Vanuatu, 1998

On behalf of the people

and the Government of the Republic of Vanuatu, I wish

to join previous speakers in congratulating Mr. Didier

Opertti on his election to this high and important post.

His unanimous election as President of the General

Assembly at its fifty-third session shows the esteem in

which the international community holds both him

personally and his country, Uruguay. The Republic of

Vanuatu and its delegation are confident he will guide

this fifty-third session of the General Assembly to a

successful conclusion.

May I also take this opportunity to express my

delegation?s sincere appreciation to his predecessor,

Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, for his outstanding stewardship

in facilitating the work of the fifty-second session of the

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General Assembly. I also wish to commend our Secretary-

General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his wise leadership and his

dedication to the reform and restructuring of our

Organization. We ask the President to assure him of our

total support.

Three years ago, we all gathered here to celebrate the

fiftieth anniversary of our Organization and, in particular,

to renew our commitment to the fundamental principles that

created it in 1945.

We also made a strong commitment to further

strengthen our genuine, collaborative efforts to ensure that

this Organization continues to promote global peace, justice

and a healthy environment, as well as to support the

process of sustainable development of its Member nations,

in particular the small island least developed countries such

as those in the Pacific region, including the Republic of

Vanuatu.

The current international political and economic

situation has grown ever more complex and makes

increasing demands on our own resources and on the

support available from our development partners.

We are deeply concerned by the continuing escalation

of such international crimes as drug-trafficking, money-

laundering, terrorism, organized crime and other similar

activities which have the potential to place the sovereignty

and territorial integrity of small island States at great risk.

The international community must show its genuine

collaboration in combating these criminal phenomena if the

new philosophy of globalization is to progress in a positive

manner.

We do not believe that the world is doing justice to its

people and to the fundamental principles of peace and

economic prosperity as enshrined in the Charter of the

United Nations if we do not observe our joint call for the

disarmament of nuclear weapons and other weapons of

mass destruction. International security cannot be

guaranteed if we fail to accord priority attention and

resources to the education and health of humankind and its

survival into the next millennium.

The momentum of the fiftieth anniversary of our

Organization, the lessons we have learned from past

mistakes and our renewed commitment must guide us in

our pursuit of a better world where, through this

Organization, a renewed sense of mutual trust and genuine

dialogue can be achieved to ease political tensions and

economic crises in all regions and subregions of the planet.

In our part of the world, these new developments

constitute a real threat to the already vulnerable

environment of our island economies and populations.

Confronted with these challenges, many countries in the

Pacific region, including the Republic of Vanuatu, do not

have much choice, at the end of this century, but to

embark on difficult programmes of reform both within

their respective Governments and within their societies.

Last year, my predecessor, The Honourable Serge

Vohor, advised this Assembly that Vanuatu had initiated

a comprehensive reform programme, with the support of

both multilateral and bilateral donor agencies and

countries. He also made an appeal to this Assembly,

explaining that in order for the reform programme to be

successful and responsive to the needs of the national

population, 80 per cent of whom live from subsistence

farming in rural areas, Vanuatu would continue to need

the special support accorded to it as a least developed

country.

The role of Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko and the

Secretary-General in subsequently facilitating a

constructive dialogue and a comprehensive appreciation

of the economic hardships of Vanuatu must be

commended.

In this regard, the Government and the people of

Vanuatu warmly welcome the recent decision of the

Economic and Social Council of the United Nations to

defer consideration of Vanuatu?s graduation from least

developed country status, pending full assessment of the

usefulness of the vulnerability index and ecological

fragility as criteria for least developed country

designation. We would like to register our most sincere

appreciation and recognition to each and every country

and group of countries for their support.

One of the commitments we all made during the

fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 1995 was to reform our

Organization so that it could be effective in addressing

the problems and needs of its Member States, both

individually and as a group.

From our perspective — and we have no doubt that

others share it — the United Nations must include in its

reform agenda a full assessment and recognition of the

inherent particularities of small island States such as the

Republic of Vanuatu, and the impact of the international

economic crisis on their economic performance and the

sustainability of their political stability.

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The impact of the Asian economic situation and such

recurrent national disasters as tropical cyclones, tidal waves

and global warming on our island economies has yet to be

fully appraised. This warrants the urgent and dedicated

attention of our Organization.

With particular regard to the environment, the first

chapter of the Barbados Programme of Action for the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

clearly states that small island States are particularly

vulnerable to global climate change and rising sea levels.

We would therefore like to suggest, in the spirit of

reform, that the current scope of development-related

indicators being used by the United Nations to designate the

status of each Member State be thoroughly reviewed in

close consultation with the Member States and other

regional and multilateral organizations, such as the South

Pacific Forum and the Commonwealth.

This is an important exercise at a time when we must

adjust our national administrative structures, policy

directives and legal framework to gradually accommodate

the requirements of globalization. It would be unfair and

unrealistic to expect small island least developed countries

to satisfy all the administrative, financial and legal

requirements of the World Trade Organization, for instance,

within the same time-frame as the developed countries. An

effective sequencing of the accession process is needed,

taking into account the capacity of each country?s political

and economic system or structure to adjust without

affecting social cohesion.

The Republic of Vanuatu is committed to the principle

of global trade liberalization. The current reform

programme reflects this. We are asking the international

community to recognize that we should be allowed to be

integrated on a gradual basis, taking into account our

capacity to administer the process and to adjust to the new

environment.

It is in this same spirit that the Government of the

Republic of Vanuatu welcomes the decision of the fifty-

second session of the General Assembly to convene the

Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed

Countries in the year 2001.

It is still in this spirit that the Government of the

Republic of Vanuatu endorses the Declaration of the eighth

annual meeting of ministers from least developed countries,

adopted on 28 September 1998.

The Republic of Vanuatu is proud to be associated

this year with the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights and the fifth anniversary of

the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.

I am pleased to advise this Assembly that the current

reform programme of the Republic of Vanuatu has taken

full account of the above principles and the Government?s

commitment in this regard.

An example of this commitment is our wider

recognition of the rights and the role of women in our

society through the establishment, within the Prime

Minister?s portfolio, of a more systematic mechanism of

constructive dialogue between the Government on the one

hand, and the National Council of Women and other non-

governmental organizations on the other hand. The recent

enactment of a first ever leadership code for Vanuatu is

another example in this regard. This will not only ensure

good governance, transparency and the rule of law, but

will also act as an effective deterrent to corruption and

abuse of power by national leaders in political circles, in

public service and in the religious community, as well as

in traditional society.

The pursuit and promotion of a free and responsible

press and the protection of individual rights are matters

which are receiving more attention under the reform

programme. These are real challenges to Vanuatu today,

but they are challenges which we are confident that we

can successfully address over time with the necessary

support of the international community.

The right to self-determination must also continue to

occupy our agenda. The United Nations, as mandated by

its Charter, must be seen to encourage and support

dialogue at appropriate political levels in the regions and

countries where human sufferings and social disorder

continue as a direct result of conflict of opinions on the

issue of self-determination. In the Pacific region, we

warmly welcomed the signing earlier this year of the

Noumea Accord between the French Government and the

major political parties in New Caledonia. We believe that

this new agreement marks a stronger commitment by all

parties to work together to support an irreversible trend

for the future political status of New Caledonia.

As I said earlier, the world and our Organization will

be going through very challenging times as we are set to

turn the page of this century and start a new one. The

credibility of the United Nations in the next millennium

will be measured in terms of its effectiveness in

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responding to the real situations prevailing in its Member

States, especially in small island States. It is therefore vital

that we all support and supplement the process of reform

spearheaded by the Secretary-General and aimed at

streamlining and strengthening the Organization.