Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 1995

I wish,

on behalf of my country, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,

to congratulate Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral on his election

as President of the General Assembly. He assumes the

presidency on the historic occasion of the fiftieth

anniversary of the United Nations.

Commendation is in order too for His Excellency

Mr. Amara Essy of Côte d’Ivoire, for the competence and

sensitivity he displayed as he presided over the last

session.

Let us also take this opportunity to express to the

Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-

Ghali, our profound gratitude for the efforts which he has

made so far to achieve greater flexibility, and for the

enhancement of the capability of this world body to meet

the new challenges posed by the seismic upheavals taking

place in the international arena.

My delegation is supportive of United Nations

reform initiatives. We must redouble our efforts to ensure

a more efficient United Nations system that will respond

effectively to security and humanitarian needs, promote

human rights, and build the capacity for sustainable

development. Central to our concerns is the importance of

ensuring democracy in the United Nations. If this

Organization’s moral authority is to be preserved in an

increasingly democratized world, it is inescapable that its

own processes must be made more democratic. It is

therefore imperative, as we consider the enlargement of

the Security Council, that the existing geographic

imbalance be noted, and that the five regions of the world

be adequately represented.

My delegation calls for a more effective and

efficient United Nations. We are cognizant of the urgent

need to address the deteriorating finances of this great

Organization. Since the end of the cold war, funds for

development in poorer countries have been drastically

reduced, and peace-keeping demands now compete for the

limited funds available. In his recent report on the work

of the Organization, the Secretary-General revealed that

Member States owed the Organization approximately

$3.6 billion. Let us all work together to address this issue

of arrears, which seriously impairs the effectiveness of the

United Nations.

The role of peace-keeping forces will have to be

redefined. My delegation is concerned when lightly armed

peace-keepers or unarmed aid workers on a humanitarian

mission are threatened, taken hostage, harmed, or even

killed. To preserve the credibility of all United Nations

peace operations, personnel must be protected as they

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carry out the duties that the international community has

sent them to accomplish.

The recently concluded Fourth World Conference on

Women, held in Beijing, has certainly served to raise the

level of consciousness worldwide on the many problems

that women still encounter in many countries of the United

Nations. It is now evident that, even in those countries

where legislation has opened the road to equality and

equity, traditional attitudes continue to impede this process.

I am happy to report that in Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines, women have been given the opportunity to

lead. Over 40 per cent of the top administrative posts in our

civil service are held by women. Women also have equal

access to the political process and enjoy equal pay for equal

work. Moreover, my Government amended the constitution

to give women citizenship rights equal to those previously

accorded only to men.

Adherence to the principles of the United Nations

Charter and the right to self-determination of the world’s

peoples remain among the fundamental principles of the

Charter. This is reflected in the growing membership of the

Organization.

The Republic of China on Taiwan, which was once a

Member of this body, still finds itself on the outside,

knocking persistently at the doors of our chambers. It is the

view of the delegation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,

which we also expressed at the last session, that the time

has come for serious consideration to be given to the

eligibility of the Republic of China on Taiwan to become

a Member of the United Nations. Our position is based on

the principle of universality and in accordance with the

established model of parallel representation of divided

countries. We have recognized the several parts of the

former Yugoslavia, and this model should continue to guide

our policy.

My delegation believes that the Republic of China on

Taiwan is fully equipped to play an expanded role in the

world economic arena. Its successful development

experience can indeed serve as a reference for developing

countries. Not only has the Republic of China on Taiwan

achieved economic success but, in a few years, its political

system has evolved from one characterized by authoritarian

rule into one based on democratic principles. We cannot

preach about the universality of the United Nations while

at the same time ignoring the aspirations of over 21 million

people. It is more than time for the Republic of China on

Taiwan to be given the opportunity to make a tangible

contribution to the work of the United Nations.

My delegation reiterates its strong commitment to

the peaceful settlement of disputes among States. The

Gulf War is now behind us, but the international

community must continue to recognize the potential for

conflict that still exists in that part of the world.

In January 1995, the Secretary-General issued a

Supplement to his “Agenda for Peace” of 1992, which

highlighted new kinds of United Nations operations to

deal with the outbreak of ethnic and religious wars within

newly independent States. It is the fervent hope of my

delegation that a lasting peace will come to the troubled

regions of the world, particularly to Bosnia and

Herzegovina. One can recall when the despicable system

of apartheid was demolished in South Africa, just over a

year ago. It therefore behoves us to eradicate such evil

thoughts as “ethnic cleansing” from the minds of men in

other parts of the world.

Let me take this opportunity to applaud the efforts

of the Israeli Government and the leadership of the

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to pursue peace

talks despite the efforts of terrorists to derail the process.

My delegation fully supports a peaceful resolution of the

conflict that has plagued that region of the world for so

many years.

The Global Conference on the Sustainable

Development of Small Island Developing States was of

great importance to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The vulnerability of small island States such as ours is of

grave concern and we eagerly look forward to the

implementation of the Programme of Action agreed to in

Barbados in 1994.

Less than one month ago, the Caribbean region felt

the impact of several storms and hurricanes which

severely ravaged our sister islands of Antigua and

Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Saint Maarten,

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In the spirit of

Caribbean brotherhood, the entire rest of the region came

to the support of those affected. The Prime Minister, Sir

James Mitchell, in his capacity as current Chairman of the

Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), along

with Prime Minister Compton of Saint Lucia and Prime

Minister Arthur of Barbados, immediately embarked on

a tour of the islands which were severely hit.

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A national effort was mobilized in my own country for

relief supplies. My delegation takes this opportunity to call

for further external assistance, which remains crucial. On

behalf of the Government and people of Saint Vincent and

the Grenadines, I wish to convey our profound sympathy to

the Governments and the peoples of the islands affected,

particularly to the families of those who lost their lives as

a result of Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn.

We also wish to express our sympathy to the

Government and the people of the United States of

America, and more specifically the families of those who

lost their lives in the senseless bombing of the Federal

Building in Oklahoma earlier this year.

Our small and fragile States are now being threatened

by another type of disaster — an economic disaster, with

mounting pressures being exerted by very powerful forces

which appear not to understand the importance of the

banana industry to our very survival. Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines and the other banana producing countries of the

Windward Islands are limited to a mere three per cent of

the world market trade in the commodity. The powerful

multinational companies which are seeking to reverse the

special arrangements under the Lomé Convention already

control over 80 per cent of the world market.

More profits for multinational companies must not be

to the detriment of the small islands striving to maintain

democracy. The destruction of the Caribbean banana

industry will create economic and social havoc nationally

and regionally, and will undoubtedly have severe

repercussions at the international level. We recognize the

momentum for free trade, but see no reason why, as obtains

with issues related to other agricultural regions, of various

countries, we cannot be given the time to adjust and

restructure our economies.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has already seen its

active involvement and participation at the regional level in

the Caribbean as an indispensable dimension of its role as

a member of the international community. We have

consistently defined our objective to become members of

our various institutional bodies as a logical and natural

culmination of our international vocation. This definition is

rooted in our country’s political, social and economic

realities, as they have been shaped by our historical and

cultural heritage.

As a member of the recently established Association

of Caribbean States (ACS), we are indeed delighted to be

given a greater opportunity to strengthen relations with our

Latin American neighbours. Comprising some 200 million

ethnically and culturally diverse peoples, the ACS will

serve as a vehicle to promote the implementation of

policies and programmes designed to harness, utilize and

develop the potential of the Caribbean Sea, promote and

enhance economic space for trade and investment

opportunities, and establish and augment, as appropriate,

institutional structures and cooperative arrangements

responsive to the various cultural identities within the

region.

My Government totally condemns the illicit

production, trafficking and consumption of drugs. These

harbingers of violent crimes and corruption create a

serious menace to the health and well-being of our

economies and our people, threaten our democratic

institutions, and endanger national and regional security.

We are firmly convinced that only integrated

regional and international efforts can effectively address

the drug problem, and accordingly stress the need for

increased local, regional and international cooperation.

Greater emphasis should be placed on programmes that

generate employment and income for persons attracted to

drug production and trafficking as a means of livelihood.

With the end of the cold war, the international

community, freed of the ideological and other constraints

of the East-West struggle, saw new opportunities to

respond more effectively to longstanding problems that

had defied resolution because of super-Power rivalries.

There was optimistic talk of the “peace-dividend”, and the

Security Council acted with unprecedented consensus and

momentum on many issues.

At the same time, the thawing of the cold war

triggered long-suppressed tensions and conflicts in many

parts of the world. Serious global economic and social

problems, ranging from poverty, over-population, refugees

and migration, to unemployment, drug-trafficking and

environmental decline, have affected many societies on an

unprecedented scale.

Despite the dramatically diminished threat of a

nuclear war, the world of the 1990s turns out to be a far

more unstable place than many had hoped. The reality of

global interdependence, while promising new

opportunities for cooperation and exchange, reminds us all

too often of our shared and persistent problems. We face

more tensions in more places: increasing degradation of

the quality of human life and even more complex issues

15

of international laws and ethics, management and practical

cooperation.

It is therefore clear that the United Nations system is

in greater demand than ever before. As we commemorate

the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of this great

Organization, let us work in harmony and ensure that the

United Nations is adequately prepared to face the

challenges of an even more complex world. We must never

forget that the United Nations is a reflection of the real

world. If an ugly image appears, one should not blame the

mirror.