UNITED
NATIONS 
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
STATEMENT BY
THE PRESIDENT OF THE FIFTY-EIGHTH SESSION OF THE UNITED
NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY H.E. MR JULIAN R. HUNTE
TO
THE COMMITTEE ON THE PEACEFUL
USES OF OUTER SPACE
FORTY-SEVENTH SESSION
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
2-11
JUNE 2004
OPENING
SESSION
2 JUNE 2004
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates and Representatives:
I welcome the opportunity to address this opening meeting
of the Committee on the Peaceful uses of Outer Space,
the General Assembly's only Committee charged exclusively
with issues concerning the peaceful uses of outer space.
Let
me thank you, Ambassador Raimundo González, outgoing
Chair of the Committee, and Dr. Adigun Ade Abiodun and
members of the Committee for inviting me to participate.
Let me also congratulate you, Dr Abiodun, on your election
as Chairman of the Committee. I wish you every success
in providing leadership for the Committee's work over
the next two years.
This
Committee has a unique and vital responsibility for
highlighting the role that space science and technology
can play, in assisting the United Nations in achieving
its economic and social development goals. In this context,
the Committee has critical and challenging work before
it this session, as is evident from the detailed presentation
made by Mr. Abiodun.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates and Representatives:
Socio-economic
development, we know, is an essential cornerstone of
the United Nations Charter, which should underpin other
ideals enshrined in the Charter, including the maintenance
of international peace and security. In fact, my own
conviction that the United Nations must actively pursue
a progressive development agenda accounts for the inclusion
of development high on the list of priorities I set
for my Presidency of the Fifty-eighth session of the
General Assembly.
This
Committee meets at a time when the General Assembly
is seeking to bring its development agenda more sharply
into focus, in response to the views expressed by the
generality of its membership. The General Assembly recently
decided, in its resolution 58/291, that a High-level
Plenary would be convened at the level of Heads of State
and Government early in the Assembly's 2005 Session,
the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations. The
High Level Plenary would assess the progress made on
the path to economic and social development agreed in
the outcomes of more than a decade of United Nations
summits and conferences, including the 2000 Millennium
Declaration.
What
is particularly significant about these summits and
conferences, which commenced with the 1992 United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, is that they addressed a broad range
of human endeavours. Financing for development, sustainable
development, human rights including the rights of women
and children and population and development were just
some of the myriad issues taken up in this context.
I
have only recently set in motion open-ended consultations
of the General Assembly that will provide organisational,
procedural and other inputs for the Report of the Secretary-General
on the High-level Plenary. Careful planning would, I
believe, ensure that the High-level Plenary brings coherence
and give political impetus to cooperation and consensus
for delivering on the commitments made in this range
of United Nations meetings.
Concerning
United Nations summits and conferences, I wish to make
special mention of the 1999 Third United Nations Conference
on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space,
referred to as "UNISPACE III". As you know,
UNISPACE III, an essential element of the decade of
development summits and conferences, adopted "The
Space Millennium: Vienna Declaration on Space and Human
Development". This Declaration, endorsed by the
United Nations General Assembly, contains the strategy
that underpins United Nations initiatives to address
global challenges through the use of space science and
technology and their applications. The Vienna Declaration
details specific actions that are to be taken in support
of sustainable development.
Indeed,
the three conferences convened by the United Nations
to date on the peaceful uses of outer space form the
basis for many initiatives now contributing to the better
understanding of space applications. They also underpin
initiatives that contribute to strengthening the capacity
of developing countries in the utilization of space
science and technology at the local level, for social
and economic development.
Courses
of action of the kind recommended in the Vienna Declaration
of UNISPACE III require flexible mechanism for follow-up.
I note, with particular interest, the Committee's achievements
in this area. The Action Teams to implement recommendations
agreed as high priority - for which Member States provide
voluntary leadership - are an important way of proceeding
in this area.
No
doubt the Committee's report to the Fifty-ninth session
of the General Assembly will contain key details of
the accomplishments of the Action Teams, as well as
the initiatives of Member States and the Office for
Outer Space Affairs in implementing the courses of action
called for in the Vienna Declaration. I am sure that
the General Assembly looks forward to receiving that
report.
The
development of human resources is essential to national
capacity building, no matter what path countries chart
for socio-economic development. I note that one of the
most important achievements of the Committee has been
the establishment of regional centres for space science
and technology education, affiliated with the United
Nations.
My
own country, St Lucia, falls within the scope of the
work of the centres for Latin America and the Caribbean
region. These centres, together with the centres for
Africa, Asia and the Pacific, help develop and strengthen
the skills and knowledge of university educators, and
research and application scientists in the areas of
space science and technology. As such, the centres make
a contribution to sustainable development for the countries
and for the regions.
The
growing role that space-based solutions are playing
in mitigating the catastrophic effects of natural disasters
is also becoming increasingly evident. Meteorological
satellites are used to provide early warning of severe
weather, enabling vulnerable areas to be evacuated before
the onset of a storm; remote sensing satellites, together
with navigation and positioning satellites, can help
rescue workers track survivors; and communication satellites
can connect areas affected by disasters to the outside
world, to enhance rescue efforts.
The
value of space-based solutions is clear, when we consider
that natural disasters constitute one of the most critical
challenges to sustainable development. Hurricanes, earthquakes,
landslides and other natural disasters can, in a matter
of minutes, wipe out and reverse years of progressive
development. The loss of lives in natural disasters
is tragic, and many can be rendered homeless, helpless
and destitute.
Only last week, in our Caribbean region, the Dominican
Republic and Haiti suffered grave devastation from heavy
rains and severe floods, in which more than one thousand
lives were lost. It follows, therefore, that the reduction
and mitigation of natural disasters is, as it should
be, among the United Nations priorities, and a particular
issue for the General Assembly.
Indeed,
the issue of natural disasters is among the list of
priorities I have set for the Presidency of the Fifty-eighth
Session of the United Nations General Assembly. I have
made known my strong support for United Nations and
international efforts in this area, including the World
Conference on Disaster Reduction to be convened in Kobe,
Japan in January 2005.
The practical contribution the Committee is making though
its promotion of the use of space technology for managing
natural disasters has been noted. The Scientific and
Technical Sub-Committee and Action Team on Disaster
Management are, in my view, undertaking work of the
nature required to enhance the capacity of countries,
particularly developing countries and regions to deal
with natural disasters through the use of space technology.
The series of workshops, seminars and symposia conducted
within the framework of the United Nations Programme
on Space Applications, should also make a distinct contribution
towards efforts for mitigating natural disasters.
I
believe that the Committee has made a good decision,
in determining that its report on the UNISPACE III+5
review should consider how synergies between implementation
of the recommendations of UNISPACE III and the implementation
of the commitments made in the United Nations Millennium
Declaration and outcome documents of the World Summits
for Sustainable Development and on the Information Society
might be reinforced and strengthened. Such an approach
fosters cooperation and consensus in addressing development
objectives, and meeting internationally agreed development
goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.
This
Committee has also taken, I note, a pragmatic and sound
approach to the implementation the process for agreed
courses of action in the area of space applications
and technology. This approach might be instructive to
other bodies of the General Assembly addressing the
matter of integrated and coordinated implementation
and follow-up of the outcomes of major United Nations
conferences and summits in the economic and social fields.
Such
an approach, I am confident, ensures that the Committee
conducts its business in the most effective and efficient
manner, including the work of this its Forty-seventh
Session. In so doing, it advances an important goal
of the Charter, "to employ international machinery
for the promotion of the economic and social advancement
of all peoples."
I
commend the Committee for its continuing commitment
and initiatives to ensure that the exploration and peaceful
uses of outer space benefit all countries, and particularly
the countries of the developing world. I wish you every
success in your deliberations.
Thank
you.
