Vanuatu, 2001

At the outset, I wish to

extend to Mr. Han Seung-soo greetings from the

Government and the people of the Republic of

Vanuatu. I wish to convey to him the apologies of my

Government for not being able to be represented here

at the ministerial level owing to the fact that our

Parliament is currently in session. I should also like to

take this opportunity to convey my Government’s

congratulations to him on his election as President of

the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly. I also

pay tribute to his predecessor, who so ably played a

decisive role at the helm of the fifty-fifth session.

In addition, allow me to congratulate the

Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on his election to a

second term at the head of this esteemed world body.

His assured wisdom and compassion are needed now

more than ever to lead this Organization.

I have the great honour, in standing before the

Assembly today, to deliver a statement on behalf of my

Government and the people of the Republic of Vanuatu

at a time so sad that words cannot begin to convey the

scope of our emotions. Let me express the sincere

sympathy and condolences of my Government and the

people of Vanuatu to the families and friends of the

victims of the tragedy that struck downtown New York,

Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. In light of these

events, since the 11 September attacks, the General

Assembly has been forced to suspend most of its

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agenda, including this general debate among heads of

State and Government.

It is ironic that as the world becomes more

civilized, we become more vulnerable to such inhuman

acts of terrorism. The impacts of these terrorist

activities are being felt around the globe, and small

States such as mine will suffer along with the rest of

the international community. If any good has come out

of the despicable events of 11 September, it is that

nations the world over are more united than ever in

condemning and collaborating to eradicate these

terrible acts of terrorism. My Government has taken

steps to tighten security and is working closely with

other Pacific island States towards building and

strengthening peace and security in our region.

Global peace and security cannot be certain in

this climate of continued difference of views between

major nuclear-weapon States. The lack of progress on

this is reflected by the stalemate prevailing in the

Conference on Disarmament. The agreements reached

during the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to

the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons were not realized; the Comprehensive

Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has not entered into force; and

global military expenditures continue to rise. More

committed efforts and innovative strategies are needed

to meet the goals of the Millennium Declaration.

Vanuatu believes that the Conference on Disarmament

should work towards that end.

The Third United Nations Conference on the

Least Developed Countries, held in Brussels in May

this year, was highly successful and produced the

Brussels Declaration and the Programme of Action for

Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010.

We appreciate the view of the Secretary-General that

the Declaration reaffirms the collective responsibility

of the international community to uphold the principles

of human dignity, equality and equity and to ensure

that globalization becomes a positive force for all the

world’s people. We believe that without the

coordinated involvement of the whole United Nations

system, there will be little the United Nations can

achieve.

The Government of Vanuatu, like other

Governments around the world, is committed to

enhancing the status of women. It is well documented

that women in Vanuatu are disadvantaged in almost all

sectors. In 1995, Vanuatu unanimously ratified the

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women. Accordingly, the

Government of Vanuatu is focusing on the Convention

as the basis for programmes on women’s rights and

development in Vanuatu.

A lack of resources has hindered Vanuatu’s

progress in submitting its first two reports. The

Government, however, recognizes the importance of

the reports in terms of building up and monitoring its

own human resources development requirements and is

thus putting greater effort into the production of these

reports. Indeed, no country can afford to waste half of

its human resources.

Vanuatu remains steadfast in its commitments and

obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the

Child. Since ratifying the Convention in 1992, the

Government of Vanuatu has implemented decisions and

undertaken activities that promote the advancement of

children in our society. A National Children’s

Committee, whose membership is made up of

stakeholders, has been revived and is officially

recognized as the regulatory body for coordinating and

supervising children’s rights throughout the nation.

The electoral assistance provided by the United

Nations for Fiji’s national election has greatly

facilitated the democratic transition in that country. We

welcome the new focus on supporting institutions and

stimulating local participation. We also welcome other

efforts to deploy the Electoral Assistance Division to

coordinate the activities of foreign observers in

forthcoming elections, particularly in East Timor and

hopefully in Solomon Islands. We commend the United

Nations for its assistance in empowering the citizens of

Member States to enjoy the power of democracy.

We recognize the efforts of the United Nations in

bridging the gap between human rights norms and their

implementation. Despite some progress, challenges

remain in ensuring universal respect for human rights.

The Republic of Vanuatu is a party to nearly all core

human rights treaties. We feel there is a continuing

need for human and institutional capacity-building in

developing countries in order to ensure the

implementation of human rights conventions and

treaties they have signed. This is an area where the

United Nations should follow a needs-based approach

and make a realistic assessment of the existing

mechanisms.

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The East Timorese people, who have already

elected their Constituent Assembly, will democratically

elect their President and soon exercise full sovereignty

over their entire territory; this positive development is

a big leap. It affirms the outstanding commitment of

the Committee of 24 in deliberating on the right of

peoples to self-determination. However, there are those

who are still waiting to exercise this right. At this

session’s general debate, I am pleased to note that the

report of the Secretary-General on the work of the

Organization gives special mention to West Papua. The

Secretary-General intends to enhance our efforts to

assist Indonesia in seeking to establish a democratic

society and in addressing the wide range of complex

issues facing that country. The Secretary-General also

underlined the efforts of the Indonesian authorities to

further the promotion of human rights and find

peaceful resolutions to the problems in West Papua,

Aceh and Maluku. During the thirty-second Pacific

Islands Forum in Nauru, Forum leaders expressed

continuing concern about violence and loss of life in

the Indonesian province of West Papua. The Forum

also called on the Indonesian authorities to ensure to

that the voices of all parties in West Papua be heard in

order to achieve a peaceful resolution. Our leaders

welcomed the recent presentation of special autonomy

proposals to Indonesia’s national assembly, while

urging all parties to protect and uphold the human

rights of all residents in West Papua.

I am extremely pleased to inform the Assembly

that the Government of Vanuatu has agreed to host the

Special Committee of 24 on decolonization seminar in

Port Vila, Vanuatu, in May of next year. We look

forward to that important meeting.

The Republic of Vanuatu wishes to join others in

expressing our appreciation to the Secretary-General

for his comprehensive report on the implementation of

the recommendations of the Special Committee on

Peacekeeping Operations and of the Panel on United

Nations Peace Operations. Vanuatu is a new supporter

of the United Nations peacekeeping role in East Timor

and Bosnia and has contributed civilian police to these

United Nations peacekeeping initiatives. The Vanuatu

Government remains committed to future peacekeeping

engagements. Vanuatu has also monitored the

Bougainville peace process alongside the United

Nations.

One of the more pressing issues before us is that

of climate change and sea-level rise. The United

Nations has now scheduled a World Summit on

Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg,

South Africa, in September of next year.

The Pacific Islands Forum communiqué reflected

on climate change in seeking the international

community’s awareness of our low-lying islands in the

Pacific and reiterating the priority of the Kyoto

Protocol as a significant step forward for global action

in combating climate change. Although signed by

many of the industrialized countries, including the

United States, the Kyoto Protocol has not yet been

ratified by many of them. We are very concerned that

the United States Senate has actually voted against

ratification.

Our Forum leaders noted the concerns expressed

by most members over the United States intention not

to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. We urge the United States

to reconsider its position and to ratify the Kyoto

Protocol as soon as possible.

While the incidence of HIV/AIDS is not as high

in the Pacific as in some other regions, it is

nevertheless a major issue for both developing and

developed countries within our region. Vanuatu’s

delegation is of the firm view that prevention should be

the mainstay of combating HIV/AIDS in our region.

The relatively low number of reported HIV/AIDS

cases in a number of our countries should not give rise

to complacency. Once the disease takes hold, care and

treatment can be extremely expensive. In this respect,

Vanuatu welcomes the establishment of a Global Fund

to combat HIV/AIDS, and we wish to express our

appreciation to those Governments, foundations and

private companies that have already expressed support.

Meanwhile, strategies and plans for resource

mobilization must keep in mind the competing

priorities of, and the constraints faced by, smaller

States like Vanuatu.

In conclusion, the Vanuatu delegation reaffirms

its support and conviction for the crucial role that the

United Nations has in ensuring that the world becomes

a much safer place in which to live.