UN General Assembly
2014

Kamalesh Sharma, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, said to us at a gathering here in New York a few days ago: “Do not be demoralized by your income, be inspired by your outcome”. That should be a driving principle as all countries, particularly the small island developing States, seek to determine what the post- 2015 development agenda will be. The obstacles are many. The lip service is evident. We have hope, and our moral case is strong. We are inspired by the potential outcomes of this new development agenda. We must be people-focused and, in that regard, I remember a story told by a colleague, a Minister from the Far East, who explained his absence to a constituent at home as dealing with many of the world’s problems. “Yes”, said the constituent to him, “but the water pump in the village has not been fixed”. It is a reminder of whom we really work for in this body — not for ourselves, but for that villager who needs the pump at home to be fixed.