Samoa, 2014

Samoa congratulates the

President on his election and lends its full support to

the agenda that will guide our work during his tenure.

In the same spirit, I applaud our Secretary-General

and Samoan Prince Tupua Ban Ki-moon for his firm

commitment and strong leadership in steering our

Organization during this particularly turbulent and

difficult period for the world.

As members of the global family, our futures and

interests are inextricably linked. Crises with a global

reach threaten to engulf the world and affect all nations

irrespective of whether they caused or contributed to

the crisis.

Climate change is one such crisis. It is the world’s

most urgent problem and the greatest moral challenge

of our time. Known crises of global dimensions pale in

comparison to what climate change poses to our world

as a whole and to the future security of some of our

low-lying islands as sovereign States. Climate change is

indifferent to the suffering of countries touched by its

destructive reach. The victims can be rich or poor, large

or small, resilient or vulnerable, but they hardly matter.

It impacts all. For some there are already existential

implications looming. Others may consider the effect

on them to be minimal. Such complacency would be a

grave mistake and tantamount to gross negligence. If

climate change is not addressed comprehensively, the

consequences for our planet will be dire indeed and

will affect all countries.

No country should therefore stay detached and

unconcerned before the plight of the majority. All

countries must work together. Apportioning blame

for the present state of our environment is in itself yet

another human failing. It serves no useful purpose.

Being judgemental will not restore our environment.

Those who exploit the traditional divide between

developed and developing countries and ideological

and political differences do so conveniently, to mask

their own unwillingness to be part of the solution to an

impending global catastrophe.

There is too much at stake for the world to just sit

idly by. Strong visionary leadership that rises beyond

the dictates of vested national interests and political

tenures and views the world as a single constituency

where everyone must work together within the limits

of their capacity and capability to be part of the total

solution is at a premium. Governments must yield — not

to vested interests and expediency of time, but because

it is the ethical and just thing to do. Our timelines are

slipping by fast and soon we will be playing catch-up.

Yet each day lost to indecisiveness and wrangling on

petty points only intensifies the challenges we face.

The Lima and Paris climate conferences will provide

the best openings for the world to redeem itself. States

Members of the United Nations should step forward

with a sense of urgency and commitment to addressing

climate change today, not tomorrow. It should not just

be science and real life experiences that force us to act,

but also our consciences.

Against this backdrop, the Climate Summit on

Tuesday was timely. Its message was clear and simple.

Our actions to address climate change are grossly

inadequate. We are focusing more on symptoms than

on the root causes, and the solemn truth is that things

will only get worse if we do not act collectively now.

However, a ray of hope, best captured in the following

fundamental truths, is couched delicately in this

ominous prediction.

First, climate change is a societal problem

requiring decisive political leadership and a whole-of-

society approach. Every individual effort and every

national action counts because in unity we succeed,

but in division there is little we can do. Secondly, we

need a global solution if we are to succeed. The United

Nations is our last best hope. It is indispensable to a

sustainable solution that we provide the necessary

commitment to turning the tide against climate change.

Thirdly, climate change is solvable, and the solution is

firmly in our hands.

Only through enlightened leadership and the

concerted efforts of all countries, with the major

greenhouse gas emitters at the forefront, do we stand

a chance of lessening the destructive impact of climate

change and of reaching a credible post-Kyoto climate

agreement next year. Samoa calls upon those States

Members of our Organization that are in a position of

world leadership to lead the charge and to undertake

the tasks that need to be implemented quickly and

decisively so that the Paris conference can deliver

on an ambitious climate change agreement that is

effective, binding, capable of swift implementation,

and universally owned and respected by the 193 States

Members of the United Nations.

The Ebola outbreak is a deadly pandemic causing

chaos and untold suffering in parts of West Africa.

Its reach is global and if it is not treated it may prove

unstoppable. It has no respect for national borders or

Government sovereignty, and its victims are selected

indiscriminately. Born and unborn babies are robbed

of their youth, girls and boys of their adulthood, and

women and men of their productive lives, their dignity

and worth, while countries are dispossessed and

deprived of their valuable human assets.

Can we win the war on Ebola? Samoa believes that

we can and we should. That was why we were honoured

to be among the 134 co-sponsors of Security Council

resolution 2177 (2014) on peace and security in Africa,

with reference to Ebola, last Thursday. The Security

Council resolution was adopted with the highest-ever

number of sponsors and was swiftly followed the

next day by General Assembly resolution 69/1, which

unanimously approved a proposal to establish the United

Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. Samoa

welcomes the rapid, decisive and coordinated response

of United Nations Member States and agencies, and

in particular the proactive role the Secretary-General

played in mobilizing both the political will and the

material resources necessary to respond to this grave

crisis.

The global response to the Ebola outbreak is a

powerful illustration of what is possible when States

collaborate and coordinate to assist each other in

achieving common and critical goals. Such unified

responses have tangible results and save lives. Samoa

encourages all Member States to take this spirit of

cooperation forward, and to harness and follow this

example when dealing with other critical global issues.

As we meet here at the United Nations, the

rise in extremism has a taken a turn for the worst.

Radical militants are committing unspeakably brutal

and barbaric atrocities across the Middle East, and

threatening to spread their evil brand further afield. As

a small island nation in the Pacific Ocean, these threats

can seem extremely far removed from my country

of Samoa. However, in the globalized age in which

we live, all countries are threatened by challenges to

international peace and security. Developments in one

State invariably have effects in others, and this is true

of my country, far away as we are.

Global interconnectedness has brought innumerable

benefits to all countries, but it also increasingly brings

risks from distant corners of the Earth. As such, it is

imperative that the United Nations and its Member

States commit to tackling threats to international peace

and security, especially through the Security Council.

Specifically, States Members of the United Nations

must increase their collaboration and cooperation to

find solutions to challenges to peace and security, and

work diligently to implement them.

The United Nations was founded upon the values

of collective security and, for small nations, remains a

critical forum in which to contribute to the maintenance

of international peace and security, stability and

prosperity. This is particularly important for small

island developing States (SIDS), which risk a reversal

of the development gains they have made due to crises

far from home. To cement and build upon development

goals already achieved, international peace and

security must be maintained, and it is the responsibility

of all Member States, particularly those on the Security

Council, to work in close cooperation to ensure that this

happens.

Samoa belongs to the group of small island

developing States, a United Nations-recognized group

with special needs and inherent vulnerabilities, not by

choice, but by dint of factors completely outside its

control. Part of the dilemma we continually face is the

misconception that SIDS challenges are minuscule in

comparison to the needs of other special groups and

regions, and that their one and only concern is climate

change. Nothing could be further from the truth.

My country was honoured to host, on behalf of

the Pacific region, the once-in-a decade International

Conference on Small Island Developing States three

weeks ago. Our primary goal in hosting the Third SIDS

Conference was to have the spotlight of international

attention fall on SIDS, their challenges and realities.

Now that the spotlight has faded, we hope that the

increased understanding and appreciation of SIDS

issues and challenges gained at the Conference will not

be forgotten over time or sidelined by other competing

priority issues.

The international community has a very full agenda.

We as nations are being pulled in many directions.

This general debate and the sixty-ninth session of

the General Assembly will show just how packed

the agenda is. The follow-up to the SIDS Conference

will be part of that agenda. It is our hope that, despite

all the political, economic and other demands on the

countries of the world, the realities of SIDS, so clearly

spelled out in Apia and in the Small Island Developing

States Accelerated Modalities of Action — the SAMOA

Pathway — are able to retain the attention of the

wider international community. We took seriously the

commitments made to SIDS at the Conference and we

will remain deeply mindful of how those commitments

are turned into actions.

The Conference had as its theme “The sustainable

development of SIDS through genuine and durable

partnerships”. We are ready to build on our existing

partnerships. We may be small, but we are also able to

demonstrate the impact of our people and our countries

in successful, twenty-first century partnerships.

We may be small and sometimes invisible to many.

However, we know that united the SIDS are a strong

and positive group. The Alliance of Small Island States

(AOSIS) is showing its determination in a growing

range of areas and forums. Samoa, like other Pacific

islands, is proud of its place within AOSIS.

The SAMOA Pathway asks the Secretary-General

to undertake a comprehensive review of how the United

Nations system supports SIDS. This is an opportunity

to ensure that the United Nations is fit for the purpose

when it comes to supporting SIDS. There is ample scope

for improvement, and we look forward to engaging

fully in the process. The time for business as usual has

long passed. Let us work for an approach to SIDS that

shows the United Nations at its best.

The SAMOA Pathway is a well-crafted

intergovernmental agreement that has the seal and

stamp of approval of the United Nations membership.

Going forward, it falls on SIDS themselves to be

prepared to lead and own the SAMOA Pathway if it is

to be sustainable. Together with the specific entities

within the Secretariat charged with advocating and

championing SIDS causes, they should be more

proactive and assertive. Jointly, they must reposition

themselves to engage better in a more effective and

visible partnership.

Moreover, what we need to achieve is a human face

of SIDS to every issue that comes before the United

Nations, be it security, human rights, climate change,

development, gender or indigenous issues. That way,

SIDS issues will be at the forefront of the United

Nations agenda. They will remain topical and relevant

and be taken up, debated and acted upon daily, weekly

or monthly — and not conveniently set aside to be

discussed only when we have another SIDS conference

10 years from now.

Samoa continues to support United Nations

peacekeeping efforts worldwide. Small though we

are, Samoan police continue to serve side by side with

officers from other countries in places that require the

intervention of the United Nations. Within the Pacific

region, our solidarity with our neighbours in meeting

challenges means a guaranteed Samoan police presence

in the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands

and under the umbrella of the Pacific Islands Forum.

A durable peace settlement in the Middle East

continues to elude us, but that is not grounds to be

pessimistic. We should support every effort to create

conditions conducive to the successful establishment of

an independent Palestinian State alongside a secure and

safe State of Israel.

Finally, those bent on creating fear and panic

throughout the world will stop at nothing to achieve

their aims. We must not be held hostage to their devious

designs. Individually and collectively, we must step

up our efforts to combat the threat of international

terrorism in its many manifestations. No country can

succeed on its own. Only by working collaboratively

can we be successful.

As we approach the new post-2015 development

agenda, the culmination of many years of international

negotiations and agreements on sustainable development,

we must ensure that while a one-framework approach

is important, it does not equate to a one-size-fits-all

formula for purposes of implementation, monitoring and

evaluation. Indeed, the applicability of the Millennium

Development Goals and their indicators to small island

countries proved difficult, and much tailoring was

necessary before those global targets were seen as

relevant enough for us to meaningfully participate.

It is important therefore in the defining and refining

of the sustainable development goals and post-2015

development agenda that we account for groups like

SIDS and ensure that the indicators developed are also

applicable to their situations. Building on the existing

processes and experiences in the SIDS countries and

their respective regions and subregions is critical in

that regard.

Fortunately, we are on the back of a successful

SIDS Conference whose theme focused on effective

means of implementation through partnerships. We

must ensure therefore that the means to implement

the SAMOA Pathway is solidly incorporated into

the post-2015 development framework. Those

arrangements are well entrenched in the High-level

Political Forum and the review arrangements of the

Economic and Social Council. It is important that

the intergovernmental architectures of our respective

SIDS regions be included in the process, which means

working together. We cannot afford a situation where

we have intergovernmental organizations developing

separate policies and implementation arrangements

and partnerships for the same things. We must work

together.

Finally, we must break down what has been a

traditional them-and-us perception on both sides of

the divide between Member States and the Secretariat

established to serve our collective needs. It has not

served either side well; we are in fact on the same

side. I would therefore encourage any coordination

mechanisms established to ensure representation of

both in order to promote transparency and a balance

of perspectives and interests. The Inter-Agency

Consultative Group for SIDS is perhaps an arrangement

that could benefit from Member State representation

as well, where open discussions can take place around

effective implementation of the SAMOA Pathway and

the post-2015 development agenda.

Some of our development partners, traditional

and new, have reached out to help us. What they have

in common is trust and respect for our views and

needs. Bilaterally, regionally and internationally, they

are partnering with SIDS to overcome some of the

constraints imposed by limited land and narrow natural

resource bases, isolation and downward agricultural

production, sustained food security for our expanding

populations, and the need to provide a meaningful

existence for our people and communities in the rural

areas.

The United Nations was established to prevent

wars, bring peace and security, and protect human

rights through multilateralism and intergovernmental

cooperation. The architecture of the Organization

we have today is very complex, and, inevitably,

there are imperfections. However, the fact that we

have consistently met without failure at the General

Assembly each year is irrefutable proof that our

Organization works at many and different levels. It

is hard to imagine where the world would be without

the United Nations. It is why Samoa’s support for our

Organization is unwavering.