Saint Lucia, 2002

I should like to add the

voice of my delegation to the voices of those who have

already congratulated Mr. Jan Kavan on his election to

the presidency and those who have thanked the

outgoing President for his contribution to the work of

the Assembly. Saint Lucia pledges its full cooperation

to Mr. Kavan as he assumes the presidential mantle.

We are pleased that, at the commencement of the

fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly, we are

welcoming Switzerland and East Timor to our

Organization. We have no doubt that they will both

enrich the deliberations of our organization as we seek

to advance its cause. Saint Lucia, as a member of the

Special Committee on decolonization, is particularly

pleased that East Timor will at last able be to enter

these hallowed halls as an independent State in its own

right.

In this age of cutting-edge technology, scientific

miracles and the conquest of space, it is barely

conceivable that human misery and suffering are still

not decreasing. From Africa to Asia and from Asia to

the Caribbean, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is accelerating

and spreading, while known killers such as tuberculosis

and malaria continue to stalk human existence. We

watch as large parts of humanity fall, often seeming to

lack the impetus needed to have a substantial impact on

such scourges.

A large percentage of the population of the

developing world lives in degrading poverty, and many

are on the brink of starvation and famine. Some 24,000

persons, most of them from the developing world, die

each day of hunger. Approximately 12 million people

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in Southern Africa now face starvation. Yet there is a

worldwide glut in agricultural production. In some

places there is too much; in others there is too little.

The crisis of the development agenda is reflective

of the crisis of legitimacy that is being experienced by

the global economic governance structure. Saint Lucia

again calls for the reformation of the global economic

governance system to ensure that the planet's resources

constitute the common heritage of all mankind. A

corollary to global economic reformation is the

equitable sharing of resources to ensure a decent

quality of life for all and the redistribution of wealth

and power at the systemic level to redress existing

injustices so that we no longer have a world with too

much in one place and too little in another.

A major impediment to development is the lack

of transparency, accountability and democratic norms

within the operations of the global governance

network. Saint Lucia has always upheld the democratic

imperative within the domestic realm as the flagship

for the advancement of social progress and

development. Saint Lucia reiterates that it is only

through democratic participation and the belief that all

people are created equal and deserve equal rights and

opportunities that the right of the peoples of the

developing world to true self-determination and

development can be realized. It is only by upholding

the principles of transparency, accountability and

democracy that the International Monetary Fund, the

World Bank, the World Trade Organization and our

own United Nations system can become relevant to the

task of solving the problem of global poverty.

The Doha declaration alone will not prevent the

exclusion of States from economic decision-making

and global governance. The non-involvement of

Governments in the development process runs counter

to the original mission of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Saint Lucia challenges the United Nations system to

raise its universal voice, in concert with the discordant

coalition, opposing any unilateral determination of the

fate of the planet's natural resources and the billions of

poor people depending on them for survival. Saint

Lucia calls for the democratization and reform of the

WTO into an organization supportive of the sustainable

development of all States. This is the only way that

developing countries can protect their interests within

the multilateral trading system.

Saint Lucia laments the fact that the developing

world may have compromised its development agenda

by signing the WTO agreements without the principle

of special and differential treatment being an integral

part of those agreements. This omission has to be

corrected in the Doha round. Why is it so difficult to

understand that, given the critical nexus between trade

and development, developing countries cannot be

subjected to the same expectations, rules and

regulations that govern trade among developed

countries? The ideology of a level playing field is a

myth ill conceived. Equitable participation in world

trade demands that special consideration and assistance

be given to the developing world, particularly to

vulnerable, small island States like Saint Lucia. We

must resist — and I underscore the word “resist” — all

attempts to make the WTO a mechanism for unleashing

a silent economic war on the poor and powerless by

protecting corporate interests while marginalizing

Governments and people.

We need a Marshall Plan to address the terror of

poverty and the stark disparities between the developed

and developing world in trade technology, life

expectancy and illiteracy. Monterrey produced neither

a global development coalition nor a binding mandate

with targets and resources for implementing the United

Nations millennium goals of halving poverty,

effectively addressing HIV/AIDS, closing the digital

divide and strengthening Governments. The message

from Monterrey is that there is neither political will nor

resources available for development. Of the estimated

$55 billion required annually to implement the

millennium goals, Monterrey pledged only $5 billion

over a period of three years. Further, official

development assistance to developing countries has

continued to decline from the United Nations target of

0.7 per cent to 0.24 per cent.

Despite the fact that debt servicing accounts for a

net transfer of resources from developing to developed

countries, draining a significant amount of

development funds, Monterrey made no commitment to

the cancellation of the crippling debt of developing

countries. No attempts were made to stem the serious

marginalization of small island developing States or to

grant access to concessionary funding from

international financial institutions for their

development.

Sadly, Johannesburg was more of the same. The

conference was convened to strike a global deal on

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sustainable development, but failed to initiate the

people-driven process necessary to transform the

global economic crisis into development for all. No

mechanisms were established to insulate decisions

taken from being undermined in the current global

economic governance system. The failure of

Johannesburg to establish an international citizen's

agenda — with clear targets, resources and

commitments to implement development goals – that

protects the poor and the planet will reverberate

throughout the developing world.

The United Nations appears to have become

complicit in its own demise, permitting the principles

of universality and the quest for justice and equality to

become obsolete. This institution was once the proud

champion of the redistribution of global economic

power and the establishment of a new international

economic order. Today, however, in the major United

Nations institutions, such as the Economic and Social

Council, the United Nations Development Programme

and the General Assembly, there is a deafening silence.

Further, the gains made by the developing world

within the United Nations are quickly being eroded.

The post of Director-General for International

Economic Cooperation and Development has been

abolished. This was one of the few concrete outcomes

of the developing world's thrust to secure a stronger

presence in support of international economic

cooperation. And the United Nations Centre on

Transnational Corporations, which effectively tracked

the activities of transnational corporations in the South

and their contribution to sustainable development, has

been dismantled. Today, the market is left to determine

everything, with corporate rule of the global economy

resulting in untold havoc to the environment and the

poor. No mechanism is in place to ensure corporate

responsibility and accountability.

Saint Lucia urges the United Nations to

reinstitute the United Nations Centre on Transnational

Corporations. Further, Saint Lucia calls on the United

Nations to resist any attempt to weaken and

marginalize the United Nations Conference on Trade

and Development.

While development within the United Nations

system is being undermined through the cutting and

freezing of the United Nations regular and core budget,

there have been substantial increases in the

peacekeeping budget. Military spending — particularly

that of developed countries — keeps escalating, and the

United Nations Development Programme and the

Bretton Woods institutions are being reoriented away

from development. Development is in need of a global

coalition, without which we will pursue wars against

terrorism in vain.

Saint Lucia condemns terrorism in all its forms

and manifestations. For small island developing States,

however, security against terrorism and other threats is

not merely a matter of military spending, but is rather a

multidimensional concern encompassing matters such

as drug trafficking and small arms, transnational crime,

unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment.

Therefore, whilst maintaining its peacekeeping

mandate, the United Nations should not abandon the

other mandates of its Charter — the economic and

social development of all peoples — if it intends to

remain relevant and credible. This institution needs to

regain its balance and to listen to the fainting voice of

humanity in a universal chorus proclaiming global

peace, justice, prosperity and equality for all.

It would be remiss of me if I did not at this point

reiterate Saint Lucia's call for an end to the economic

embargo on Cuba and for that country to be allowed to

pursue its right to the development of its people and to

assume its rightful role within our hemisphere.

In closing, let me state quite categorically that, as

a vulnerable small island developing State, Saint Lucia

is among those countries which require the support and

protection of the United Nations system and the safety

of a strong, democratic and fair multilateral system

most of all. We appreciate the support received from

this institution and from friendly countries as we seek

to advance our country's development. We also

reaffirm our commitment to working with all Member

States to ensure peace, security and development for all

peoples.