Samoa, 1995

I have to confess to my

usual excitement and pleasure at addressing the General

Assembly, exceptionally crowded and patient even at this

late hour.

Let me begin by congratulating Mr. Diogo Freitas do

Amaral on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its fiftieth session. Mr. Freito do Amaral

represents a country with a long history of global

achievements. With his personal qualities and experience,

he is a very natural choice to guide the work of this

Assembly at such a critical moment.

Let me also pay tribute to his predecessor, Mr.

Amara Essy, for his dedicated and distinguished

stewardship during the last session of the General

Assembly.

I want also to record the gratitude of my

Government to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros

Boutros-Ghali, for the measure and quality of the

leadership that he continues to provide in the direction

and work of the Organization.

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Barely three weeks ago Hurricane Luis wrought

devastation on several island countries in the Caribbean,

causing major setbacks to economic and sustainable

development, as well as the loss of lives. As we ourselves

recently experienced two similar disasters, our thoughts and

sympathy are with the people of the Caribbean nations

devastated by Hurricane Luis, and we pray for their speedy

recovery.

The President of the General Assembly, in his opening

remarks, reminded us of the scope of the membership and

the universal character of this Organization. Samoa is proud

to note that a sister nation of the Pacific, the Republic of

Palau, is the newest Member of the United Nations, and I

am delighted to extend to Palau the warmest of welcomes.

Two weeks ago the Republic of Palau was acclaimed to

membership — becoming the sixteenth member — of the

South Pacific Forum. That too was a moment of great pride

for all of us.

We come together at a special moment for this

Organization and in the history of international cooperation.

Undeniably, this is a session of exceptional importance. We

need to take stock of where we, the United Nations, are and

to set new goals and priorities for the future.

Samoa believes that any stocktaking must be rooted in

the Charter, which proclaims the purposes and principles of

the Organization. Regrettably, the Charter pledges that we

have made to succeeding generations remain largely

unfulfilled.

It is right, and it is natural, therefore that at this

fiftieth session, we, the peoples of the United Nations,

should seek to renew our commitment to those pledges. But

first, it must be remembered that they are pledges that carry

the attendant duty — a most sacred duty — to make them

realities. It is a duty imposed upon us all and accepted upon

membership in our Organization. Far too often, this is

forgotten, or seemingly ignored.

This session will also be the natural occasion on which

to reaffirm our support for, and our faith in, the United

Nations. I speak positively and unhesitatingly about

reaffirmation because, quite frankly, what else is there to

take the place of the United Nations?

What we have is certainly not perfect. And given its

almost universal make-up, the range of issues before it and

the increasing demands being made of the United Nations,

it would be surprising if this were the case. Indeed, in

recent years, all of us in this Assembly have been engaged

in various activities aimed at making the United Nations

more relevant, more efficient and more cost-effective and

at preparing the Organization for the twenty-first century.

We welcome in particular resolution 49/252, which was

recently adopted, on strengthening of the United Nations

system, and we look forward to taking part in the

discussions in the Open-ended High-level Working Group

established. If and when we have devised changes and

improvements in the United Nations system, I dare say

that in years to come it will be necessary to persist in

monitoring and putting into place further needed reforms

to ensure the sustaining vigour of the Organization. That

being the case, there is clearly room for criticism and

fault-finding, from among ourselves as well as from those

who look on. We do not however think the shortcomings

of the United Nations warrant uninformed cynicism and

unfair blame, nor the charge of irrelevance that is

sometimes levelled at it.

But clearly, the standing and the very role of the

United Nations is at risk if the Members continue to deny

the Organization the funds and resources it needs. The

Secretary-General has spoken of this matter time and

again, and once more in his report on the work of the

Organization (A/50/1). The Organization is in a most

critical financial state, but it is also clear that the situation

can be substantially improved with the early payment of

arrears and by the full and timely payment of assessed

contributions. We can only urge the most immediate

action on the part of those who know they must act.

Samoa is a small and least-developed country. We

are deeply committed to the United Nations, and we will

continue to meet our financial and other responsibilities,

notwithstanding the budgetary problems we face. We

share the view that the strongest measures must be taken

to achieve sound financial viability for this Organization.

It would be essential for this purpose that there be a fair,

more equitable and realistic scale of assessments, one

which would take full account of the principle of capacity

to pay.

This must also take into account the predicament of

some countries, including my own, which are assessed at

the floor rate of the scale, at levels far beyond their

capacity to pay. We believe there is a just case for

abolishing or reducing the current floor rate. This is a

matter of importance to many small States and we would

hope that the High-level Working Group on the Financial

Situation of the United Nations would continue to give it

due consideration.

29

There is a second aspect, which touches on the

emphasis now being given to United Nations peace-keeping

activities. While Samoa recognizes the necessary and

traditional role of the United Nations in promoting global

peace and security, it seems to us that ultimately no amount

of force and no measure of peace-keeping can sustain peace

and security without attention to the root causes. Our own

view is that human misery brought about by poverty and

the denial of human and democratic rights are often the real

and fundamental problems. Unless these are removed or

minimized, there can never be the substratum that we need

for lasting world peace and security.

Put simply, Samoa believes firmly that social and

economic development must remain a major preoccupation

of the United Nations, as pledged in the Charter.

Development priorities spelt out in recent global

conferences for the sustained economic and social

advancement of the developing countries should be

effectively implemented. They should not be ignored while

the Organization’s attention and its focus, in terms of

human and financial resources, is diverted elsewhere,

largely on peace-keeping activities.

For Samoa and other small island States disadvantaged

by their size and geographical location, the Programme of

Action for the Sustainable Development on Small Island

Developing States must remain a centrepiece of our

attention.

We welcome steps taken by the various organs of the

United Nations system to implement the Plan of Action.

We appreciate, in particular, what is being done by the

Department for Policy Co-ordination and Sustainable

Development and the Unit set up to monitor the

implementation of the Programme of Action. These steps

will complement efforts undertaken by our regional

countries in the South Pacific region to further advance the

commitments made in Rio, Barbados and elsewhere.

Samoa’s commitment to the pursuit of global peace

and security is unwavering. We will continue to do what

we can. Conflicts which continue to rage in many regions

of the world today cannot be ignored. They affect us all,

for they impact directly or indirectly on the ability of the

United Nations and the international community to respond

to the development needs of others.

We welcome the latest initiatives with a view to

bringing a peaceful end to the conflict in Bosnia. A

settlement acceptable to all parties must be reached.

Another milestone in the Middle East peace process

was reached in Washington yesterday. With the rest of

the world, we celebrate and commend the enduring efforts

and commitments made by the Israeli and Palestinian

leaders to lasting peace and security for all in that region.

Our environment is of vital importance, and of

singular concern to my Government. Our actions in the

region and at the international level are dictated by a deep

commitment to preserving it. Together with other

countries in our region, we have initiated and concluded

a series of treaty regimes, including those designed to

protect the natural resources and environment of the

South Pacific region and to establish the South Pacific

nuclear-free zone to keep our region free of

environmental pollution by radioactive wastes and other

radioactive matter.

We will continue to supplement these efforts as the

need arises. Indeed, leaders at the recent South Pacific

Forum meeting in Papua New Guinea adopted the Treaty

on the Control and Movement of Hazardous and Toxic

Wastes in the South Pacific. Samoa did not hesitate to

sign it.

Consistently over the years Samoa, together with our

regional partners, has called for a permanent end to

nuclear testing, the dumping of chemical and toxic wastes

and the transportation of these materials in our waters.

From this account you will therefore understand our

deep shock and distress when it was announced in June

that France proposed to resume the testing of nuclear

weapons in the Pacific. We sought, at the highest level,

as many others did, to persuade the Government of

France not to do so. We took action to register our

concern and to protest and we sought to intervene in the

proceedings brought by New Zealand against France in

the International Court of Justice. Together with other

Forum countries we moved to make direct representation

to the Government of France — all to no avail.

The explosion of a nuclear device at Mururoa atoll

early this month brings to close to 200 the number of

underground nuclear tests France has carried out in the

Pacific since 1975. Of the whole United Nations

membership, Samoa is the closest to the test site.

The resumption of nuclear testing by France has

been made in the face of strong and persistent protest

from countries of the region, and equally strong and

overwhelming condemnation from all parts of the world.

30

The current tests are being conducted in the absence of any

environmental impact assessments that we know of or have

been advised of, and in the opinion of my Government in

disregard of France’s existing regional treaty obligations.

Like other members of the South Pacific Forum, Samoa is

outraged at the resumption of French nuclear testing in the

Pacific — and, as I say, in the vicinity of my country. In

the strongest possible terms we condemn it. We do so

because of the extreme danger it poses to our environment

and health, now and in the long term; and because the tests

are completely contrary to the undertaking at the recent

Non-Proliferation Treaty review Conference that nuclear

States exercise utmost restraint in nuclear testing pending

the completion of negotiations on a comprehensive test-ban

treaty that would ban nuclear tests for all time.

We do welcome France’s commitment to a

comprehensive test-ban treaty, but that should not be used

as an excuse for France to continue its nuclear testing in

our region. For the sake of our environment and all who

live there, we call on France to stop.

We call also, and once more, on the three nuclear

Powers which have not yet signed and ratified the Protocols

to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty to do so.

It is also out of deep concern for our environment that

Samoa has taken every step possible to be engaged in the

negotiations and in the implementation of the international

conventions relating to climate change, biodiversity, marine

pollution and the conservation of straddling and highly

migratory fish stocks. Global warming and the threat of

sea-level rise are matters of the gravest concern to my

country and our region. Recently, the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that the warming

of the global atmosphere is unlikely to be entirely due to

natural causes. In other words, human activity is a definite

cause that cannot be discounted.

While this is not entirely unexpected, the latest

indication from the IPCC bears out the inadequacy of

current Convention commitments for Annex I parties, and

underlines the essential correctness, and the urgency, of the

Berlin Mandate issued from the first Conference of the

Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change. For its part, Samoa will continue to work

together with countries of the Alliance of Small Island

States (AOSIS) towards the early acceptance of clear

emission-reduction targets of the type advanced in the draft

AOSIS Protocol.

In respect of fish stocks, let me take the opportunity

to pay tribute to all the countries that worked so hard to

produce the truly remarkable triumph in the form of the

draft Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions

of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

relating to the Conservation and Management of

Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.

In particular, we express our gratitude to Ambassador

Satya Nandan of Fiji for his exceptional skill and

chairmanship.

This has been a landmark year on many counts; with

the fiftieth anniversary commemoration we will celebrate

next month the crowning event.

The Fourth World Conference on Women, in

Beijing, is one such landmark. Samoa warmly applauds

the unanimous adoption of the Platform for Action, and

the remarkable degree of international consultation and

cooperation that was employed to produce it. What is

needed now is the highest degree of commitment and

action, in close consultation with women at all levels.

There would be little point in having yet another fine

document without any prospect of implementation, and

without the effort and the will to make concrete changes

and improvements. And let it be remembered that such

changes and improvements are not for women alone, but

for the full development of mankind.

Without doubt, the extension of the Non-

Proliferation Treaty was a major achievement for the

world community this year. We congratulate Ambassador

Dhanapala of Sri Lanka on his remarkable role and

leadership in ensuring the successful outcome of the

Review Conference.

The decisions we took then are essential to

international peace and security, and the attainment of the

ultimate goals of the complete elimination of nuclear

weapons and a treaty on general and complete

disarmament under strict and effective international

control. The successful conclusion of a comprehensive

nuclear-test-ban treaty by 1996 is a specific goal for the

attainment of which all Member States of this body

should strive with the utmost effort.

We pray that at the end of the presidency of

Ambassador Freitas do Amaral of Portugal, the world

community will be able to celebrate the accomplishment

of that objective.