Trinidad and Tobago, 2005

It is an honour

for me to extend to His Excellency Mr. Jan Eliasson

my sincere congratulations on his election to the

presidency of the sixtieth session of the General

Assembly. Let me also pay tribute to his predecessor,

His Excellency Mr. Jean Ping, for his extraordinary

dedication and leadership during the fifty-ninth

session. I also wish to express my Governmentís

sincere appreciation to the Secretary-General, His

Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, for his tireless efforts

aimed at strengthening multilateralism and upholding

the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Five years ago, at the Millennium Summit, world

leaders reaffirmed their faith in the United Nations and

its Charter as indispensable foundations of a more

peaceful, prosperous and just world. While there has

been progress in some areas, much remains to be done

to bring about the full realization of the ambitious

Goals set forth in the Millennium Declaration.

The promise of a global partnership to realize the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) remains

unfulfilled for the vast majority of the peoples of

Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, where

a total of more than one billion people still live below

the poverty line. For the Caribbean region in particular

challenges remain in the area of trade, where the

erosion of tariff preferences for primary commodities

such as bananas and sugar have been extremely

prejudicial to the socio-economic development of

many countries of the Caribbean Community

(CARICOM).

The Caribbean region has also been affected by

the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has killed over 20

million men, women and children worldwide. The

implicit threat to economic and social stability, human

development and security cannot be underestimated or

denied.

The target of devoting 0.7 per cent of gross

national income to official development assistance

(ODA) also remains an elusive goal, although there

have been encouraging signs recently, such as the

commitment made by the Group of Eight (G-8) at the

Gleneagles summit and the commitments of other

developed countries to meet that target by the year

2015. Those commitments were reiterated in the 2005

outcome document (resolution 60/1) of the High-level

Plenary Meeting.

At the same time, we have been increasingly

confronted by humanitarian emergencies caused by

devastating natural disasters, with the resultant internal

displacement of people. Once again, we wish to

express our sympathy to the Government and the

people of the United States of America in the wake of

Hurricane Katrina. In our own CARICOM subregion,

we remain particularly vulnerable to the devastating

effects of hurricanes. In the light of the extensive

damage inflicted on the sister island of Grenada last

year, we urge the United Nations, the international

community and donor agencies to give priority

attention to the CARICOM subregion in the areas of

disaster preparedness and post-recovery assistance.

The rise of global terrorism, the threat of the

proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical

weapons and the concomitant prospect of them falling

into the hands of non-State actors have emerged as

issues of extreme urgency. The spread of small arms

and light weapons - the weapons of choice in many

intra-State conflicts - also poses a threat to the

security of many countries. In that regard, CARICOM

is particularly concerned about the increasing

incidence of violent crime caused by the presence of

illegal firearms and their association with the illicit

drug trade.

The confluence of all those interconnected threats

and challenges, as daunting as this may seem, can and

must be countered and effectively addressed. We must

therefore demonstrate the political will and the

commitment to act collectively to develop national and

regional strategies with renewed resolve at the global

level to support robust multilateralism, with a strong

and effective United Nations at its centre. No one

State, no matter how powerful, can act wholly by itself

to resolve those common problems. There is also

simply no legitimate alternative to the United

Nations ó no comparable multilateral institution

where all member States meet, deliberate, advance and

harmonize their views and interests and negotiate and

adopt instruments for collective action to the benefit of

all.

Last week, in adopting the outcome document,

we agreed to a road map, as it were, of measures

required to reorient the United Nations to meet todayís

challenges. Even as we reaffirm our faith in the United

Nations and our commitment to more robust

multilateralism, and even as we work towards a more

effective United Nations through the implementation of

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the outcome document, we must recall that the main

purpose of last weekís Meeting was to review the

progress made since the Millennium Summit adopted

the MDGs, five years ago. Indeed, it is the overall

improvement in the lives of all our peoples, in whose

name we are gathered here, by which history will

ultimately judge or condemn us. Permit me, therefore,

to offer some views on issues that Trinidad and Tobago

considers paramount, and on the principles that should

serve as a guide for our future deliberations.

Those must of necessity include the following:

the imperative of recommitting ourselves, as a matter

of priority, to the full realization of the development

goals and objectives that have emerged from major

United Nations conferences and summits, including the

MDGs; greater democratization of all United Nations

organs and related bodies, in terms of both their

composition and their mode of operations; strict

observance of the rule of international law and justice;

and respect for the commonly shared values on which

the United Nations is founded.

Development must remain central to the agenda

of the United Nations.

Trinidad and Tobago supports the increased

attention of the international community towards

Africa in overcoming its developmental challenges and

in providing that continent with the increased resources

needed to enable it to fully implement the New

Partnership for Africaís Development (NEPAD).

We welcome in particular the commitment

contained in the outcome document to the

implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action

for the Sustainable Development of Small Island

Developing States. We call for the full and effective

implementation of the commitments, programmes and

targets contained in the Mauritius Strategy, adopted at

the International Meeting to Review the

Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action

for the Sustainable Development of Small Island

States.

Trinidad and Tobago has demonstrated

remarkable strength and resilience in the face of a

global environment characterized by rapid economic,

social and other changes. We have embarked on the

road to developed-nation status and hope to reach our

goal by the year 2020 or earlier.

Our Vision 20/20 includes the evolution of a

technologically driven, knowledge-based society, a

highly productive and globally competitive economy,

and the provision of a standard of living comparable to

that of the developed world. To achieve that vision, the

Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is

developing its human capital by creating a virtually

seamless educational system from the primary to the

tertiary level, with increasing emphasis on information

technology and other related subjects. In this way we

will ensure that our young people can become an

integral part of the global labour force, with the

necessary skills to compete locally, regionally and

internationally.

Our development agenda is not centred solely on

the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is, as my

Prime Minister stated from this very rostrum one year

ago, "part and parcel of a pan-Caribbean agenda to

which we are irrevocably and solidly committed -

[and in which the] development of Trinidad and

Tobago and CARICOM are intertwined". (A/59/PV.10,

p. 8)

We therefore remain committed to the integration

of the Caribbean region through the instrumentality of

CARICOM. To that end, Trinidad and Tobago has

provided substantial financial and economic assistance

to our CARICOM neighbours through a variety of

mechanisms, including capital market activities, direct

foreign investment, debt relief and direct bilateral

assistance. We have also provided extensive hurricane

relief as well as assistance to the private sector in

CARICOM to strengthen their export capability.

As an energy surplus country, Trinidad and

Tobago has, through its own Petroleum Stabilization

Fund, made financial assistance available to

CARICOM countries to the tune of some $48 million

per annum ó and this without any conditionalities.

No development or security assessment in our

subregion would be complete without consideration of

the grave political, economic, social and security crisis

that confronts the Haitian people. We look forward to

the holding of free, fair, democratic and inclusive

elections in Haiti and to the installation of a truly

democratically elected Government in that nation, so

that Haiti can once again sit in the Council of

CARICOM.

Trinidad and Tobago and other CARICOM States

remain committed over the long term to securing the

9

progress and future of the Haitian people. We therefore

urge the United Nations system and the international

donor community to provide the necessary support to

Haiti in the post-election period. Effective assistance,

the disbursement of funds pledged and the release of

other resources will ensure the progress of a nation

currently overwhelmed by daunting challenges.

In the area of disarmament, we share the

disappointment of many Member States at our failure

to demonstrate the necessary political will to ensure the

consensus adoption of agreements leading to tangible

and substantive results at the Review Conference of the

Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and in the outcome document.

Trinidad and Tobago reiterates its condemnation

of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and it

is committed to doing its part to eradicate that scourge

from our world. In that vein, we look forward to the

early conclusion of a draft comprehensive convention

on international terrorism.

In addition, we welcome the action taken by

members of the international community to combat

terrorism, but we would wish to reiterate that the

human rights and the civil and political rights of

individuals must be respected in the course of any

counter-terrorism actions taken by Member States of

the international community.

As a small island developing State, we face

difficulties associated with the evils of the drug trade

and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.

As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stem

the tide of criminal activity within our society.

Trinidad and Tobago believes that an

international order based on the rule of law must be

observed in relations between and among States. This

fundamental pillar is indispensable for the proper

functioning of the international system. In their

relations, States must have regard, at all times, for the

principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of

international law.

We reaffirm in particular those principles relating

to the sovereign equality of all States Members of the

United Nations, non-interference in the internal affairs

of Members, respect for their political and territorial

integrity, the right of peoples to self-determination, and

recourse to peaceful means for the settlement of

disputes.

We also reaffirm the important role of the

General Assembly in the development of international

treaties.

Trinidad and Tobago expresses its deep regret at

the failure of the outcome document to include any

reference to the International Criminal Court or the

question of impunity. In that regard, we call on all

States Members of the United Nations to become

parties to the Rome Statute of the International

Criminal Court in order to ensure that it becomes a

truly global instrument for the trial of those accused of

committing crimes that affront the conscience of all

humanity.

My country welcomes the cooperation between

the International Criminal Court and the United

Nations, which was highlighted earlier this year when

the Security Council decided to refer the situation in

Darfur to the Court. We look forward to increased

opportunities for collaboration and cooperation

between these two important global institutions in

putting an end to such crimes and to the culture of

impunity that has for so long accompanied them.

Trinidad and Tobago reaffirms its commitment to

the reform and strengthening of the United Nations. We

share the view that the reform of the United Nations

must seek to reinforce and consolidate the democratic

foundation upon which this Organization was built.

We are of the view that cardinal to the reform

agenda must be the revitalization and restoration of the

role and authority of the General Assembly, as the

chief deliberative, policymaking and representative

organ of the United Nations.

Trinidad and Tobago supports the comprehensive

reform of the Security Council. In that regard, we wish

to underline the importance of the adoption by the

international community of a comprehensive set of

reform measures. It is imperative that expansion should

proceed on the basis of making the Council more

representative of the general membership of the United

Nations. It should contribute to a greater

democratization of its functioning. It should impart

greater legitimacy and transparency to its decisions,

and it should be achieved through the broadest possible

consultation.

Trinidad and Tobago also looks forward to

participating in discussions on reform of the United

10

Nations human rights machinery and on the pending

issues relating to the Peacebuilding Commission.

Trinidad and Tobago commends the Secretary-

General for his ongoing efforts to enhance the effective

management of the United Nations. An efficient,

effective, well-resourced Secretariat which is

accountable to the General Assembly is indispensable

to achieving the objectives of a strengthened

Organization.

Trinidad and Tobago welcomes the Secretariat

and management reform proposals contained in the

outcome document as a first step towards a necessary

thorough debate and discussion, and we look forward

to participating actively in these negotiations.

It is imperative, however, that these proposals

meet the test of viability, that they have the sanction of

the established intergovernmental process and that they

do not individually or collectively seek to derogate,

diminish or further marginalize the role of the General

Assembly.

As we embark on the path of implementation of

the outcome document, we must spare no effort to

ensure that the future of the United Nations is not

compromised by the exigencies of the moment.

Institutional renewal, a strengthened United Nations

and a robust multilateralism must allow us to forge a

truly effective global response and commitment to the

common threats and challenges that confront us.

Trinidad and Tobago pledges to do its part to

make the United Nations a more effective instrument in

the common service of all our peoples.