Vanuatu, 2013

The

Republic of Vanuatu is honoured to participate in

this debate under your presidency, Sir, and we wish

to associate ourselves with all other delegations in

congratulating you and the members of your Bureau

on your election to lead us through this sixty-eighth

session of the General Assembly.

On Syria, we have seen internal conflicts transformed

into international disputes that require solutions from

this body. During this session, there has been intensive

debate on the protracted conflict affecting the Syrian

people and undermining regional and international

peace. We join many other peace-loving nations to call

for an end to the conflict and for the United Nations to

do more strongly to enforce the international ban on the

use of chemical weapons. We also urge the United States

of America and the Russian Federation to take a strong

leading role in the issue of Syria and in addressing the

chemical-weapons issue there.

We are concerned at the fact that that such conflicts

have often diverted the international focus from

addressing much more important issues, such as our

common aspirations for the Millennium Development

Goals. It is unfair that countries resorting to such

illegitimate acts can trigger wars that cost a great deal

of money, whereas the rest of the peace-loving countries

and their peoples suffer the consequences, as the monies

spent could be diverted to better and effective use.

It is here, from this rostrum, that the leaders of our

nations have spoken out freely, from their hearts, in an

endeavour to find common solutions so as to inspire the

community of nations committed to international peace

and security. Our main objectives are to take collective

decisions so as to address a spectrum of international

issues, some of which require urgent action, such as the

issue of climate change. It is here that we have called

for the recognition of the rights of women, children and

persons with disabilities who are caught up in conflicts

and violence. It is here that we have called for help for

those who have been discriminated against because of

their colour, their religion or their political convictions.

For the Republic of Vanuatu, this rostrum is the

only international platform from which, year after year

since 1981, we have spoken out against colonialism

and neo-imperialism in all its forms. Today once

again, I speak on behalf of the entire population of our

archipelago to be the voice of those who still live in

colonized territories.

We know that decolonization is still incomplete.

However, we have seen the Special Political and

Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) take

more and more positive steps during its 2013 sessions,

recognizing the inalienable right of French Polynesia

to self-determination. We also applaud the work of the

Committee in continuing discussions and dialogue on

the question of New Caledonia.

Allow me at this juncture to thank the Government of

France for its cooperation in moving the decolonization

process forward. It is important to maintain this

dialogue with the specific goal of helping the Kanak

people to attain their independence. With the greatest

possible respect, I encourage all parties to ensure that

the process of achieving freedom remains on track. We

in the Melanesian Spearhead Group are appreciative of

the work of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation

Front as chair of the Group.

The Republic of Vanuatu has just emerged from

colonialism, having achieved its political independence

from the Powers of the British-French condominium

33 years ago. Based on our struggle for independence,

we share the journey and the litany of heartaches and

dreams of many of our brothers and sisters whose rights

to political and civil freedom are still held back by the

tentacles of imperialism and colonialism.

I would like to reiterate today our appeal launched

last year from this rostrum that the Secretariat should

always remain impartial and avoid any selective

implementation of General Assembly and Security

Council resolutions on the rights of all people who

desire to be free from colonialism or any form of

imperialism.

We can debate issues of terrorism, financial and

economic crises and climate change and reach some

level of understanding of the seriousness of those

challenges and the measures that must be taken to

address them. We can talk of good governance and the

rule of law and respect for human rights. But when it

comes to the issue of the rights of the people of West

Papua, our voices fall silent, even from this rostrum.

I wish to congratulate the Secretary-General,

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who, when he visited Asia in

2012, emphasized that the United Nations would do

everything possible to ensure that human rights are

respected in West Papua, saying

“whether you are an independent State or a non-self-

governing territory or whatever, [that] human right

is inalienable and a fundamental principle of the

United Nations”.

Now, as Members of the United Nations, we must

call for those words to be translated into action.

My Government calls upon the United Nations to

appoint a special representative to investigate alleged

human rights violations in West Papua and its political

status in the light of the controversies surrounding the

administration established in the 1960s, the United

Nations Temporary Executive Authority. Ever since the

controversial Act of Free Choice, the West Papuans have

always been consistently denied any sort of recognition

by the United Nations. It is clear from many historical

records that the Melanesian people of West Papua were

the scapegoats of Cold War politics and were sacrificed

to gratify the appetite for the natural resources that the

country possesses. Today, they are still victims of the

ignorance of the United Nations.

If the United Nations representative at the time,

Mr. Fernando Ortiz-Sanz, described the West Papuan

issue as a cancer growing on the side of the United

Nations and that it was his job to remove it, it is very

clear today from what we have observed that that cancer

has never been removed, but merely concealed. One day

it will have to be treated. We must not be afraid. The

United Nations has made mistakes in the past. We must

admit our mistakes and see that we are the stronger for

that, because when we are weak, admit our mistakes

and take corrective action, we become stronger and

more alive.

As Members of the United Nations, we all subscribe

to the principles of democracy, good governance, human

rights, accountability and the rule of law enshrined in

the United Nations Charter. In this age of technology,

when nothing can escape the attention of civil society

and Governments, I ask how then can we ignore the

hundreds of thousands of West Papuans who have been

brutally beaten and murdered?

The people of West Papua are looking to the United

Nations as a beacon of hope. We are now deliberating

on the issue of Syria. In that same spirit, I would ask

that my fellow leaders express support for West Papua.

It is time for the United Nations to move beyond its

limits and take action to rectify the errors of the past.

Since our independence 33 years ago, the indigenous

peoples of my country have remained concerned that a

part of our maritime and cultural jurisdiction, including

the islands of Umaepnune and Leka, situated south of

Vanuatu, are still occupied by France. Thus, the people

of our country are denied the right to the exercise of

full political freedom and their inherent cultural rights.

The indigenous peoples of the southern province of

our country cannot, therefore, fulfil their obligations

to protect their culture and traditions that bind them

to the sovereign land that has been theirs since time

immemorial.

Those two islands are of paramount importance,

because they form the basis for the establishment of

our unique cultural framework, which brings together

our cultural island group known as the Tafea Islands.

It is that cultural framework that governed us and

defined our identity and our way of life long before

administrative colonial Powers began to explore and

govern our shores.

Unfortunately, today, our indigenous peoples

continue to be denied access to those sacred and

cultural islands. My Government therefore calls on

the community of nations meeting in the Assembly

to uphold the principles of the respect of the rights of

our indigenous peoples and their way of life. Further,

we call upon the French Government to allow our

indigenous people of Tafea to have access to the land

of their forefathers, the islands Umaenupne and Leka in

the south of the Republic of Vanuatu.

The call by the United Nations to review the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to

strategize a post-2015 development agenda compels

us to rethink our global partnership structures and

our national priorities in order to better achieve our

goals in the period after 2015. My country has made

some progress in achieving some of the MDG targets.

However, the appropriate conditions for economic

growth and development must be created. An integrated

and balanced approach is required to deal adequately

with the social, economic and environmental

dimensions.

To that end, my Government has placed emphasis on

climate change, renewable energy and the sustainable

use of the environment. We have now created a separate

Ministry focusing on adaptation to climate change,

energy and the environment so that the Government

can address issues in that area. We would therefore

welcome opportunities for unconditional partnerships

in order to better address those issues.

It is clear that there has been much debate on the

issue of climate change. However, the level to which

final pledges have been met has been unsatisfactory,

considering the fast pace at which climate change is

having an impact on small island developing States. We

call for more urgent action and decisions on that front.

While Vanuatu supports the shift in the development

paradigm, we also recognize that the new development

agenda might harbour its own shortcomings and must

therefore be given careful consideration when it comes

to its final design. It is evident that the new approach

must take heed of, first, the complexity that still exists

within international aid programmes for development,

coupled with the risk of unpredictable financial crises

that can affect the delivery of aid; secondly, the

challenges faced by countries at present in attaining

the MDGs; thirdly, the ambiguities and difficulties

involved in setting the priority of goals within an

expanded list of priorities; fourthly, the imminent

graduation of my country from least developed country

status and the benefits accompanying that change; and

fifthly, the risk of a reduced level of real aid spending

per capita affected partly by a failure to increase global

aid for development.

Aware of those issues, Vanuatu has taken measures,

partly on its own and with the assistance of its partners,

to ensure greater resilience to its own vulnerabilities.

Our plan involves taking decisions that lead to quantum

leaps in the development of our country’s infrastructure

in which ports, roads and airports will be built and

upgraded to facilitate, inter alia, the large-scale

integration of the rural population into the national

economy.

I would like to thank the Governments of China,

Australia and New Zealand and the Asian Development

Bank for their assistance, as well as the Government

of the United States for its enormous investment in

the two major national highways in Vanuatu. We see

that as an investment in the future of my country,

where 60 per cent of the population is aged 25 years or

under, whereby most of the rural population will gain

greater access to markets and economic opportunities

throughout the archipelago’s islands.

All our development initiatives must be inclusive

and not ignore the poor and the marginalized. My

country has taken the measures necessary to ensure

gender equality and the empowerment of women. The

Government’s measures include legislation amending

laws on sexual discrimination, addressing issues of

domestic violence and the submission of universal

periodic reports to ensure compliance with the reporting

framework of the Human Rights Council.

In conclusion, I wish to thank you once again,

Mr. President, for giving me the opportunity to express

my views in this forum. We have spoken a great deal

about many things, and we now must translate our

words into action. Long live our aspirations for a better

and more secure world for everyone!