IMPACT ON SMALL ISLAND STATES OF ENVIRONMENT, NEW TRADE REGIME, STRESSED THIS MORNING BY PRIME MINISTER OF VANUATU, FOREIGN MINISTER OF BAHAMAS

Press Release
GA/9326

IMPACT ON SMALL ISLAND STATES OF ENVIRONMENT, NEW TRADE REGIME, STRESSED THIS MORNING BY PRIME MINISTER OF VANUATU, FOREIGN MINISTER OF BAHAMAS

Assembly Hears Foreign Ministers of Uzbekistan, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea, Kyrqyzstan, Bahamas; Representative of Central African Republic

The Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Rialuth Serge Vohor, told the General Assembly this morning, that a failure to address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions could pose a great security risk for island States such as his own. He said the Pacific island countries had taken tough measures to protect the environment and had committed themselves to the principle of instituting a legally binding instrument to reduce such emissions to internationally acceptable levels.

Addressing the Assembly as it continued its general debate, he said that the new multilateral trading system held considerable challenges for smaller economies. Small island States should not let themselves be pressured by such demands when they need to protect their trade preferences and interests. They needed enough time to undertake reforms that would increase their competitiveness, in order to attract private capital and foreign direct investment.

The Foreign Minister of the Bahamas, Janet G. Bostwick, said that small islands States were particularly vulnerable because of their susceptibility to natural disasters, their economic dependence on primary products, and their small human and material resource bases. Her country attached great importance to the 1999 review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the sustainable development of small island developing States and called for the mobilization of external resources for its further implementation.

Also addressing the Assembly were the Foreign Ministers of Uzbekistan, the Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea and Kyrgyzstan, and the representative of the Central African Republic.

The Assembly will meet again at 3 p.m. today to conclude its general debate.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this morning to continue its general debate. It was expected to hear statements by the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Equatorial Guinea, the Foreign Ministers of Uzbekistan, Seychelles, and Kyrgyzstan, and the representative of the Central African Republic.

Statements

ABDULAZIZ KAMILOV, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, said that the proposal to enlarge the Security Council to include Germany and Japan as permanent members deserved support, as did expansion of non-permanent membership, since it provided a more democratic representation. Other positive reform proposals included the establishment of the post of a Deputy Secretary-General, and the idea of consolidating the United Nations presence in different countries within a single facility -- so-called "United Nations Houses".

Reallocating saved assets from reform to development programmes was also welcome, as was the creation of a single agency to combat crime, terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering, he said. Proposals to consolidate the economic and social departments, reduce the Organization's administration staff, as well as replace the Department of Humanitarian Affairs and establish the streamlined Emergency Relief Department deserved attention.

He said that resolution of the conflict in Afghanistan required, among other measures, the maintenance of that country's territorial integrity, the rejection of military methods of settlement, cessation of external interference, the imposition of an arms embargo, and the creation of a broad- cased coalition government. An arms embargo, in particular, must be considered as a principal condition to stop the external interference into Afghanistan's affairs. In that regard, the Security Council resolution on an embargo should be adopted.

He fully supported the principle of indivisibility of security -- internal, regional and global. His country was among the first newly independent States to have joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). During the Assembly's forty-eighth session, his Government had called for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia, and had consistently progressed towards that initiative. The international conference on such a zone in September affirmed the positive response to that goal. Towards that end, States of the region should form a reliable system to ensure non-proliferation and the safe management of nuclear raw materials. Internationally, priority attention should be given to the settlement of regional problems, which included security guarantees to the non-nuclear weapon States.

General Assembly Plenary - 3 - Press Release GA/9326 27th Meeting (AM) 7 October 1997

The establishment of such a zone in Central Asia, he said, required the assistance of the Assembly, its President and Secretary-General in passing a special resolution in that regard. It also required a United Nations group of exerts to study the forms and elements of the regional agreement on that issue.

An important step in safeguarding regional peace and stability was the creation of the Central Asian collective peacekeeping battalion by Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, he said. In addition, the international community must tackle the serious threat to Central Asian security -- the ecological situation in the Aral Sea basin. The situation developing in Central Asia was tied to the process of formatting the common European security. Prospective developments within the vast Asian continent dictated the necessity for international measures to ensure a durable, regional peace and stability, and sustainable development at the regional level.

HENRY KOBA (Central African Republic) said the United Nations today was faced with many different cultural, social, political and economic problems. Efforts to renew it posed a major challenge. The Secretary-General's reform proposals were perfectly in tune with what was needed. The United Nations must be reformed and strengthened and the Security Council's membership expanded to better reflect the principle of equitable geographical representation.

He said the Organization had not truly come to grips with or found solutions to the many ethnic divisions and the proliferation of armed conflict around the world. That was evidenced by the lives lost in Algeria as well as by the plight of women and children elsewhere -- including the Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Sierra Leone and Somalia -- where they were paying a heavy price for intolerance. The international community and the United Nations must meet its responsibilities for the maintenance of international peace and security and deal resolutely with conflicts within States. The world community was inadequately prepared to deal with many problems, including the contravention of human rights.

He welcomed the recent ministerial meeting of the Security Council on Africa. The continent still faced severe economic problems, including the collapse of its traditional markets, a heavy debt burden and inadequate international investment, and it could not take the necessary development steps to improve standards of living. How could the African countries become competitive without adequate official development aid. A cooperative approach was needed between Africa and its international partners, including the global financial institutions. Africa was drowning, socially and economically. Without economic and social progress, there could be no talk of peace.

General Assembly Plenary - 4 - Press Release GA/9326 27th Meeting (AM) 7 October 1997

Owing to its long commitment to peace, the Central African Republic had been called the Switzerland of Africa, he said. Nevertheless it had been subjected to the "serial mutinies of Bangui" and had not had a chance to consolidate its fledgling democracy. The mutinies had lasted a year, against the background of a tribal quest for power and manipulation from abroad. However, such events would not have occurred without economic problems, including a currency free fall and declining State revenues, which meant civil servants could not be paid.

A technical committee had been set up to assess the situation and outline measures needed to restore the infrastructure, rebuild social institutions and help the victims, he said. The President of the Central Republican Republic had called for peace and reconciliation and for the international community to stand with his country. With respect to refugee issues, he said his country must be given the wherewithal to help its Sudanese brothers and sisters, as well as those from Rwanda and Burundi.

JEREMIE BONNELAME, Foreign Minister for the Seychelles, said his country supported reform of the United Nations. Although the Seychelles was a small island State, it had done everything in its power to take part in international affairs and join the world economy. It was a member of the Indian Ocean Commission, the Common Market of Southern and Eastern Africa, and the Development Community of Southern Africa. The Seychelles had an open, attractive economic policy, but was still faced with the handicaps inherent to an island State. Human and natural resources were lacking, and the domestic market was extremely limited.

The international community must heed the appeal launched by the small island States at their 1994 Barbados Conference to lay the foundations of sustainable development, he said. Small island States often had the same needs as larger countries, if not greater, but suffered from more limited means and more fragile economies. That was why, in the interest of fairness, it was necessary to find ways of integrating small island States into the processes of global economic cooperation and development, both on the bilateral and multilateral levels.

The Seychelles was suffering from the effects of climatic change, he said. Steady torrential rains caused casualties, floods and landslides, resulting in destruction to infrastructure and homes. They threatened the country's environment and ecosystems, especially along the coast. For a small State yearning to keep pace with development, sudden changes had deep economic and other consequences that were difficult to measure immediately. He thanked the United Nations for sending an evaluation mission to observe the damage and take an inventory of future threats caused by global warming. The people of the Seychelles were grateful for the appeal for international aid that had followed that mission.

General Assembly Plenary - 5 - Press Release GA/9326 27th Meeting (AM) 7 October 1997

DON MIGUEL OYONO NDONG MIFUMU, Foreign Minister of Equatorial Guinea, said that although much progress had been made during the 50 years of the United Nations existence towards achieving economic, scientific and technological development for humanity, areas of uncertainty remained. Extreme poverty, wars, drugs, mercenary activities and organized crime plagued third world countries such as his own. The Organization must play an active role in the elimination of interventionist practices and trade barriers, the prevention of conflicts, protection of the environment and the reduction of poverty, as well as in the fight against terrorism, religious fundamentalism, anachronistic nationalism, and illicit drugs.

All international organizations must be subject to democratic reforms, he said. The classification of the world into categories must cease, although some countries must play a special role since they are responsible for the nuclear threat, the production and sale of weapons, the deterioration of the environment, and the exercise of absolute power over the world's economy and finances.

If a third world existed, it was because a first world had been created at the expense of other countries, he said. The international trade system must be made fair, poverty reduced, the economic development of disadvantaged countries promoted, and their debts alleviated. That was why Equatorial Guinea believed it was time to reform United Nations decision-making bodies, such as the Security Council. Expanding the number of permanent members in that body would improve its performance. It was more reasonable to increase the number of members based on regions and to have vetoes passed by a majority vote.

Despite its efforts to establish democracy and respect human rights, members of the international community were still projecting a false image of his country, he said. For Equatorial Guinea, the promotion of human rights was a continuous process that could not be achieved on deadline. Nevertheless, that effort remained a priority for his Government although it rejected the claim of any country or institution to measure that progress. While Equatorial Guinea supported the right to sustainable human development, that goal could not be achieved if the world were divided into economic blocs. His country would become the prime mover of its own development, and had just joined the ranks of oil producers.

He called on the United Nations to monitor closely events in central Africa, a region plagued by destabilization attempts that threatened incipient democracies. Equatorial Guinea supported the mediation efforts of President Omar Bongo of Gabon and of the joint United Nations/Organization of African Unity (OAU) Special Representative for the Great Lakes region. A new cold war was being fought in Africa along cultural and linguistic lines, affecting attempts to achieve African unity and to resolve conflicts peacefully. Equatorial Guinea called on the United Nations to play an active role in addressing that situation.

General Assembly Plenary - 6 - Press Release GA/9326 27th Meeting (AM) 7 October 1997

He said that Equatorial Guinea intended to continue on the path of economic and democratic reforms with help from political forces, civil society, non-governmental organizations, religious associations, the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, African regional and subregional groups and friendly nations.

MURATBEK C. IMANALIEV, Foreign Minister of Kyrgystan, said the Secretary-General's reform measures deserved the Assembly's full attention. Expansion of the Security Council's membership was as important as was reform of its working methods. Permanent membership should be given to Japan and Germany and to one country from the Asian, South American and African regions. New threats, including international terrorism, drug trafficking and deterioration of the environment were threatening the global trend towards peace and security and wearing down fledgling democracies.

He said Kyrgystan was actively seeking ways to solidify its membership in the international community by ensuring tolerance, improving the protection of human rights, and focusing on economic measures to improve its people's standards of living. A national strategy for stable human development was being implemented as part of its follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). That effort included taking account of the problems of people of mountainous regions, which were greater than for those living on low lands. A recent conference on the problems of mountainous regions had led to a resolution adopted by over 40 countries, which would be submitted to the next session of the Economic and Social Council; he appealed to the international community to submit its recommendations to the Secretary- General on that issue. Hopefully, the Assembly would adopt a consensus resolution on the problem of the mountain people and draw up an action plan similar to the one for small island developing countries.

The widening gap between developing and developed countries represented a serious threat to human development, he said. Solutions must include increased investment in human resources and the promotion of sustainable economic development. Support for peace and security was one of the highest goals of the United Nations. Kyrgystan supported the Organization's peace efforts, including its mission in Tajikistan, and was one of the guarantors of the June 1997 peace agreement.

Prospects for peace in Tajikistan depended on the situation along the Tajik-Afghan border, he said. The continuing Afghanistan conflict would contribute to the illegal production and distribution of drugs and a massive flow of refugees. A settlement would require political will from all Afghan parties, as well as international support. His Government had proposed a resumption of inter-party talks under the auspices of the United Nations, with the aim of settling the conflict. Kyrgystan was willing to play an impartial role as mediator in the Afghan dispute.

General Assembly Plenary - 7 - Press Release GA/9326 27th Meeting (AM) 7 October 1997

He said the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia was important as a confidence-building measure and as a backdrop to the disarmament process. Kyrgystan was actively taking part in peacekeeping efforts, including those of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It was also a member on the United Nations Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations.

JANET G. BOSTWICK, Foreign Minister of the Bahamas, said the primary focus of her Government was directed towards improving the delivery of health care, education and skills training, a reduction in the level of serious crime and unemployment, and the eradication of poverty and poor housing. It was committed to achieving the full empowerment of women and equality between the sexes. The efforts of the Bahamas, as of the United Nations, aimed at ensuring a safe, stable and productive global society. To that end, the country was ready to assist in the much-needed reform of the world body.

Criminal behaviour was one of the greatest threats to quality of life and productive development worldwide, she said. All member States, regardless of size or might, needed to recognize that the most effective means of crime reduction at the national and transnational levels was through collaborative efforts. The Bahamas supported the strengthening of the international legal order against crime and hoped the Assembly's 1998 special session on drugs would provide new impetus to combat that problem.

She reiterated the urgent call of the Bahamas to address the growing problem of small arms trafficking. Those countries involved in the production and sale of arms were urged to impose strict control measures and to provide assistance to vulnerable States so as to reduce the threat of the traffic in arms.

With respect to the environment, the national planning process of the Bahamas incorporated community environmental education and the regular monitoring, as well as enforcement of laws for the protection of natural resources and the conservation of habitats. This year, legislation had been enacted to protect the country's physical landscape and to prevent the destruction of certain indigenous trees.

The Bahamas, along with its regional partners, sought to develop strategies, policies and procedures to ensure that continued development of the tourism industry was consistent with standards of environmental sustainability, she said. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) had adopted a regional position against the transport of hazardous and radioactive substances through the Caribbean Sea. Poverty reduction and social development must be achieved with environmental integrity, economic stability and good health.

General Assembly Plenary - 8 - Press Release GA/9326 27th Meeting (AM) 7 October 1997

Despite the technological revolution of the past decade and the rapid increase in worldwide commerce, the benefits from globalization of the world's economy had not been evenly distributed, she said. Developing countries continued to be marginalized.

She cited the peculiar vulnerability of small islands States, including their susceptibility to natural disasters, their economic dependence on primary products, and their small human and material resource bases. That meant that they had much more at stake in achieving sustainable development. The Bahamas, therefore, attached great importance to the 1999 review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the sustainable development of small island developing States and called for the mobilization of external resources for its further implementation.

The end result of United Nations reform should be an improved and more efficient Organization, fully able to meet the demands of those it serves, she said. It was imperative to find solutions in the area of the financial reform and expansion of the Security Council. Such expansion must pay due regard to the principles of equal representation, reflecting the universal character of the Organization and the need to correct existing imbalances in the composition of the Council. She added that the Bahamas would sign and ratify the treaty to ban anti-personnel landmines and had already signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

RIALUTH SERGE VOHOR, Prime Minister of Vanuatu, said aid from international financial institutions should be based solely on socio-economic criteria rather than the political orientation of national leaders. Aid should also be based firmly on respect for sovereignty and recognition of the competence of national political authorities. The United Nations must play a more active role in development. Vanuatu supported the Secretary-General's idea of a "development dividend". Regional and subregional bodies, such as the South Pacific Forum, were important for strengthening international cooperation in his region and deserved international support.

He said his Government shared the Secretary-General's view that reform was not an event but a process. It was a precondition for growth and sustainable development. States must constantly revise and reform their development policies and institutions so they might become instruments to carry out specific tasks while contributing to development goals. Some 17 years after independence, Vanuatu had made great social and economic strides. However, owing to the disproportionate challenges facing it, the country, in early 1997, had undertaken a reform programme. That reform of its economic and social structure aimed to help the country face the problems of the next century. The private sector would be the main player, and the needs of women, children, the elderly and other disadvantaged groups would be taken into account.

General Assembly Plenary - 9 - Press Release GA/9326 27th Meeting (AM) 7 October 1997

He said the decision by the Economic and Social Council in July to withdraw Vanuatu from the list of least developed countries had come as a surprise. He appealed to the Assembly to postpone that action to the year 2000, by which time the criteria for defining least developed countries would be finalized by the Development Planning Committee. In the meanwhile, his Government's reform programmes would need the unstinting support of the international community. The Council's resolution was premature and should not be considered by the Assembly. More than 80 per cent of Vanuatu's population lived in rural areas and on subsistence agriculture. It also had a highly salaried expatriate community and public development assistance equal to the annual State budget, accounting for 20 per cent of the gross national product. The Development Planning Committee's decision could only have been based on a lack of information. Vanuatu would only accept treatment which was identical to that of other countries in the same situation.

He said that Vanuatu and other Pacific island countries had taken tough decisions to introduce restrictive measures for protection of the environment. They had also committed to the principle of instituting a legally binding instrument to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to internationally acceptable levels. A failure to address that issue fully would call into question the commitment of the international community and could constitute a great security risk for islands and future generations. Noting that Vanuatu was seeking membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), he said that the new global trading regime held considerable challenges for smaller economies. Time was needed to adjust to the new obligations of the multilateral trading system. Vanuatu wanted to develop a common approach, in partnership with the United Nations system and the European Union, in coming to terms with those new obligations. Nevertheless, small island States should not allow themselves to be pressured by such demands when they needed to protect their trade preferences and interests. Small and vulnerable States needed enough time to undertake reforms in trade and investment competitiveness, which would attract private capital and foreign direct investment.

* *** *