And without human rights there can be no development, no progress and certainly no harmony and peace in the world. Madam President, I wish to say a few words about the structure of Marshallese society, because this gives a clear cut indication as to why my Government has adopted the policies it has. First of all we have in our Constitution an unequivocal statement that all Marshallese citizens have equal rights regardless of gender. There is however one area in which we have a slightly different policy than others. Because, as a matrilineal society, the right to property ownership rests with the women.
Land is passed on through the family by the women.
Men only have incidental rights to the land, and can only use the land by authority of their mother, sister or wife. In our custom this has had the result of giving additional status to the women of our society. The Government of the Marshall Islands views this as a continuation of several other such Programs, and we will seek its implementation in that context. I refer to the Vienna, Barbados, Cairo and Copenhagen conferences. It is clear to us that we can not look at the issues of development as separate from the concept of sustainability, or separate from the inalienable human rights for all.