PERMANENT MISSIONMISSION

               OF THE REPUBLIC

OF VANUATU TO

         THE UNITED NATIONS

 

STATEMENT

BY

MR. ALFRED CARLOT

LEADER OF THE VANUATU DELEGATION

AT

THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

20TH  SEPTEMBER 2000

UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. President

Mr. Secretary General                  

Excellencies

Distinguished Delegates

 

Allow me first of all to convey the apologies of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Serge Vohor, who is unable to be here on this historic occasion, due to most pressing commitments at home.

 

I am therefore very deeply honoured to address this august assembly on behalf of the Delegation of the Republic of Vanuatu.

 

Mr President,

 

At the outset I wish to congratulate you on your election to this historic session of the General Assembly. My Delegation is confident that with your vast experience and diplomatic skills, you will guide this Assembly to a successful conclusion.

 

I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to your predecessor, who so ably guided the 54th session of the UNGA.

 

Allow me also to congratulate Tuvalu as the newest member of our family of nations. As a small island state, and more significantly, a member of the South Pacific region, the Delegation of Vanuatu is very pleased to welcome Tuvalu. Vanuatu certainly hopes a further increase of Pacific Island membership would be a positive step in the region's economic and political development as we embark into the twenty-first century.

 

MR PRESIDENT,

 

Small island states, including Vanuatu, are continuously confronted by difficult and challenging issues, which must be addressed at this summit. For the Pacific region, its key features are its immense geographic spread, its small land and population base and limited natural resources, and its vulnerability to economic and natural shocks, which inevitably impact on its physical infrastructure and economic development. Dependence has been on a few fragile commodity markets and fickle tourist income.

 

One of our greatest challenges is education for all. The Human Poverty Index of the Pacific Island Countries shows Vanuatu as the third last of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Vanuatu shares the view that the key to development and success is through education. As signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Vanuatu is committed to this cause. However, limited financial and human resources continue to hinder development in this area.

 

Vanuatu welcomes the initiative taken by the Secretary General of the United Nations in his address to the Dakar World Education Forum held in April 2000 to build a global partnership for Girls' Education. Vanuatu will be pleased to be part of this global initiative. At the same time Vanuatu fully supports the view that involving women as central players in development provides benefits for nutrition, health savings and reinvestment at the family, community and ultimately national level. Nevertheless, the challenge of ensuring education for all at all levels is an ambitious objective that would require external assistance. Education and training of the mass population, including women, must therefore be an important goal of this Assembly.

 

Mr President,

 

One of the great obstacles to our economic development, including our foreign investment portfolio, has always been the relatively high costs of public utilities, in particular, the Energy Sector which is largely dependent on the traditional oil-based systems. The cost for importing oil products and petroleum-derived gas is currently about 90% of our combined domestic exports. Our economy cannot afford this trend in the long run.

 

We believe that with access to new and relevant technology, available in the Developed Countries today, the Republic of Vanuatu, and any other small island nations, can develop integrated renewable energy systems and hydrogen fuels if our potential resources in wind, sun, geothermal and hydroelectricity can be fully utilized. Access to financial and technical resources from the Developed Countries can assist countries like the-Republic of Vanuatu in moving in the right direction and, thereby, positively contributing to our common objective of creating a healthier and more environment friendly economic development.

 

Mr President,

 

The emergence of new information technology today underlines the strong linkage between the concepts of knowledge and power.

 

While communications and business transactions through the internet and other modern electronic devices have now become a routine within the Circle of the Rich and the Powerful, the large majority of the world's population, which is living in the poor Developing Countries, have very little to no knowledge at all, let alone an access, about this new revolutionary way of doing day-to-day business.

 

In this new millennium, the new Information Technology must be made accessible and affordable to the people living in the most remote areas of the Developing Nations to facilitate their access to better education, better health services and a greater access to the 'world markets and

business opportunities. This is a great challenge, but it is a challenge that we must face together and proudly. That is why we have the

United Nations.

 

Last month the national parliament of Vanuatu passed two legislation in this area- the Electronic Transactions Act and the E-Business Act. And we hope that, through the support of relevant UN agencies and bilateral Development Partners, we will be able to fully implement these new laws for the benefit of our small island nation and its people, in particular, in the rural and remote areas.

 

Mr President,

In his statement to the Millennium Summit my Prime Minister highlighted the need for the industrialized countries to immediately ratify international treaties on the protection and sustainable management of our natural environment and resources, which are vital to the very survival of millions of citizens of small island states.

 

Environmental degradation poses a serious threat to the small island states, threatened by sea level rise. We continue to urge countries to adopt and ratify the Kyoto Protocol as soon as possible. As a. signatory to the Convention on Climate Change, Vanuatu is in the process of adding its signature to the Protocol.

 

MR PRESIDENT,

 

We cannot let this opportunity pass without expressing our serious concerns about the great difficulties a Least Developed Country such as the Republic of Vanuatu is facing with regard to her application to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), because some powerful countries, in particular the United States of America, refuse to recognize our constant call for special consideration.

 

Vanuatu has been in the complex process of accession for five and a half years. The negotiations we have been engaged in until last October with a number of major bilateral and multilateral players such as the European Union, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Switzerland, have been completed in a spirit of understanding and appreciation of Vanuatu's circumstances.

 

The United States continues to place heavy and unreasonable demands, which we cannot accept. The demands are considered as absurd when the USA is amongst our least significant trading partners. We believe Vanuatu has become the innocent victim of global trade disputes between the big players.

 

While we have always supported the principle of freer international trade we expect the new regime to be more realistic and more flexible to allow ample time for small and least developed countries to adjust to the new rules. After all, the WTO cannot be considered as a truly global trade regime without the adhesion of all independent countries, including small island states.

There is no secret now; as the Vanuatu Prime Minister has already clearly stated at the recent G77 Summit in Havana, that the conditions being imposed on us for joining WTO are simply beyond our capacity to consider in the short to medium term. And, unless the powerful countries review their positions and conditions with regard to our application, then the Republic of Vanuatu will have no other choice but to reconsider her original application to join WTO.

 

MR PRESIDENT,

 

On a related issue, we would also like to take this opportunity to register our most sincere recognition to all the governments in the Pacific and other Regions for their consistent support for Vanuatu's status as LDC.

 

We continue to maintain our strong belief that the UN criteria for assessing countries LDC status must be fully reviewed and must take into account new indices such as the Environment Vulnerability Index, and the long term impacts of natural disasters like cyclones, tsunami, etc, on the countries' social and economic advancement.

 

MR PRESIDENT,

 

Enhancing the role of the peacekeeping forces of the United Nations must also be a priority for this Assembly. It is in this spirit that Vanuatu commends the Brahimi report on peacekeeping. Once implemented, this will allow the United Nations in effectively carrying out its peacekeeping operations.

 

At this juncture I am proud to say that in spite of our meager resources, Vanuatu is participating for the first in its 20-year history as an independent nation, in the UN peacekeeping missions in East Timor and Bosnia. Prior to this attainment Vanuatu has also served in some regional peace monitoring missions.

 

MR PRESIDENT,

 

In his statement to the Millennium Summit the Prime Minister of Vanuatu touched on an important issue, that of the principle of self-determination and the related question of West Papua.

 

The case of West Papua has always been high on Vanuatu's agenda. In 1984 the late Prime Minister and Father of our Independence, Walter Hayde Lini said "We may not have the resources to support their struggle, but we could remember them in our everyday prayers. For when we talk about their struggle we must always use the name that was very dear to them, WEST PAPUA."

 

The United Nations must be consistent in its decisions for the recognition and respect of the fundamental rights to self-determination for the people of West Papua. The truth surrounding the so called Act of Free Choice must be exposed to the Melanesian sisters and brothers of West Papua, and the rest of the international community; the saddest of all is the UN General Assembly Resolution 2504 on West Papua in 1969. How can the UN continue to ignore the cries of over three million people demanding justice?

 

This year marks the end of the UN's International Decade for the eradication of Colonialism. It is only appropriate that the UN reconsiders and revisits the decisions taken at that time.

 

Following the tragedies in East Timor, Vanuatu believes it is not too late for the international community to act to halt a similar tragedy in West Papua. In this context Vanuatu would like to strongly request that the issue of West Papua be placed for discussion on the agenda before the committee of 24. Any moves to oppose this will most certainly undermine the credibility of the UN and its decisions on this special case.

 

Over the last few decades the UN has positively contributed to the process of decolonisation. We must not allow this one to pass by.

 

Mr President,

 

On the question of reform we agree that any reforms should include the Security Council to make it more democratic and transparent. Membership of the security council should be enlarged to include not only geographic representations, but also in responding to the aspirations of all levels of the world community, the voce of LDC' s and Small Island States.

 

MR PRESIDENT,

 

Vanuatu would like to congratulate alt those-countries, which recognize the need to have a proper evaluation and assessment of the crisis situations in Fiji and Solomon Islands prior to making any punitive measures, if at all. We, in the Republic of Vanuatu, believe that-the traditional ways of economic and other for of sanctions against individual countries in times of crisis should fully reviewed in this new millennium.

 

In this respect, the Delegation of Vanuatu would .like to express its sincere appreciation to the Hon. Sir John Kaputin,Minister of Foreign Affairs of Papua New Guinea, who so ably lead a Pacific ACP Ministerial Mission to Fiji and the Solomon Islands, to carefully assess the situation in the two countries. The Mission also comprised of the Foreign Ministers of the Cook Islands Dr. Robert Woonton, and Vanuatu, and the Minister of Education of Samoa, the Hon. Fiame Naomi Mata `afa.

 

I would also like to take this opportunity to commend His Excellency Mr. Laisenia Qarase, Prime Minister and the Minister for National Reconciliation and Unity in the Interim Administration of the Republic of the Fiji Islands, for his eloquent statement on the situation in Fiji. We would also like to extend our appreciation to the Hon. Danny Philip; Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Solomon Islands for his comprehensive statement.

 

MR PRESIDENT,

 

We have made visionary statements. Now is the for us to translate these into action. We have called for a more efficient, responsive and effective United Nations. We must muster the goodwill to resolutely implement the Millennium Declaration and to rededicate ourselves to upholding the fundamental principles of the United Nations. Let us not lose sight of these goals.

 

I thank you.