseless attack on

the United States consulate in Libya, which resulted in

the loss of innocent lives. It must be condemned from

the highest level.

Saint Kitts and Nevis is grateful to be a stable,

socially cohesive nation. On behalf of my Government,

I would also like to express our deep appreciation to the

United States of America for its highly valued support,

in the form of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative,

offered to both my country and our Caribbean region

in our fight against drugs and criminality. It also addresses the issue of the reform that is required to

ensure that our youth embrace renewed alternatives to

lives of unproductivity and look towards a new hope for

peace and prosperity through respect for human life.

That is of great importance to us. The continuing f low

of foreign-made small arms into our Caribbean region,

however, concerns us greatly. Originating beyond our

shores, those weapons have dire consequences in terms

both of human life and of the economic stability of our

nations.

We are aware that changing cultural values

are influencing the use of weapons by some in our

nations, and we understand the importance of focused

and effective policing and partnership on matters

of security. In that regard, we urge the international

community to make the production of a much-needed

and long-overdue arms trade treaty an absolute priority.

The interests of democratic nations everywhere cry

out for the establishment of international standards

and controls governing the illicit f low of conventional

weapons, and I urge the establishment of a dedicated

secretariat to assist States parties in that regard.

I ask: How can small Caribbean nations be expected

to deal single-handed with the double misfortune

of being located between regions of massive drug

production and regions of massive drug consumption?

Small arms and light weapons always follow illegal

drugs, and we in the Caribbean are simply not equipped

to deal with the externally created crime fallout. On

that point, I wish to stress that before its closure, the

Barbados branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs

and Crime provided critical, hands-on collaboration

in this high-priority area of fighting crime. With

its presence now having been withdrawn, the vital

support that we need simply is not there, leaving us to

adjust as best we can at precisely the time when drug-

and deportee-related crimes continue to be a major

hemispheric challenge.

While we focus on the well-being of our people, my

Government has strengthened its primary health care

with increased attention to reducing the prevalence of

non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and has updated

an implementable plan of action that addresses the

priorities in keeping with the Political Declaration on

NCDs (resolution 66/2, annex). As part of our national

sensitization mechanism on health-related issues, we are

institutionalizing a culture of wellness with emphasis on

healthy lifestyles. Similar responses have been initiated

at the regional level, as we encourage Member States to participate effectively in the multilateral institutions to

voice our positions on the issue of NCDs. That is why

the Caribbean Community has taken the lead on this

matter in recent years, with the High-level Meeting of

the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of

Non-communicable Diseases.

Therefore, in the light of the clear nexus between a

healthy workforce and a nation’s economic potential, I

urge this body today to move forward to launch a United

Nations campaign to curb the global toll of NCDs as

we move towards the realization of our Millennium

Development Goals. At the time of last year’s High-

level Meeting on NCDs, there was a commitment both

to ensuring that this grave issue remains high on the

development agenda and to ensuring concrete action in

that regard. Hence, the type of global effort previously

recommended would constitute precisely the type of

concrete action to which we committed ourselves one

year ago.

Any discussion of global health must address the

issue of HIV/AIDS, and because our ultimate objective

must be the complete eradication of that dreaded

disease — as opposed to the lifelong management and

accommodation of same by millions of people around

the globe — I appeal today for a wise, determined

and discerning onslaught against the scourge at the

local, national, and international levels by us all. Here

and now, we must recommit ourselves to eradicating

the stigmatization of and discrimination against

people living or associated with HIV/AIDS. The

abuses of human lives that perpetuate discrimination

and stigmatization must come to an end. We in the

Caribbean are committed to achieving exactly that.

I wish now to address a matter that is profoundly

troubling to small island States like mine. Whatever

the debate being waged internationally regarding the

question of climate change, and however dramatic

the rhetorical jousting within various circles on the

issue, we in the Caribbean can attest to the radical

climatic shifts that our region has undergone in recent

decades. Moreover, it is very troubling that the largest

contributors of greenhouse gases are still not taking

responsibility for the increasing temperatures, rising

sea levels, coastal degradation, coral reef bleaching and

decimation, infrastructural damage and loss of lives

that their actions have wrought.

Our peoples, our maritime integrity, our soils and

our infrastructure are all interrelated contributors to our overall social and economic viability. And the absence

of corrective and restitutional action on the part of the

industrialized nations involved is neither constructive

nor understandable in this highly interdependent world.

The physical, mental and financial burdens that other

countries’ energy usage has inf licted on countries

like mine has been enormous, plunging us deeper into

debt and severely frustrating our efforts to meet our

Millennium Development Goals.

While a shift to renewable energy will not instantly

solve the myriad problems caused by a significantly

fossil fuel-based global economy, the embrace of green

energy will indeed help to halt the intense downward

spiral into which our fossil fuel-based economies have

thrust our planet. And so we strongly urge that green

energy be made an absolute priority globally. I must

commend the Secretary-General for his visionary

leadership and the Governments and financial

institutions that have committed generously to ensuring

that high-impact clean energy is utilized globally.

My Government wishes to place on record its

appreciation to the Government of the Republic of

China on Taiwan and other development partners for

their valuable assistance to my country in the area of

renewable energy, which will positively impact our

energy cost-reduction efforts as we move towards

realizing a full green economy by 2015 in order to bring

much-needed financial relief to our people.

The recently held United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development (Rio+20) set the stage for a

reconfiguration of the global programme on sustainable

development, and signaled a new era in the sustainable

development agenda of the international community.

Two decades of debate and deliberation were

instrumental in our being able to frame the dialogue,

and envision a path for the two decades ahead of us. If

we are to even approach the potential of Rio+20, it will

be essential that we first face up to, and then break,

the strictures of indifference and narrow self-interest

that have plagued us for far too long. It is therefore

incumbent upon us and future generations to view our

responsibilities as parts of an ongoing continuum, with

each of our efforts benefitting from and building upon

the work that came before.

Saint Kitts and Nevis therefore applauds

the decision to convene the third United Nations

Conference on the Sustainable Development of

Small Island Developing States in 2014. Small island developing States, by virtue of our size and geographic

profile, are clearly among the world’s most vulnerable

nations — hence the recognition of our need for special

attention where sustainable development is concerned

and the importance of everyone remembering the

absolutely essential nature of special and differentiated

responsibilities where small island States are concerned.

I therefore urge that clear targets be established

now so that we can all prepare thoroughly and well

for the 2014 Conference, at which urgently needed

attention will be paid to the ways in which our own

vulnerabilities as small developing States might best

be reduced. This body can be assured of our full

participation in the process and in the post-Rio+20

sustainable development agenda.

Permit me to point out, however, the extent to

which the best-laid plans of countries like mine are

repeatedly upended by decisions made in nations far

beyond our shores. I mentioned earlier the impact of

externally generated carbon emissions on our economic

prospects. I also discussed the severe national security

threat posed to our region by foreign-made small arms

and weapons that have been finding their way into our

nations. Particularly trying as well, and very troublingly

and destabilizing for many countries throughout the

region — and indeed the world at large — has been

the global economic crisis that made itself manifest in

2008, the ramifications of which have been trying and

testing regional economic planners to the limits ever

since. In no way of our making, that global economic

crisis has severely complicated the task of governance

in advanced economies and more so in highly indebted

middle-income nations like mine. It has introduced

both new variables and additional unknowns to our

economic planning models, and has, in a nutshell,

thrust upon us a backdrop of global volatility that none

of us could have anticipated, that none of us welcome,

and that has created immense difficulties for all of our

people.

Indeed, Saint Kitts and Nevis was forced to pursue

a new economic development programme involving

fiscal balance and debt restructuring, with built-in

social safety nets. The assistance of the International

Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Union

and our many local, regional and international creditors,

including the United Kingdom and the United States, as

members of the Paris Club, have helped us to alleviate the

severity of the social impact of the economic adjustment

and to restore confidence among our investors in the economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis. But we continue to

face significant challenges, especially in relation to the

attainment of economic growth in the context of a very

sluggish and uncertain global economy. The mammoth

challenges and difficulties that our small multi-island

State faces underscore the need to pay greater attention

to the issue of special and differentiated responsibilities

in a rather trying era. It also underscores the need for

small, responsible nations like mine to have fair and

calm paths to redress in our relations with far larger

and infinitely more powerful friends and allies.

A few days ago in this very Assembly, the nations

of the world held the High-level Meeting on the Rule

of Law at the National and International Levels. While

there is often debate as to the exact meaning of the

rule of law, my delegation and the people we represent

are happy to align ourselves with the core principle

on the rule of law, as distilled by the late Mr. Thomas

Bingham, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. In

his book The Rule of Law, he stated:

“The core of the existing principle is, I suggest,

that all persons and authorities within the state,

whether public or private, should be bound by

and entitled to the benefit of laws publicly made,

taking effect (generally) in the future and publicly

administered in the courts.”

Although not comprehensive, in my country’s view

that represents a solid basis from which to identify the

essential elements of a continually evolving concept

and an essential mechanism for conflict resolution

and for ensuring respect for the fundamental rights

and freedoms of our people. I support the call of the

Secretary-General for a comprehensive approach to

strengthening the rule of law at the international and

domestic levels.

I make the point because, over our almost 30 years

of nationhood, Saint Kitts and Nevis has studiously

examined both trends here at the United Nations and

developments throughout the international community

as we have evaluated our place in the world. Throughout

that time, we have been faithfully guided by our belief

in the rule of law. We believe that in the international

arena, the rule of law was created to protect the

vulnerable, like ours, and to remind us of obligations

to our fellow human beings. We further believe that

orderly and constructive coexistence requires not only

citizens, but nations as well to be bound by the rule of

law. Respect for international law has therefore, for our nation, always been our guiding force. My delegation

calls on all States members of this great body to

similarly respect that most sacred pillar of international

coexistence.

Throughout the 29 years of our existence as a

sovereign nation, the Republic of China on Taiwan

has been a highly valued partner and ally. Throughout

my nation, evidence of our collaborative efforts

abound in areas as diverse as agriculture, agritourism,

green energy, information technology, community

development and education, to name just a few.

In my own nation or even my region, however,

Taiwan’s unfailing and valued contributions to the

work of the United Nations Framework Convention

on Climate Change, the International Civil Aviation

Organization, the World Health Assembly and other

forums have long demonstrated its outstanding

credentials as a valued and impactful member of the

global community. It is only fitting and just that all

remaining strictures pertaining to Taiwan’s standing

among the international community of nations be

removed. Saint Kitts and Nevis appeals to this body to

ensure that that will indeed be done.

In closing, I wish to stress here how unfortunate

it is that, yet again, the case has to be made for the

lifting of the embargo on Cuba. The embargo is not,

as some may wish to suggest, a matter of merely

bilateral import. Not only have we repeatedly heard

Cuba oppose the situation in this very body, but we

also know that the embargo’s continued denial of

certain medical treatments to the Cuban people is

simply unconscionable. Cuba and its people have made

considerable contributions to international medicine

and higher education, and the Caribbean has been

among its most sustained beneficiaries. It is therefore

with the utmost conviction and clearest possible resolve

that Saint Kitts and Nevis calls for the immediate end

to the embargo.

I recall that it was in July and August of this year

that the international community participated in the

games of the thirtieth Olympiad. At a time of rising

international tensions and intensifying antagonisms,

the time has probably come for us to introduce to

other areas of international and intra-State realms of

interaction the keen spirit of cooperation and mutual

respect that has enabled the Olympics to function so

constructively and so well for so many years. The international community is, by definition,

diverse. Throughout the community, however, there

run strong seams of commonality that can and must

be better utilized in order to promote peace, the

constructive airing of differences and the avoidance of

violent conflict. Most importantly, when all else fails,

we can and must settle the most vexing international

crises through the good offices of this institution, our

United Nations. That is the path that would serve all our

best interests. I sincerely urge that we take it.