Solomon Islands, 1992

It is an honour and

privilege for me to address this forty-seventh session of the United Nations

General Assembly.

On behalf of the Government and people of Solomon Islands, I should like

to express our sincere congratulations to you. Sir, on your election to the

presidency of the Assembly. I am confident that under your able leadership

much will be achieved. I should also like to convey our sincere thanks and

appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Samir Shihabi, for his outstanding

leadership during the forty-sixth session.

Solomon Islands joins the United Nations community in congratulating and

welcoming Mr. Boutros-Ghali, our new Secretary-General. Mr. Boutros-Ghali has

indeed an important and challenging task ahead. I assure the

Secretary-General of my Government's continued support and cooperation.

Much has happened since the last session of the General Assembly. Like

the rest of the world community, Solomon Islands has viewed with interest the

political developments in Eastern Europe since the latter half of 1991.

Self-determination has certainly taken its course. The former republics and

States of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia have now gained their freedom to

govern and pursue their own destinies. We observe with concern, however, that

these changes have had some negative results.

It is worth noting that as a result of these changes a number of former

republics and States have now become Members of this world body. In the same

spirit as previous speakers, Solomon Islands would like to congratulate the

newly independent States of Georgia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and

Herzegovina. The presence of those countries with us in this world forum not

only binds us closely, but brings home a message of unity, hope and peace.

Despite this message, Solomon Islands has learned with dismay about the

recent killings of the civilian population and United Nations personnel in

Bosnia and Herzegovina. We condemn this atrocious act. In this connection,

Solomon Islands fully supports the various measures undertaken by the United

Nations.

I now turn to the Middle East. Solomon Islands would like to register

its recognition of the countries which have played a prominent role in the

Middle East peace initiative. We appreciate the complexities of the conflict

and acknowledge the initiatives taken by the parties involved to find a

peaceful and lasting solution. Solomon Islands urges those with the necessary

resources and the will to do so, to continue to play a mediating and

supportive role in this process. In this context, Solomon Islands would like

to raise the questions where and how the United Nations can best play its role

in facilitating this effort. Given the emerging trend towards peace, Solomon

Islands calls on the United Nations to be both sensitive and responsive in

adopting resolutions. We look forward to more positive participation by the

United Nations in this regard.

We should like to highlight issues that are of concern closer to home,

the South Pacific. As the current Chairman of the South Pacific Forum,

Solomon Islands has an obligation to convey to this body the aspirations and

concerns of the region. At the twenty-third meeting of the South Pacific

Forum in Solomon Islands i 1 July this year, a number of issues of concern to

the region were discussed. These included environmental, trade and economic,

political and security issues.

The South Pacific region is unique because the marine environment is an

integral part of our existence. Our people, perhaps more than others around

the globe, depend on the sea, the land, the rivers and the forests for their

immediate livelihood. But poor development planning and global environmental

problems, such as climate change and the associated raising of the sea level,

are becoming a threat to our resources and aspirations. For this reason, our

region places environmental issues high on our agenda. Solomon Islands fully

recognizes the important outcome of the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development, including the Rio de Janeiro Declaration,

Agenda 21, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the

Convention on Biological Diversity and the statement of principles on

forests. We also endorse the concept of sustainable development, in which

environmental protection constitutes an integral part of the development

process. We are concerned, however, that the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change has not sufficiently addressed the issue of global

warming. We therefore earnestly urge the early commencement of the

negotiations on protocols to implement and elaborate upon the Convention and

we humbly request that this be treated as a matter of urgency.

Solomon Islands welcomes the decision of France to suspend its nuclear

testing in our region. The suspension has led to an improvement in the

relations between France and the countries in the region. It is hoped that

France will endeavour to cease nuclear testing activities in the South Pacific

for all time.

Solomon Islands believes that environmental education and the need to

create public awareness of environmental and related issues should form the

foundation for an implementation strategy for Agenda 21. My Government is

convinced that without educating the youth of today, who will be the adults of

tomorrow, we will merely by paying lip-service to these conventions.

declarations and principles on environment. In other words, sustainable

development of the environment and its protection demand relevant and

cost-effective educational programmes aimed at both the formal and the

non-formal sectors of our education systems.

As a step towards implementing Agenda 21, the primary and secondary

curriculums in Solomon Islands are being reviewed with a view to introducing

and improving the quality of environmental science education in schools.

While we might have the initiative and the motivation to enhance environmental

education programmes, the success of these undertakings is contingent on

financial and technical assistance from the richer nations. It was heartening

to hear, during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

in Brazil, that developed countries have committed themselves to providing

"new and additional" financial assistance to enable developing countries to

meet their obligations as stipulated under the conventions.

On economic and trade matters, Solomon Islands recognizes the adverse

impact which the global macro-economic trends have on its economy, which is

both open to, and susceptible to, external change. We realize that while the

initiative to begin economic reforms must come from the country itself,

regional and international co-operation in such efforts is also very vital.

Solomon Islands is at present pursuing a programme of structural

adjustment. This programme emphasizes, first, active and effective

private-sector participation; secondly, sustainable utilization of both human

and natural resources; thirdly, privatization of government-owned companies;

and fourthly, streamlining of the public service within the government. Being

small, however, Solomon Islands cannot pursue such a programme effectively on

its own. Success must depend on strategic regional development planning.

proper coordination of development programmes, and the mobilization of

resources to meet the needs. It also depends on the willingness and the

commitment of those with financial resources to be involved. In view of these

reforms, it is our sincere hope that the international financial institutions

and donor countries will support our efforts to achieve our goals and

objectives.

The vulnerability of small island countries to external and internal

security threats is not a new issue in this forum. It has been a major

subject of extensive discussion and debate over the past years. We are

raising the issue again because, despite the end of the cold war, there has

been little improvement in the situation in our region. Undesirable, criminal

and atrocious activities and behaviour, both from within and outside the

region, continue to threaten the sovereignty, security and economic integrity

of the South Pacific countries.

At the twenty-third meeting of the South Pacific Forum in Honiara,

Solomon Islands, in July 1992, the Forum agreed on a Declaration on Law

Enforcement Cooperation. This Declaration identifies priority areas and

establishes a framework within which security activities are to be pursued.

But these undesirable activities cannot be addressed at the regional level

alone.

For the long-term peace and stability of the South Pacific region, or any

other region for that matter, the involvement of and collaboration with

relevant international agencies is vital.

On decolonization, the Solomon Islands notes with appreciation the

positive measures pursued in New Caledonia by the French authorities in the

implementation of the Matignon Accord. We encourage a continuing dialogue

among all political parties in the territory. This is to ensure that

self-determination consistent with the principles and practices of the

United Nations Charter, in a framework within which all options, including

that of independence, is achieved. We encourage regular contacts and

interactions by the Kanaks and other New Caledonians with their South Pacific

neighbours to give them courage and confidence as they prepare themselves to

take on greater roles in their affairs.

As a small nation, Solomon Islands sees the United Nations system as an

effective insurance framework for our peace and security, fully realizing, of

course, that we have no military forces or military hardware. To this

important extent, we hail with gratification the Secretary-General's "Agenda

for Peace", which highlights preventive diplomacy, peace-keeping, peacemaking

and peace-building as a fresh challenge to our Organization in the future. We

recognize these measures as they are defined in his report to be worthy of the

attention of all Member States.

To conclude, may I on behalf of the Government and people of

Solomon Islands thank the United Nations for its continued interest and

assistance in the development of our country.

I should like to place on record my Government's appreciation to the

United Nations and the United Nations Missions in New York for their tributes

and messages of condolence in honour of our former Permanent Representative to

the United Nations, the late Mr. Francis Bugotu.