UN General Assembly
1990

In 1980, nearly 90 per cent of my country's gross domestic product was destroyed by a hurricane. Fiji suffered a similar fate more recently, losing more than 40 per cent of its sugar output. The same is true of Tonga, where in 1962 a hurricane destroyed 50 per cent of the housing and 90 per cent of the banana crop. Saint Lucia is therefore gratified that the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme will have more resources available for disaster mitigation in the fifth programming cycle. We also see as positive the successful outcome of the first Meeting of the Governmental Experts of Island Developing Countries and Donor Countries and Organisations, which we held in June this year. It was the first small step by the global community in recognising that small island-developing countries have particular problems and special needs that are different from those of developing countries in general.