UN General Assembly
1989

My country is committed to permanent and secure peace in our world. In pursuit of that commitment, Fiji has fully supported the United Nations in its peace-keeping activities. We have contributed troops for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and for the United Nations good Offices Mission to Afghanistan and Pakistan (UNGOMAP) and, most recently, policemen for the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) in Namibia. Some 23 of my countrymen have paid the ultimate price while serving under the banner of the United Nations. Decolonisation, which has been one of the outstanding achievements of the United Nations, is reaching its final hour. My delegation welcomes the positive developments in New Caledonia. We are confident that France will honour the commitment made in the Matignon Agreement to give the people of that Territory the right to exercise their will through a free and genuine act of self-determination in accordance with the principles and practices established by the United Nations.