Mr. President, I am
privileged to stand before you today in the place of my
Prime Minister, Mr. Manasseh Sogavare, to renew the
firm commitment of the Government and the people of
Solomon Islands to the principles, ideals and values
that gather us together here annually for their
re-examination and reaffirmation. The privilege of
membership in the United Nations allows my country
to sit amongst Member States and stand up for, as well
as against, decisions on issues that either unite or
divide us. Belonging to this Organization for almost
half the time it has existed is a proud feat for a country
that is barely 30 years old. The experience of nearly
three decades of sovereign statehood has taught
Solomon Islands many lessons that we can share with
the rest of the world. In particular, we are well placed
to highlight the fragility of our independence as a
nation of peoples whose survival is both threatened and
guaranteed by our interdependence with the
international community as represented in this
Assembly.
 Mr. President, representing my Prime Minister
and addressing this Assembly on behalf of more than
the half a million people of Solomon Islands, I wish to
begin by congratulating you on your recent election as
President of the General Assembly at our sixty-second
session. Both you and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
have been selected by fate to pledge your devotion to
duty in a cause challenged by humanity’s survival. We
trust you to do what is right to attain the best for the
rest of us. Your distinguished predecessors have paved
pathways for the progress of this Organization along
many routes which you must now travel to fulfil our
Charter’s promises to us and those whom we are
fortunate to represent.
 Much has happened in Solomon Islands since my
Prime Minister’s address to this Assembly in
September last year. Turning firstly to cataclysmic
events, just six months ago, a series of earthquakes and
tsunamis terrorized, devastated and swallowed up some
of our islands, their inhabitants, homes, gardens,
animals and worldly possessions. From that
catastrophe alone, we suffered the loss of more than 50
lives and injury to countless more, the total destruction
of over 3,240 homes and severe damage to another
3,000 homes. The damage bill is estimated to exceed
$100 million. Thanks to the instantly televised news
coverage of the devastation, the entire world was
shown graphic evidence of the sinking of some of our
islands, the elevation of submerged reefs 3 metres
above sea level and the submersion of many coastal
lands.
 Not visible at the time were the immediate and
future effects of nature’s structural adjustments on the
daily livelihoods of Solomon Islanders. Traditional
fishing grounds have shifted. Agricultural activities
have had to be relocated. The debris is slowly being
cleared. The water supply is being restored. Roads,
wharves and bridges are being rebuilt and hospitals,
clinics, schools and houses are being repaired or
reconstructed. Entire villages will need to be relocated
and rebuilt. Life can no longer be the same for the vast
majority of our people in rural areas, who depend on
fishing and subsistence agriculture for their daily
survival. Any slight tremor or vibration causes them to
flee to higher ground in panic. The emotional and
psychological effects of nature’s non-negotiable terrors
are what our people have to struggle with for the rest
of their lives.
 My snapshot of the April earthquakes and
tsunamis and of their aftermath would not be complete
if I did not acknowledge and place on record the
eternal gratitude of Solomon Islands to all those
Governments, international organizations and peoples
who offered sympathy, prayers and a helping hand
through the humanitarian relief that was dispatched to
our affected areas. Without the assistance and
involvement of all those who volunteered their time
and resources and the generosity of those who donated
emergency relief funds, supplies and provisions, my
Government would not have progressed to the
rehabilitation phase of the disaster recovery
programme as fast as we have. It is at this time of
suffering and need that we appreciate the true value of
human compassion and sacrifice.
 With the increasing incidence of disasters all over
the world, we must bolster the resources of the United
Nations humanitarian relief programme and its
capacity to respond rapidly and effectively to such
crises to alleviate human suffering. As much as we
appreciate the quantum of funds pledged by
sympathetic individuals, institutions and nation-States,
we are left to wonder whether the filtering of donor
financial assistance through national charitable
organizations is calculated to whittle down its value
through the consumption of largesse in its delivery and
administration. Respecting the generosity and altruism
of those who give and the desperation of those who
need requires that we enshrine the principles of
efficiency and effectiveness to guide humanitarian
relief efforts across international borders. Human
charity and human suffering are done a disservice
when disasters create “feeding frenzies” for
non-governmental charitable organizations. The recent
experience of Solomon Islands mirrors what many
other nations have undergone and underlines the need
for concerted international action to regulate the
collection and delivery of humanitarian aid.
 Dealing with the effects of environmental
catastrophes rather than their causes takes us only half
as far as we ought to go. The proceedings of last
week’s High-level Event on Climate Change have
emboldened small island developing States to rally
together to demand the intensification of international
efforts to curb global environmental recklessness.
 It appears that the fragility of States such as
Solomon Islands has less to do with the quality of our
governance machinery and more to do with our
ecological vulnerability. My Government wonders:
what is so virtuous about foreign aid when billions of
dollars can be spent on improving the governance
structures of an economy that derives its export income
from the destruction of tropical forests, when just a
fraction of that expense is all that is needed to preserve
our forests and finance our annual national budgets?
Solomon Islands believes that the protection of our
global environment is a matter of international
responsibility and that it can be capably addressed
through the enunciation of principles that dictate
reciprocal undertakings aimed at the continued
granting and receipt of foreign aid.
 I now turn to the ongoing disputes concerning the
future occupation of Solomon Islands by the
Australian-led visiting contingent. My Government has
initiated a parliamentary review of the legislative basis
for the continued presence of the occupying police,
military and civilian personnel from our neighbouring
countries. Credit must, however, be given to the
visiting forces deployed in 2003 to restore law and
order in Solomon Islands following many years of
ethnic rivalry and violence. The policing of the crisis
for four years has contained it on the surface, without
addressing the underlying socio-cultural roots of
dissension. My Government is determined to delve
deeper into the historical causes of the friction between
our peoples and to do what is necessary to resolve the
disputes that prevent their reconciliation.
 The Commission of Inquiry into the April 2006
Civil Unrest in Honiara   capital of Solomon
Islands   whose establishment was announced by the
Prime Minister during his most recent address to the
Assembly (see A/61/PV.17), finally became functional
this year after the failure of externally orchestrated
manoeuvres to derail it. The Commission of Inquiry’s
interim reports have exposed major flaws in our
national security operations. My Government
appreciates the support of and the financial assistance
pledged by Papua New Guinea in staffing the
Commission of Inquiry. The Commission’s final report
and recommendations should be available in the next
few months.
 Our people’s gratitude to Australia and New
Zealand for financing the deployment of their nationals
to police our crisis with the help of a small contingent
of personnel from neighbouring Pacific island nations
is often expressed and is genuine. However, as our
fellow Pacific island States can readily appreciate, our
sovereign right to determine the terms under which the
Government of Solomon Islands will permit our
continued occupation by the visiting contingent cannot
be undermined by any Member of the United Nations.
 The long neglect of our internal problem by the
United Nations, followed by the hasty conclusion of
the regionally based multilateral agreement, which led
to the dispatch of the initial visiting contingent of
Australian, New Zealand and other Pacific island
forces, have caused the ongoing controversies
concerning their continued existence and eventual
return to the Organization’s doorstep. Viewed from the
perspective of Chapter VIII of the Charter, the nature
of the arrangements and activities embraced by the
2003 agreement, as well as their practical application
and operation since that time, appear to transgress
Article 52 of the Charter as a result of apparent
inconsistencies with Articles 1 and 2.
 However disguised and rationalized, intervention
and occupation allow assisting nations to spend and
earn substantial revenue for their supporting businesses
and industries. My Government is too nationalistic to
become captive to the fortunes that justify our
perpetual retention under a state of siege. My Prime
Minister and my fellow ministers and parliamentarians
remain unmoved by Australian resistance to our
attempts to reclaim our sovereignty and independence.
 In keeping with our obligations under Article 54,
we shall keep the Security Council fully informed of
the activities undertaken under the 2003 agreement and
shall seek its assistance in reducing the financial
burdens that Australia and New Zealand needlessly
bear under the current arrangements.
 As members of the Assembly know only too well,
those who pay the piper call the tune. Our experience
with the Australian-designed cooperative intervention
package demonstrates the need for greater United
Nations involvement in the leadership of future
regional peacekeeping operations.
 The impetus for Australia’s involvement in our
internal unrest was a dramatic change of focus and
heart concerning the protection of its strategic interests
in the Pacific region. The threat of terrorist penetration
through porous frontiers is sufficient cause for
international anxiety, insecurity and sometimes
paranoia. Despite global condemnation of terrorism,
the struggle for consensus on an acceptable definition
of terrorism retards the progress of multilateral
initiatives in the formulation of a comprehensive anti-
terrorism convention.
 Illustrative of the potential for overreaction to
terrorism is the indignity that I, as Foreign Minister of
Solomon Islands, had to suffer when my multiple-entry
visa to Australia was suddenly cancelled last year. The
written explanation for that decision identified me as a
risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian
community under Section 116 (1) (e) of its Migration
Act. One would have to admit that that is an incredible
justification for excluding democratically elected
leaders of neighbouring countries not known for
breeding terrorists. Just over a century ago, many of
our ancestors were kidnapped and forcibly taken to
work as labourers in a country that is now quick to
regard their descendants as terrorists. Defining
terrorism has proved to be more difficult than
deploring it.
 Moving from the preoccupations of the past year
to our perennial protestations, Solomon Islands is
compelled by principle, rather than pragmatism, to
ventilate again our people’s concerns arising from the
non-representation of the Government and people of
Taiwan in this Assembly. Our recent attempts to
channel Taiwan’s application for admission through the
established gateways was resisted   without any
regard for the legitimate quest of 23 million Taiwanese
people for self-determination   by fellow Member
States committed to upholding a peremptory rule of
international law also enshrined in Article 1 of the
Charter of the United Nations. Organized international
hypocrisy is the only basis for explaining the indignity
that the Taiwanese people must suffer at the hands of a
powerful constellation of States interested only in the
protection of trade and investment and not any
humanitarian concerns.
 China’s assertion of sovereignty over Taiwan
must be the pretence that it invariably is, since most of
its major trading partners have also forged and
maintain bilateral relations with Taiwan, which are
ultimately predicated on politico-juridical autonomy.
Solomon Islanders have a native empathy for all people
who are struggling to reclaim what is rightfully due to
them under international law. Our support for their
struggle stems from our convictions about what is right
and just. Our sovereign conscience is not a tradable
commodity. Our rejection of regular approaches for the
reconsideration of our existing allegiances to Taiwan is
premised on our preference, ideally, to recognize both
China and Taiwan on a realistic rather than an
imaginary politico-juridical footing.
 This Assembly is the forum in which mutual
respect and goodwill prevail and enable us to implore
China, as one of the oldest civilizations of our world,
to pledge its non-resort to force in settling the disputed
question of its sovereignty over Taiwan.
 As one of Taiwan’s long-standing diplomatic
allies, and undeterred by the result recently engineered
by international political pragmatism, Solomon Islands
cannot shirk its Charter obligations under Article 35,
paragraph 1, to bring to the attention of this Assembly
the situation currently prevailing between Taiwan and
China. The situation is clearly of a nature requiring
investigation by the Security Council, pursuant to
Article 34, on the basis that it “might lead to
international friction or give rise to a dispute”. The
Security Council is obliged to investigate the situation
in order to determine whether the continuance thereof
is likely to endanger the maintenance of international
peace and security.
 Having now brought the situation to the attention
of this Assembly, Solomon Islands expects that we will
follow the stipulations of Article 11, paragraph 2, in
discussing any questions relating to the maintenance of
international peace and security and making the
necessary recommendations or taking the requisite
action that this Assembly is empowered to make and
take under the applicable provisions of the Charter. A
full, frank and fair discussion of the situation is the
least the Assembly can undertake to affirm our faithful
obedience to our Charter’s creed and satisfy ourselves
as to the existence of grounds for our further proactive
involvement.
 Led by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, my
Government belongs to a constituency of States for
whom the United Nations represents the promise of
hope for civilizations condemned by circumstance to
eternal misery. The effective representation of our
hope, voice and vision in this Organization can be
achieved only by the reform of its governance
structures to reflect the changing configurations of
geopolitical power and influence. Solomon Islands
therefore supports the proposal for the enlargement of
the Security Council. We also believe that India and
Japan must be allocated permanent seats on the
Council.
 The attainment of the Millennium Development
Goals will remain elusive for many nations unless
innovative strategies for debt conversion and
cancellation are devised and adopted to fast-track the
poor's exit from poverty. We look forward to exploring
that prospect at the forthcoming meeting on financing
for development in Doha.
 Solomon Islands has reason to register its
disappointment with the Division for Ocean Affairs and
the Law of the Sea for its tardy action in releasing
funds that are payable to us from the Trust Fund for
Special Aspects of the Implementation of the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to defray
the costs and expenses of establishing our sovereign
claims to continental shelf areas registrable under
article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea. We are concerned that any further
delay in accessing those funds might affect our
registration entitlements due to non-compliance with
time restrictions.
 Time deprives me of the opportunity to chronicle
many more grievances that we needlessly experience in
securing the benefits accorded us by virtue of our
membership in this Organization. The appointment of
the Deputy Resident Representative of the United
Nations Development Programme, stationed in the
Solomon Islands, is a welcome sign of the United
Nations interest in my country’s problems and permits
us to interact more closely with the Organization in
prioritizing the remedial action we need to undertake
for the betterment of the lives of our population. With a
visible presence in our midst and on our shores, the
United Nations will no longer be remote from the
consciousness of the people it exists to serve.
 Before I conclude, allow me to take this
opportunity to extend to Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon my Prime Minister’s invitation to visit our
shores during his tenure in office. We sincerely hope
His Excellency will honour the Government and people
of Solomon Islands by becoming the first Secretary-
General to venture to my country.


First  of all, I would like to join in the sincere
congratulations on your election as the President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-second session and wish
you every success in this lofty office. I would also like
to avail myself to this opportunity to express gratitude
to your predecessor, Her Excellency Mrs. Haya Rashed
Al-Khalifa, for her selfless and efficient work during
the sixty-first session. We also join in the words of
welcome addressed to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon.
 Tajikistan welcomes the continued reforms of the
United Nations structure and enhancement of its
activities aimed at strengthening peace and
international security, furthering the promotion of
human rights, expanding its humanitarian mission,
placing the problem of climate change as an issue of
top priority and addressing today’s other challenges.
We believe that further progress in dealing with these
issues of global importance is dependent on joint,
concerted and consistent actions of the entire
international community.
 Tajikistan attaches primary importance to the
further strengthening of the disarmament process, the
non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the speedy entry
into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty and activation of negotiations on the
establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones. In
cooperation with other Central Asian States, Tajikistan
took a very active part in the drafting of the Treaty on a
Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone in Central Asia, which was
signed on 8 September 2006 in Semipalatinsk, and in
the adoption of the relevant General Assembly
resolution (A/Res/61/88) last year.
 It is common knowledge that international
terrorism, transnational organized crime and illicit drug
trafficking have become a serious obstacle on the road
towards sustainable development, inflicting much
suffering and causing trouble to humanity. The
international community should intensify its efforts
aimed at counteracting the commission of acts of terror
and the proliferation of ideologies based on terrorism,
extremism and separatism, interreligious and
inter-ethnic intolerance and hostility, and should
enhance its struggle against the financing of terrorism.
 The global system of combating terrorism, which
is currently taking shape, cannot be established without
the involvement of regional and subregional
organizations. In our region, the Commonwealth of
Independent States, the Collective Security Treaty
Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization are serving this purpose.
 We believe that long-term success in combating
terrorism and religious extremism depends on
eliminating the root causes of these negative
phenomena associated with social and economic
problems within society. It is essential to jointly search
for ways of addressing poverty issues, overcoming
negative consequences of globalization, and resolving
internal and regional conflicts. Actions based on force
alone will not be able to uproot terrorism.
 Regrettably, today, we witness the merging of
terrorism with transnational organized crime and the
drug trade, which gives rise to our shared and
justifiable concern. Prevention of illicit drug
trafficking, which, to a certain extent, is the breeding
ground for terrorism and international crime, should
become part and parcel of our common struggle against
terrorism. In this regard, I would like to reiterate
Tajikistan’s willingness to continue constructive
dialogue and cooperation with the aim of establishing
an effective global partnership for counteracting the
narcotics threat.
 An international conference dedicated to the tenth
anniversary of the signing of the General Agreement on
the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in
Tajikistan was held in Dushanbe in June 2007, in
cooperation with the United Nations. Almost
simultaneously, the United Nations Tajikistan Office of
Peacebuilding successfully concluded its activities.
Moreover, for the first time, the citizens of my country
joined international United Nations peacekeeping
operations. These events provide convincing proof that
the United Nations has the capacity to assist in
reaching a peace and in ensuring further sustainable
development in a country that has lived through serious
internal conflict.
 For Tajikistan, like for most United Nations
Member States, the achievement of sustainable
development is a high priority goal. Within the United
Nations framework, much has been accomplished the
world over in order to promote sustainable
development and to alleviate poverty, epidemics,
famine and illiteracy. Meanwhile, the implementation
of a large-scale programme on the attainment of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will require
not only extra effort but also additional resources.
Tajikistan’s intention is to realize the greatest possible
progress in the implementation of the MDGs. The main
purpose of the National Strategy for Development of
the Republic of Tajikistan up to the year 2015 and the
Strategy for Poverty Reduction in Tajikistan for the
years 2007-2009 is to ensure stable economic
development and to provide a better standard of living
for the country’s population.
 It is also obvious that the attainment of the
MDGs, to a large extent, also depends on the attitude
of the international community when it comes to
rendering assistance to developing countries and on the
timely mobilization of internal and external resources.
With this in mind, Tajikistan joins the appeal addressed
to the donor community to at least double the amount
of assistance targeted for development. The proposal to
pardon the debts incurred by developing countries in
exchange for the implementation of national projects
aimed at sustainable development remains equally
important. In this connection, we attach much
significance to the unification of efforts aimed at
supporting sustainable financing for development, first
and foremost, in the interests of attaining the MDGs.
We are in favour of a joint search for effective and
feasible development financing mechanisms. Partial
writing off of debts could be equally important, since it
would make it possible to invest liberated funds into
education, environmental protection, combating
HIV/AIDS and other MDGs.
 Tajikistan wholeheartedly supports the creation of
a mechanism of additional measures aimed at making
further progress in the realization of the right to
development, as enshrined in the Declaration on the
Right to Development. Among the issues that should be
regarded as associated with that right are the rational
usage of natural resources for the purpose of
development, provision for the well-being of the
population and addressing the problems of poverty and
unemployment.
 In that connection, Tajikistan believes it has the
right to develop the hydropower sector of the economy
by building water reservoirs and dams on the major
rivers of the country, because sustainable development,
improved living standards of the population,
achievement of the MDGs, the provision of reliable
regulated irrigation water flows and an increased
production of electrical energy depend on the
availability of hydropower resources. Not only is the
implementation of hydropower projects in Tajikistan
extremely advantageous for the country itself, but it
will also be able to influence favourably the
sustainable development of the other States of the
region. For instance, the completion of the construction
of the Ragun hydropower station in Tajikistan alone
will make it possible to supply an extra three million
hectares of land with water in the neighbouring Central
Asian states. Only an integrated approach towards the
use of hydropower and other natural resources of the
region, based on the principles of mutual
understanding, assistance and trust among the States of
the region, can ensure sustainable development in the
region and promote a resolution of environmental
problems, which are closely interconnected with the
rational use of those resources.
 Tajikistan is interested in getting support and
establishing a partnership with countries and
international organizations in the field of renewable
sources of energy and energy-efficient technologies,
which help to reduce the usage of other traditional
types of energy that negatively affect our climate and
do enormous damage to the environment and to the
future of humanity.
 Tajikistan welcomes the High-Level Event on
Climate Change held recently in New York and the
forthcoming conference on the same subject to be held
in Bali in December 2007.
 Within the context of global warming,
degradation of glaciers and the snow cover on the
territories of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which are the
upper watershed zones of Central Asia’s rivers, has
become an ever increasing concern for the Central
Asian region. According to various sources, over the
last 10 years the area of glaciers in Tajikistan has
decreased by 30 to 35 per cent. Although supplying the
population with drinking water is being discussed at
the top level, and the fact that numerous declarations
and other international instruments have already been
adopted on this issue, the situation remains urgent. The
solution of the problem requires further coordinated
efforts on behalf of countries and international
organizations. This problem is not only addressed in
the Millennium Development Goals, but it is also
ranked among those challenges that the world
community encounters on a daily basis.
 For this reason, the implementation of the
International Decade for Action “Water for Life”,
proclaimed by the United Nations on the initiative of
the Republic of Tajikistan, is regarded as even more
timely and appropriate. As part of the Decade, the
Government of Tajikistan has planned an international
conference for 2008 in Dushanbe on water-related
natural disasters, to be held in cooperation with United
Nations agencies and other international organizations.
Tajikistan hopes that all United Nations Member States
will participate actively in this conference.
 From time immemorial the water originating in
Tajikistan has quenched the thirst of all nations of
Central Asia and has irrigated the dry steppes of the
region. However, it is obvious that the region has
already been experiencing water-related difficulties
that can become more aggravated on a yearly basis. To
address this urgent problem, Tajikistan proposes to
provide the Central Asian States with environmentally
sound freshwater from Lake Sarez, which is located at
a height of almost 3,300 metres above sea level and
which could provide freshwater to half the population
of Central Asia. The implementation of this initiative
would make it possible to eliminate the real threat of
an overflow of Lake Sarez, which could affect millions
of people who reside in the downstream areas in
neighbouring countries.
 As for the development of trade and economic
cooperation with other countries, the major challenge
that Tajikistan is facing in this area is lack of access to
the sea and other transportation and communication
difficulties. For this reason, Tajikistan is committed to
the decisions and recommendations outlined in the
Almaty Programme of Action for transit transport
cooperation, which addresses the special needs of
landlocked developing countries to efficiently use the
available transport infrastructure and to increase transit
capacity in order to encourage development of trade
and the advancement of investments in Central Asia.
 The rehabilitation process in Afghanistan is
creating favourable conditions for cooperation in the
region in the implementation of transportation and
communication projects aimed at gaining access to
southern sea ports. The creation of new multi-optional
transport corridors and the restoration of the Great Silk
Road routes seek to establish a unified interconnected
system of communications and to provide the Central
Asian States with reliable access to promising markets.
The August opening of the bridge across the Pyandj
River between Tajikistan and Afghanistan was among
the practical measures taken to achieve that goal.
 The magnitude of the challenges facing the
international community requires the further
strengthening of our Organization. There is no doubt
that all of us must do our utmost to make the United
Nations even more effective in addressing current
issues. For that reason, we believe that all of us must
shoulder our responsibilities towards the Organization,
in the interests of all Member States.


Let me first
congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of
the sixty-second session of the General Assembly. I
also congratulate His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon at
this, his first General Assembly session as Secretary-
General.
 I am humbled to once again address this
Assembly, and I stand before you humbled and
emboldened. Humbled by the magnitude of the socio-
economic challenges we face as a community of
nations and emboldened by the trust that has been
placed in me by the people of Antigua and Barbuda to
articulate their interests in an increasingly competitive
international system. I am further humbled by the
gravity of the environmental challenges facing our
world today and emboldened in the knowledge that
without courageous and timely action, countless lives
will continue to be plagued by misery and countless
more unnecessarily lost.
 As the Prime Minister of a small island State, I
am also humbled and emboldened by the show of
confidence we have received from the Group of 77,
having been elected Chairman for 2008. It is not a
responsibility that we take lightly, and you can rest
assured we intend to rise valiantly to the task of
chairmanship, executing the responsibilities of the
Chair with the sort of professionalism and skill the
Group rightly expects of us. As Chairman of the Group
of 77 for 2008 and like the Chairs before us, we pledge
to uphold the principles and objectives of the Group, to
preserve, at all times, our collective interest as
developing countries, safeguard our common positions,
and, by so doing, achieve significant advancement in
the development agenda.
 I am humbled and emboldened enough to quote
Albert Einstein, who once said:
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of
those who do evil, but because of those who look
on and do nothing.”
“Looking on and doing nothing” is no longer an option
for any of us.
 Let me, at the outset, unequivocally state that
multilateralism should be the preferred means for
effecting international peace, security and human
development. There are some who would prefer for
multilateralism to recede and for the world to be run by
a few dominant Powers. They should be reminded of
the intent and purposes of the Charter of the United
Nations, which, among other things, reaffirms in its
Preamble the faith of humanity: “in fundamental
human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
person, in the equal rights of men and women and of
nations large and small”. It is no small wonder, then,
that the crafters of the Charter pledged their
determination “to employ international machinery for
the promotion of the economic and social advancement
of all peoples”.
 The Charter of the United Nations is perhaps
more relevant today than it was at the time of its
creation. The challenges to peace, security and
development that require collective action have
multiplied immeasurably. At the same time, humanity
has so advanced that today it is possible to achieve the
intentions of the Charter on a scale beyond what might
have been achievable at the time of its crafting.
Regrettably, fulfilment of the purposes of the Charter
of the United Nations seems to be hindered to an
unprecedented degree by a paucity of political will and
determination.
 However, an equitable international system
responsive to the needs of all countries and people is
not beyond our reach. In that context, there is a role for
all nations, large and small, that includes the firm
resolve to strengthen the multilateral system in order to
correct systemic imbalances that hinder the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and other internationally agreed development
goals. Systemic imbalances in international trade,
finance and international governance keep millions
locked in poverty and millions more in a perpetual
state of insecurity because they remain
underrepresented.
 Indeed, there is a role for all States. It should
therefore come as no surprise that Antigua and Barbuda
is of the view that small States can and should play a
crucial role by being voices of reason — voices that
are not shackled to the dogmatic positions that power
necessitates. The absence of so-called high power
allows small States to be pragmatic and practical in
coming up with solutions to some of the most pressing
international problems.
 We can no longer continue talking while
humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate. The
situation in Darfur calls for our immediate and swift
action. We cannot continue talking while women and
children are forced to live in refugee camps. We cannot
continue talking while tens of thousands of persons
continue to die.
 We must act now. There must be swift action to
strengthen the African Union-United Nations Hybrid
Operation in Darfur, which will support the African
troops already there. Every citizen has the right to life
and the right to live in peace. We call on all parties to
end arm sales to the fighting factions. We must ensure
that that happens.
 While acknowledging the reality that the
distribution of power is skewed among nations, we
believe that talent, ability and good intentions remain
in abundance in all countries, large and small. Further,
no country is too small to be able to contribute
innovative solutions to some of the most pressing
international problems.
 We in Antigua and Barbuda may be among the
small and the powerless in terms of might and money,
but we are willing and able to play our part to achieve
international peace and development through active
multilateral diplomacy, and we are intent on doing so.
 Global poverty and economic inequality can be
resolved only through sustained economic growth.
Central to sustaining the economic growth of poorer
countries is the establishment of a pro-development
trading regime with a fair playing field, where large
and small play by the rules — rules meant to create a
fairer system and to allow the maximum benefits from
international trade to be widely distributed among
countries.
 In that regard, we re-emphasize that it is
important that individual United Nations Member
States abide by fair trading practices, which eliminate
targeted barriers designed to deny access to small,
vulnerable countries seeking economic opportunities
through such options as Internet trading.
 Equally important is the need for Member States,
big and small, to play by the international trade rules.
The economic survival of our people depends on that.
Our tourism and financial services sectors depend on
that. Wealthy nations will ultimately have to pay a high
price for actions that further pauperize already poor
societies.
 In a local context, the reduction of income
inequality is a key priority for the Government of
Antigua and Barbuda. My Government has ensured
that affirmative action to ease the economic squeeze on
the poor is embedded in all revenue-generating
mechanisms. My Government resolves to ensure that
the benefits of economic growth are shared among the
entire population, by focusing on employment
generation and the provision of free or low-cost social
services in the areas of health and education, among
others.
 Climate change is a global problem requiring a
collective response, and, if we do not respond quickly,
the result will be disaster on a global scale. This
represents a monumental test of the political will and
courage of humanity in general, but especially of the
political leaders of the most powerful countries.
 For small island States, the challenge of adapting
to climate change is not new; what is new is its
urgency. The increased risk of natural disasters adds an
extra dimension to the vulnerability of the island States
of the Caribbean. Because of our size and the nature of
our primary economic activities, the infrastructure of
an entire country can be destroyed by, for example, the
passage of a single hurricane. The livelihood of the
entire population is at once threatened.
 Antigua and Barbuda, like many of our Caribbean
brothers and sisters, has had to place greater priority on
disaster preparedness, resulting in increased
competition for the already meagre resources of the
governmental budget. Our situation is not unique.
 I take this opportunity to highlight the importance
of international action to support our efforts at disaster-
risk reduction, through an ambitious climate change
regime within the ambit of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change. That must,
of necessity, include a commitment to increasing the
level of international financing for adaptation in
vulnerable countries.
 The proliferation of crime in our already
vulnerable societies represents a threat to the peaceful
and stable communities for which the Caribbean is
known. In all Caribbean societies, the bulk of violent
crime is drug-related. It so happens that the bulk of
narco-trafficking activity in our region is linked to
illegal drugs bound for North America and Europe.
That means that small Caribbean economies are
required to pay a high price to protect societies to our
north and in the Atlantic from drug shipments headed
their way. We urge the United Nations family of
agencies, in recognition of the link between
globalization and crime, to provide the Caribbean with
increased assistance in this area.
We also need the support and cooperation of
individual Member States, particularly those that carry
out a policy of criminal deportation. That practice
parachutes graduates of metropolitan criminal systems
onto societies in which they often have no families and
no social network to assist in their re-entry into the
vulnerable Caribbean societies from which they had
long been exiled. That is a monstrous assault on
several of our societies.
 With regard to the problem of drug-related crime
and the proliferation of handguns, Antigua and
Barbuda reiterates its call for the strengthening and
implementation of the various United Nations treaties
on small arms and light weapons. The scale and scope
of the disruptions and destruction caused by the
proliferation of small arms in the hands of unemployed
youth in the Caribbean is tremendous. Here, too, small
developing States which produce no weapons are
confronted by the tragedy wrought by guns
manufactured in countries that fail to control their
weapons of death and appear untroubled by the ease
with which those weapons cross international borders.
Even a miniscule increase in violent crime has a
negative impact on development in small island States.
These perspectives should inform the international
debate on peace and security.
 All countries, large and small, have a national
interest in eliminating the threat to development caused
by international terrorism. Antigua and Barbuda
continues to play its part by adhering to the various
anti-terrorism resolutions of the United Nations,
including our obligations under Security Council
resolutions 1540 (2004) and 1373 (2001), among
others.
 Additionally, we have taken the added initiative
to enact our own national legislative requirement by
way of our National Anti-Terrorism Act of Parliament
in 2005.
 Combating international terrorism should not
depend on the trampling of religious and cultural
diversity and individual rights and freedoms. Cultural
and religious intolerance and prejudice and the stifling
of cultural diversity will only serve to perpetuate the
causes of terrorism.
 Earlier this year, Antigua and Barbuda, along
with the rest of the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM), held activities to commemorate the
bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of the trans-
Atlantic slave trade. CARICOM also led an initiative
for the anniversary to be commemorated here at the
United Nations. That is an issue that should remain on
the agenda of the United Nations. My Government is
proud to have been a part of the initiative led by
CARICOM member States at the United Nations to get
the international community to recognize this
anniversary.
 Such international recognition is important
because it provides the opportunity to carry forward
the fight for justice. Despite all the modern treaties and
international statutes and recognition of the slave trade
as a crime against humanity, this crime remains
unpunished; the entities remain unaccountable for their
participation and profiteering. Maintaining
international focus on this issue gives our nations and
the world the opportunity to make progress in repairing
the damage caused by 500 years of slavery and
colonialism, so that those who profited from such a
crime may be urged to take responsibility for rectifying
the effects that remain today.
 Progress may be slow in the fight for justice for
the descendants of slaves, but we must not give up. As
a community of sovereign nations, Antigua and
Barbuda and the other CARICOM member States
consider it necessary for the international community
to become accountable for this crime against humanity.
The question of reparations must be placed on the
United Nations agenda now.
 We urge the United Nations system and Member
States to continue to pay special attention to the issue
of gender equality and empowerment of women. The
dividends from investing in gender equality and
empowerment of women are two-fold: democratic
gains, on the one hand, and development gains, on the
other. My Government has placed top priority on
empowering women politically and economically. The
Speaker of the House of Assembly in Antigua and
Barbuda is female. So, too, are the President of the
Senate and the Clerk of Parliament. My Government
has the honour of having the first female elected
Member of Parliament, who currently holds the
position of President of the Inter-American
Commission of Women.
 We have not stopped there. The Chairman of the
Integrity Commission, pursuant to the Integrity in
Public Life Act, is a woman. The Governor General of
Antigua and Barbuda, appointed earlier this year on the
advice of the Prime Minister, is female. The
Ombudsman, a creature of the Constitution of Antigua
and Barbuda is also a woman. The Chairman of the
Public Service Commission, also a creature of the
Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda, is a woman.
 We continue to focus on increasing women’s
participation in the political decision-making process.
In that regard, we have been helped by the normative
framework of the various United Nations gender
entities. We will continue to work towards even greater
gender parity in the political, economic and social
spheres, and we encourage all Member States to do the
same.
 As we in the Caribbean grapple with the increase
in HIV/AIDS cases, we are also confronted with
another great threat to the survival of our people.
Chronic non-communicable diseases have become a
major concern for the Caribbean. Recently, an historic
summit of heads of CARICOM on chronic
non-communicable diseases held in Trinidad and
Tobago agreed to give full support for the initiatives
and mechanisms aimed at strengthening regional health
institutions through the signing of a comprehensive
declaration highlighting a plan of action on this critical
health issue. We strongly believe that the health of the
region is the wealth of the region, which underscores
the importance of health to development.
 It is therefore necessary for the United Nations,
through its various organs and agencies, to lend
support to our initiatives to develop strategies to
prevent and control heart disease, stroke, diabetes,
hypertension, obesity and cancer in the region by
addressing their causal risk factors of unhealthy diets,
physical inactivity, tobacco use and alcohol abuse, in
addition to strengthening our health services. We must
act together now to reduce the suffering and burdens
caused by non-communicable diseases on the citizens
of our region, which is the worst-affected in the
Americas.
 We seek the cooperation of the United Nations
and our international partners in the development of
initiatives for the screening and management of
chronic diseases and risk factors so that, by 2012,
80 per cent of people with non-communicable diseases
will receive quality care and have access to preventive
education based on regional and international
guidelines.
 Allow me to conclude on the point at which I
began, by referring once more to the Charter of the
United Nations. Sixty-two years ago, when the United
Nations was formed, the international system was less
complex and colonialism was still the dominant
concern. Humanity was reeling from the effects of a
second world war. It was not the best of times.
 Today, in my opinion, it is still not the best of
times for a majority of the people on planet Earth. The
primary catalysts to positive change and improved
lives for the global population are the United Nations
and the leaders of its Member States. I am hopeful that
sharing our collective wisdom, and drawing from this
source, the sixty-second session of the General
Assembly will translate into meaningful and enduring
benefit for the peoples of the world.
 I am equally confident that our deliberations on
climate change will lead to solutions that will ensure
the protection of our planet and its peoples.


On behalf of the delegation of the Central
African Republic, and in the name of our Head of
State, President of the Republic François Bozizé, I
extend warm and heartfelt congratulations to
Mr. Kerim on his election to preside over the General
Assembly at its sixty-second session. We are also
gratified to assert that his distinctive skills will
guarantee the success of our work.
 I also wish to pay a warm tribute to his
predecessor, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa of the
Kingdom of Bahrain. Five decades after the presidency
of Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India, she wisely led
the work of the sixty-first session of the General
Assembly, to the great satisfaction of all.
 Finally, on behalf of President of the Republic
and Head of State François Bozizé, allow me to
address our sincere congratulations to Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon on his dynamism and the
efficiency with which he has undertaken his work in
the context of current important international issues,
including the maintenance of international peace and
security, climate change, human rights, and combating
drugs and terrorism in all its forms, which remain
pressing issues that no country in the world can address
in isolation.
 The conflicts afflicting the innocent civilian
populations in the Middle East, the Great Lakes region
and the Sudan, a neighbour of the Central African
Republic, with their hosts of refugees and displaced
persons, are causes of grave concern. The conflict in
Darfur and the presence of rebels, armed groups and
road-blockers cause the proliferation and unlawful
circulation of small arms in that subregion, thus
provoking widespread and continuous insecurity.
 The consequences for the Central African
Republic often take the shape of recurrent crises that
chronically undermine the economic fabric and
aggravate the poverty of our people by creating
hazardous and precarious living conditions. All of this
leads to the breakdown of the social fabric, the loss of
civic spirit and, ultimately, the failure of confidence in
their institutions and, especially, in justice.
 We applaud the adoption of Security Council
resolution 1778 (2007) on the deployment of the hybrid
multidimensional force to the borders of the Central
African Republic, Chad and the Sudan. We should like
to see it accompanied, however, by genuine support for
the reinforcement of institutional capacities in the
Central African Republic. In that regard, we thank and
praise France for its courageous decision and effective
participation in that peacekeeping force.
 During the fifteenth session of the Commission
on Sustainable Development, held in New York from
30 April to 11 May 2007, whose chosen theme was
turning commitments into action and working together
in partnership, participants highlighted the correlation
and interdependence among the four areas of the
thematic cluster: energy for sustainable development,
industrial development, air pollution and climate
change. The Commission’s fifteenth session also
demonstrated that much significant progress remains to
be achieved: advances in those sectors are minimal and
still far from the objectives the international
community set for itself in Rio in 1992 and in
Johannesburg in 2002.
 In order to meet these challenges of the
environment in particular and sustainable development
in general, a partnership endeavour, supported by
sufficient resources, is absolutely essential in order to
allow developing countries, in particular in Africa, the
Caribbean and the South Pacific, to implement these
commitments, especially since those regions, and
particularly Africa, while bearing but little
responsibility for the advent of this phenomenon, are
more vulnerable to the risks associated with climate
change.
 By choosing climate change as a central topic of
this General Assembly session and organizing the high-
level dialogue “The future in our hands: Addressing the
leadership challenge of climate change”, the Assembly
President has pinpointed the growing concern
associated with global warming for a country such as
ours, the Central African Republic. Indeed, the
problems associated with climate change now lie at the
core of international debates. The moment has thus
arrived to transform good intentions into concrete
actions.
 For its part, the Central African Republic hopes
that during the Bali Climate Change Conference this
December the wealthy countries will at last honour
their commitments in the area of technology transfer
and will provide assistance to strengthening the
national and regional structures required for effective
action to combat climate change. I would like to pay a
warm tribute to the Secretary-General for the interest
he has shown in these problems and for his initiative of
appointing three special envoys in the area of climate
change.
 Allow me to present the specific case of my
country, the Central African Republic, which spans
three climatic zones, with great diversity in its
ecosystem, from dense humid forest in the south, to the
pre-Sahelian area in the north.
 This central position at the crossroads of different
African ecosystems   from the Sudan-Sahelian areas
in the north to the dense humid forest in the south
gives it great ecological potential. It has many assets:
rich and fertile soil, mineral and forest wealth,
diversified fauna and varied agriculture, with the latter
being the country’s economic base.
 The Central African Republic understands the
wealth of its natural resources, but also the threats
involved. That is why we have built environmental
concerns into the constitution of our country, notably
in its preamble and its article 9 where the collective
consciousness is called upon to respect the principle of
good environmental governance.
 Despite these resources, the economic reality of
the country shows that the Central African Republic is
among the least developed countries, where the
population lives on less than a dollar a day. In recent
years, the rate of economic growth has fallen below the
average predictions. Structurally, the country comes up
against many obstacles in its development efforts. For
instance, its domestic market is tiny, and it is isolated
domestically and externally because of its distance
from maritime ports. The economic situation may be
summed up as follows: lack of individual income,
limited State resources, inequality between men and
women and the rate of illiteracy.
 Our economy is largely dependent on
environmental resources. Aware of the difficulties it
faces, the Government has opted for regional and
international cooperation by participating in many
initiatives concerning the environment and sustainable
forestry management, such as the Central African
Forest Commission, the Network of Protected Areas of
Central Africa, the Sangha Tri-National Landscape and
the Congo Basin Forest Partnership.
 Generally speaking, the implementation of most
of these initiatives has not met expectations: the
initiatives were ambitious, but the capacities for
implementation and the financial resources were
inadequate. The enterprises exploiting these resources
impose binding environmental rules on us while the
population does not reap any benefit.
 We need to halt and eliminate poverty with the
participation of all. Poverty creates injustice. Here I
wish to cite President Sarkozy, the printed text of
whose recent statement observed that justice meant the
same chances for success for each poor child in the
world as for each rich one. In this very Hall, President
Sarkozy said:
 Justice means that a developing country on
which we wish to impose environmental rules,
even though its inhabitants have barely enough to
eat, can be helped to put such rules in place.
Justice means that we cannot tap a country's
resources without paying a fair price for them.
  I solemnly appeal to the United Nations to
concern itself with the issue of fairer distribution
of wealth and of the income derived from
commodities and technology.
 The Central African Republic is ready to open its
borders to developed nations and to public and private
investors in order to increase its resources. The Central
African Republic applauds the great nations - France,
the United States, China, Japan, Germany, Britain and
Russia and certain emerging countries of the South
for their willingness to cooperate in order to slow the
deterioration of the environment.
 We thank the European Union and the African
Development Bank for their assistance and, in
particular, the International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank for having allowed the Central African
Republic to reach the decision point under the
enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.
We praise the actions of those international financial
institutions, and we ask them to open a new chapter on
the environment and the economies of poor countries.
 We call on all for a continuing effort to reduce
inequality between men and women, because in Africa,
women are very often heads of families in the most
remote regions. They play a very important role. In that
way, the support of the international community in
eliminating inequality will provide a solution in terms
of sustainable development.
 We cannot achieve a healthy environment without
wiping out illiteracy. We hope that the developed
countries of the South and the North will help poor
countries to create the right conditions in terms of
informing and training their populations in order to
show them that they have an interest in preserving the
environment.
 Our country is rich. It wishes to exploit the
wealth of its subsoil in order to protect its
environment. With assistance, we can hope to bring
ourselves closer to the Millennium Development Goals
by 2015.
 In his opening statement, the President stated,
Keep your mind level. If the mind is level, the whole
world will be level.
 The President of the Central African Republic,
Mr. Francois Bozize often teaches us about the mind of
the spirit:
 Infinite spirit is all. All is one. All is all.
And all is the Universe. The Universe is calm. If
we have understood this, let the world follow the
example of the wise by avoiding the errors of the
semi-wise who perish because of their
foolishness”.
 I would like to hope that this message will be
favourably received by our partners, both bilateral and
multilateral.


I would like to take
this opportunity to express to you, Mr. President, my
delegation’s sincerest congratulations on your well-
deserved election. A special tribute goes to Her
Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa and to
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, for their visionary
and dedicated leadership.
 Recent events in Bangladesh have aroused
considerable interest worldwide as we struggle to fulfil
the promise of democracy for our people. I will take
this opportunity to share with the global community
some of our recent experiences in consolidating
democracy. We have learned that democracy is not an
event; it is an ongoing process. It is not just about
casting votes and changing Governments; it is also
about social justice, accountability and empowerment
of the people.
 Those who have followed events in Bangladesh
over the past few months will know that the Caretaker
Government came into office in January this year amid
a political stalemate. The fabric of our democracy had
been torn apart by years of catastrophic corruption.
Widespread frustration with the status quo had led to a
rising tide of political violence. That in turn had
disrupted ordinary life and shattered all public
confidence in the possibility of credible elections.
Moreover, there was little hope that a tainted election
could end the cycle of violence. A state of emergency
was therefore declared on 11 January of this year in an
effort to end the ongoing chaos and to usher in a new
beginning.
 As stipulated in our constitution, the non-party
Caretaker Government acts as a bridge between two
successive political Governments. Our task is, first and
foremost, to ensure a free and fair election, and we are
fully committed to fulfilling that responsibility.
However, our nation has learned through harsh
experience that an election cannot simply be a one-off
casting of votes, but must be part of a dynamic and
continuing process whereby people freely choose their
leaders.
 While Bangladesh has held three elections in the
past two decades, our democracy has been brutally
undermined by ruinous corruption. The lack of
systemic institutional safeguards allowed corruption to
run rampant. That created a winner-takes-all electoral
system, whereby the spoils of electoral victory were so
great, and the stakes of winning so high, that the
political process became hopelessly polarized, leading
to a paralysis even of ordinary governance. As the
benefits of winning elections increased, so did the
costs of securing victory, creating a truly vicious circle
in which corruption became the linchpin. Corruption
thus became both the means and the end in terms of
winning elections. If our democratic spirit is to emerge
unscathed from that downward spiral, and if we are to
deliver free, fair and meaningful elections, we must
first free our politics from the clutches of corruption
and violence.
 Democracy and the rule of law are not merely
concepts; they must be embodied in functioning public
institutions. In Bangladesh, the very institutions that
form the foundations of democracy have been eroded
by ongoing corruption. Rebuilding those institutions
and restoring public confidence through meaningful
reforms are Herculean tasks, but they are ones in which
we cannot and will not fail.
 In Bangladesh, the task of conducting free and
fair elections is the responsibility of the Election
Commission. The Caretaker Government has already
overhauled the Commission, guaranteeing its
independence and giving it a broader mandate. The
Election Commission, of its own accord, has
announced a timeline for the holding of the next
parliamentary election by the end of 2008. Our
Administration is committed to ensuring that that
timeframe is adhered to. We will bring to bear the full
resources of the Government in that effort.
 Our Government has reorganized the Independent
Anti-Corruption Commission to ensure that it can
effectively lead the fight against corruption. We have
given the Commission broad and sweeping powers —
including operational independence — not only to
apprehend those who have been corrupt, but also to
work as a deterrent. Within a month after coming into
office, our Government acceded to the United Nations
Convention against Corruption as a clear signal of our
unwavering commitment against corruption.
 The implementation of the Convention will not
only contribute to the reduction of corruption in
Bangladesh, but will also help us to recover the
ill-gotten gains of corruption stored abroad. Those who
engage in corruption must confront the reality that
there is no safe haven for them. The world is united in
the struggle against corruption, and today Bangladesh
pledges itself an active partner in that endeavour.
 One of the most critical elements of a functioning
democracy is an independent judiciary. In Bangladesh,
the lower judiciary and criminal prosecution were
traditionally under the executive branch of the
Government, contrary to the constitutional principle of
separation of powers. While judicial independence has
been part of the political manifesto of successive
governments over the past 15 years, each has
repeatedly reneged on its public promises in this
regard. Recognizing the importance of an independent
judiciary to the rule of law, the Caretaker Government
within its first month in office initiated the necessary
steps to fully separate the executive and judicial
branches of the Government. We have also revamped
the Bangladesh Public Service Commission and the
University Grants Commission in order to restore the
apolitical nature of those important institutions.
 Political parties are among the core constituents
of democracy. Their accountability and true democratic
character remain critically important for democracy to
function. In response to demands of the people, the
main political parties have themselves initiated various
reforms, and the revamped parties will interact with the
revitalized institutions of the Government to move our
nation forward.
 Bangladesh reaffirms its unflinching commitment
to universal and inalienable human rights. Any society
committed to democracy requires the recognition and
enforcement of human rights, and in Bangladesh the
fight against corruption and the strengthening of the
rule of law go hand-in-hand with the protection of
human rights. The Caretaker Government has,
therefore, taken the decision to establish a national
human rights commission to ensure that our laws and
public institutions reflect international standards and
norms of human rights. It is unfortunate that successive
Governments have shied away from taking this
important step.
 Bangladesh remains resolute in its relentless
campaign against international extremism and
terrorism. We recently acceded to the International
Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear
Terrorism. Bangladesh is now a party to all terrorism-
related United Nations conventions, a testament to our
commitment to fighting terrorism in all its forms. On
the domestic front, we have taken stern measures
against militant groups and their patrons. In particular,
we categorically reject the claims of those who cloak
themselves in the rhetoric of Islam to justify terrorism.
Bangladesh is steadfast in its commitment to curb
religious fundamentalism in all its manifestations.
 Our experience in re-instilling confidence in the
Government has a wider relevance to the international
community. The problems that we are facing today are
not unique to Bangladesh. After all, in the developing
world democracy does not necessarily ensure good
governance. Many countries face similar problems of
political violence, mis-governance and corruption. This
is particularly true for post-conflict and transition
societies, where the politics of mistrust is pervasive.
We feel that a greater understanding of our challenges
and, more importantly, of our efforts to re-build
political and social institutions, can serve as
benchmarks for others facing similar situations. For
example, Bangladesh represents an effective model of
civil-military cooperation in crisis prevention. Our
experience in crisis management could be relevant for
many crisis-torn, nascent democracies.
 One way in which we can share our experiences
in governance is through our robust presence in United
Nations peacekeeping operations. We have consistently
been one of the top troop-contributing countries in the
world, and our peacekeepers have earned accolades for
their contributions. We are confident that Bangladesh
will continue to play a leadership role in multi-
dimensional peacekeeping efforts, and we are ready to
provide comprehensive deployment packages in future
peace operations. We also remain active in the United
Nations peacebuilding endeavours in post-conflict
societies.
 We warmly welcome the Secretary-General’s
timely initiative to restructure the Department of
Peacekeeping Operations. The world is witnessing a
natural evolution from the monitoring of peace to
multidimensional tasks of peacebuilding,
democratization and development. As one of the largest
troop-contributing countries (TCCs), we strongly feel
that the TCCs should have equitable representation and
play a greater role in deployment and other strategic
decisions.
 The United Nations is in the midst of a
continuing evolution. It is our collective responsibility
to make the United Nations more relevant to the
present day world, to fulfil the promise Dag
Hammarskjöld spoke of when he said, “The day will
come when men will see the United Nations and what
it means clearly.” The Secretary-General’s report on
system-wide coherence presents several useful
recommendations in this connection. However, we feel
that the reform exercise should focus on the
requirements of achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), and we recognize that the
speed of reform must be gradual.
 We must reflect upon what is needed by the
United Nations, in terms of financial and human
resources, to foster development. Keeping in mind that
developing countries differ greatly in their political,
administrative and social structures, the reform
exercise must take this diversity into account and allow
individual countries to determine the structure of the
United Nations presence at the country level, the
representation of different United Nations agencies and
their country programmes. We must not undermine the
identities of individual United Nations agencies,
including their mandates, independence and
institutional integrity.
 Earlier this week, we discussed the exceedingly
important issue of climate change. World leaders
reaffirmed our shared commitment to address the issue
of global warming. Bangladesh is particularly
vulnerable to global warming, given that as much as 30
per cent of our land will be submerged if the Bay of
Bengal rises by just one metre. The adverse effects of
global warming, deforestation and increased salinity
are already evident in Bangladesh. Floods have become
an annual calamity, and this year our people have
suffered particularly severe losses owing to flooding.
While the resilience of our people and the quick
mobilization of our limited domestic resources helped
us to overcome the crisis this year, we envisage that
this may become harder in the future. We therefore
urge enhanced international cooperation to meet the
challenges of global warming and its consequences.
 There is a growing acknowledgment that trade
liberalization can be an effective tool for economic
development. For the least developed countries
(LDCs), the trade-to-gross domestic product ratio
averages about 58 per cent, while it is roughly 25 per
cent for many Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development countries. These statistics show that
the LDCs are far more dependent on trade than their
developed counterparts. Bangladesh, along with many
other LDCs, is facing significant tariff and non-tariff
barriers in accessing developed markets. Global trade
regimes must provide unimpeded access to all products
of LDCs, so as to ensure that the fruits of progress are
shared by all.
 While representing a nation of 140 million
people, squeezed into an area roughly the size of New
York State, I must underscore the importance of
migration to our development efforts. For many in
Bangladesh and other developing countries, temporary
labour migration provides a livelihood option and a
route out of poverty. If we are to reduce poverty by
half by 2015, we must strengthen our efforts to ensure
the free movement of labour. The international
community is recognizing the critical linkages between
migration and development. It is encouraging that the
Global Forum on Migration and Development, held in
Brussels this July, accorded migration its due priority.
We must also intensify our efforts to defend the rights
of migrant workers. We would also like to see
momentum in the liberalization of Mode IV services.
We call for renewed international efforts — at the
World Trade Organization and in other forums — to
facilitate the free movement of labour services.
 Let me conclude by reiterating my Government’s
unswerving commitment to democracy and the
protection of human rights. We have pledged to put
Bangladesh on a higher trajectory of good governance,
rule of law and development. We are determined to
hold a free, fair and meaningful election within the
timeframe stipulated by our independent Election
Commission and to keep our country firmly on the path
of democracy. My Government is fully committed to
ensuring that our reform initiatives are comprehensive
and irreversible. Bangladeshis now stand united for a
prosperous future for their country and the world.


May I offer
my congratulations to you, Mr. President, your
Government and people on your election. I would also
like to offer my thanks to your predecessor, Her
Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for her
leadership of the General Assembly over the past year.
I also offer my congratulations to the Secretary-
General on the progress he has made during the past
nine months. His first report (A/62/1) is very
encouraging, and we welcome his response to the new
challenges we are all facing. I also wish to thank our
United Nations representatives, workers and volunteers
throughout the world who are undertaking very hard
tasks which are often extremely dangerous. We thank
them for their professional dedication. This is
especially so in many parts of the Middle East. Here I
offer once more our continued strong support for all
the efforts being made by the United Nations to find a
solution to the suffering of the Palestinian people. In
doing so we reaffirm our solidarity with the people of
Palestine in their efforts to find a just and lasting
solution to problems that have been going on for
almost 60 years.
 My last word of thanks, Mr. President, is to you
personally. We were most encouraged by your
acceptance speech and your plan for the future. We
were pleased to hear you express strong support for
multilateral solutions to world problems. We certainly
agree on the need for the United Nations to strengthen
its central position in the multilateral system. Most of
all, we are very happy with the idea of a lasting
consensus among Member States, the private sector,
non-governmental organizations and civil society. We
are especially pleased that civil societies were
included. That means giving ordinary people a place in
the consensus. That is why we found the statement so
encouraging. Nevertheless, it has set a very serious
challenge to the United Nations. It is most important
that our people gain the understanding that comes from
knowledge, experience and expertise. Our theme of
climate change at this session shows this very clearly.
 The many discussions we have had this week
have taught us that all modern problems are extremely
complicated. It has also shown us how important it is
to gain a full understanding of these difficulties. If our
people are to gain such understanding, it will come
from having universal good education, good health and
strong social services. This will come only when all
countries have reached the United Nations Millennium
Goals. So it is more urgent than ever that these Goals
be reached on time. They cover all aspects of modern
life   political, social, cultural, and, perhaps above all
today, economic and commercial. As such they provide
a way for people to understand modern problems well,
take a full part in the consensus and help to find a
solution.
 I say this because we are now at the critical
halfway point that we set seven years ago in planning
the Millennium Development Goals. The discussion we
have had all week on climate change shows how vital
the next seven years will be. In my own country we
have only just started to realize how difficult the
subject is. It is like security and sustainable
development and energy. These are all new,
twenty-first century problems, and they all mean that
our people need to learn more and more and to learn
very quickly.
 We need to include the subject I have mentioned
in all aspects of national development planning, and we
need to share knowledge and expertise. We believe that
this is more important than ever. This is because by
exchanging views and information on climate change
this week we have also learned another new lesson,
which teaches us that when it comes to modern twenty-
first century problems we are all in them together. That
is what your consensus, Mr. President, means. It
recognizes that we all have an important contribution
to make   if we work together. That is why we very
much value the partnership you have proposed. We
hope it will result in our people becoming far more
than just receivers of solutions. We hope it will start to
make them one of the most important agents in finding
solutions.
We feel you have begun your term of office,
Mr. President, by inviting us all to share a modern
platform on which we can all work well. We are very
pleased to join you and your consensus for the sixty-
second session of the General Assembly, and we wish
you much success in broadening and strengthening it
during the coming year.


I would like to take this
opportunity to congratulate the President on his
election to preside over the sixty-second session of the
General Assembly. Malaysia will work with him
towards realizing the objectives of the Organization,
particularly in efforts aimed at conferring more power
on the General Assembly in managing the affairs of the
United Nations.
The course of human history is marked by a few
pivotal moments during which we had an opportunity
to make either the correct or the wrong decision, which
had an impact on the destinies of those who come after.
We are now living in such a time. There are certain
problems that touch all our lives without exception.
The change in climate and the increasing discord
between cultures and civilizations are two such
problems. The first problem is now globally affecting
the well-being of planet Earth, while the second is
threatening to tear apart the fabric of peaceful relations
between peoples and nations. Let me first say
something about climate change.
 We are now fully aware of the gravity and the
immediacy of the situation. Natural disasters and other
extremes in the weather are occurring now, often in
parts of the world that never before experienced such
calamities. The worst is yet to come. Indeed, the 2007
report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change has made it clear that the scale and urgency of
the challenge is greater than we had thought or feared.
 In December of this year, Indonesia will be
hosting on Bali the thirteenth Conference of the Parties
to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change. We must agree to launch the process
for negotiations on a post-2012 agreement. Ongoing
national and regional initiatives to deal with climate
change must not compete with, and should instead
complement, the negotiations under the United Nations
framework. Malaysia will fully support Indonesia in
order to ensure that the Bali Conference achieves the
success that it deserves.
 We need to achieve consensus on certain
fundamental issues, even before the negotiations begin
for a post-2012 agreement. The principle of common
but differentiated responsibilities must prevail. We
must recognize the fact that the poorest countries of the
world have the least capacity to adapt and should
therefore be apportioned the least responsibility to
mitigate the impacts of climate change.
 A post-2012 agreement needs to build upon the
architecture and other fundamentals of the Kyoto
Protocol. For example, there should be absolute
emission-reduction targets for developed countries,
expanded mechanisms that facilitate contributions from
developing countries and special provisions for the
least developed countries and the small island
developing States.
 We know that climate change has implications
not only for the environment but also for the global
economy. That is an important additional reason why
the principle of differentiated responsibilities must
apply, so that developing countries can maintain their
capacities for sustainable development. Of course,
developing countries have their part to play in the
management of climate change, but it must be
commensurate with their abilities to perform.
 On this subject, we must never forget the Earth
Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where it all
began. Caring for the environment and ensuring
sustainable development were the themes of that global
conference. The message of that Summit was that
nothing less than a transformation of our attitude and
behaviour will bring about the necessary changes.
Those principles remain fully valid, and they should
guide us as we begin the process of negotiations for the
post-2012 agreement on climate change.
 Let me now turn to the problem of the discord
that is growing between Islam in general and the West
as a whole. The main cause is the misperception in the
West that Islam promotes exclusivity and encourages
extremism. We must take action to generate greater
understanding between the followers of different
cultural and civilizational traditions. Malaysia fully
supports the various efforts being made in that regard
at the international level. We are confident that such
dialogue will establish the truth that Islam is a religion
that espouses universalism and not exclusivity, and
tolerance rather than bigotry.
 Malaysia is equally convinced that it is wrong to
put the blame on religion as the cause of existing
disputes between nations. All genuine religions
advocate peace and harmony among peoples, as well as
acceptance of others. That is certainly the case with
Islam, which teaches its believers to practice tolerance,
forgiveness, peace, fraternity and coexistence. The
Koran, which is the foundation of the religion of Islam,
is very explicit in recognizing the existence of
religions other than Islam.
 That religion is not the root cause of the world’s
troubles, as has been confirmed by the report of the
High-level Group for the Alliance of Civilizations that
was released on 13 November 2006. The report
maintains that, although religion is often cynically
exploited to stir passions, fuel suspicions and support
alarmist claims that the world is facing a new war of
religions, the root of the matter is political, not
religious. We should support various initiatives at the
national and regional levels to promote the message
and recommendations of the 2006 report.
 Nevertheless, it is Malaysia’s view that such
national and regional initiatives must finally culminate
in a truly universal dialogue based on the multilateral
intergovernmental process. It is only such a process
that can establish binding commitments. Indeed, the
success of such a dialogue has now become an
important condition for securing the wider goals of
global peace, security and prosperity.
 There is a tendency to blame history, but there is
no evidence in history that points to religion as the
cause of the current discord between cultures and
civilizations. Religion is not the explanation for the
existence of conflicts between Western and Muslim
countries. The answer lies in more recent times: the
repeated use of force by the powerful over the weak to
secure strategic or territorial gains. The vestiges of
those wars for control and domination persist today as
the gnawing problems in Afghanistan, Lebanon, the
Golan Heights and Iraq.
 With regard to Iraq, we cannot deny the fact that
many of the problems now confronting the people of
Iraq emanate from foreign occupation of that great
country. Iraqis should be given a full opportunity to
determine their own future. For that purpose, Iraq
needs a government of national unity. That can be
accomplished through national reconciliation.
 I place great emphasis on national unity, because
it has been our experience in Malaysia that national
unity is best achieved through the practice of power-
sharing in a government in which ethnic groups of
different religious faiths are represented. Our
Government has succeeded in bringing peace and
prosperity to the country for the past 50 years of
Malaysia’s independence. The international community
has a clear responsibility to assist the people of Iraq to
achieve peace and stability, so that the unity of Iraq as
a nation is preserved, and the territorial integrity of
Iraq as a State is not compromised.
 With equal candour, I must also say that the
problem of Palestine, which has been festering for 60
years without a solution being found, tops the list of
grievances that the Islamic world holds against the
West. We are all aware that there are fresh initiatives to
bring Israel and Palestine, together with other States, to
high-level peace talks in the very near future. Although
I take the position that any final settlement of the issue
of Palestine must necessarily take place within the
framework of the United Nations, let us support the
peace talks and hope that they create momentum for a
true meeting of minds.
 In particular, we should urge the Israeli and
Palestinian leadership to act courageously so as to meet
the needs and expectations of their peoples, who have
suffered long enough. Of course, real peace can only
be achieved if the legitimate rights of peoples are
recognized and protected during the negotiations.
Palestine has been partitioned before. That should
never happen again.
 All of us must play the role of honest brokers,
assisting the parties through a difficult negotiating
process on the path towards true peace. Both sides to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must commit to reaching
solutions through compromise. This opportunity must
be seized. The onus of delivery is on all of us.
 I believe that the single most important issue in
the way of peace and fraternity between Islamic and
Western countries is the unsettled problem of Palestine.
I am equally certain that once the problem of Palestine
is settled, there will be greater harmony between
Western and Islamic countries, the inheritors of the
world’s two greatest religions and civilizations.
 For their part, Muslims have a responsibility to
present to the world the true face of Islam. It must be
made clear that Islam is a religion that abhors conflicts,
more so between Muslims. When disputes do arise,
Islam enjoins forgiveness and reconciliation through
mushawarah, which can be translated as engaging in
dialogue and peaceful negotiation. Furthermore, the
teachings of Islam put a very high premium on peace
and development. Islam is definitely not an
encumbrance to progress and prosperity. In my country,
Malaysia, although Muslims constitute the large
majority of the population, the Government has used
the progressive teachings of Islam as the basis for good
governance to deliver benefits to all sectors of our
multi-ethnic and multireligious society without
discrimination. We call this approach Islam Hadhari.
 I have highlighted two major challenges that we
now face in our time. I remain optimistic, however,
that universal human fraternity and coexistence are
attainable if, and when, critical political and strategic
issues are resolved in tandem with the closing of the
gap of misunderstandings between cultures and
civilizations. That effort requires our collective
wisdom and courage to recognize the problems. The
well-being of planet Earth and all the people who
inhabit it are actually within our control. We must have
the will to moderate our excesses and cater for the
needs of future generations, using science and
technology as our tools. The time for us to invest in our
collective future is here and now.
 I would be remiss if   Malaysia being a member
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN)   I ignored the situation in Myanmar.
ASEAN has done everything possible to encourage
Myanmar towards reconciliation and democracy. Their
failure to do so has brought upon them the current
situation. Let me express my country’s disapproval,
along with that of other ASEAN countries, of the use
of excessive force by the Government of Myanmar to
put down justifiable civilian protests. Malaysia
supports the efforts of the United Nations in sending
Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari to
Myanmar. We call upon the Government of Myanmar
to give him its fullest cooperation to enable him to
fulfil his mission on behalf of the international
community. Let me also call for the release of Aung
San Suu Kyi and for direct engagement between the
leaders of Myanmar and various groups   in particular
the National League for Democracy.


Allow me, on behalf of the Republic of Uzbekistan, to
welcome the participants in the General Assembly at
its sixty-second session and wish this forum success in
its work.
 I am not mistaken if I say that the world
community is looking forward to concrete results from
the realization of the development goals formulated in
the Millennium Declaration. A special role has been
assigned to the United Nations in achieving the
objectives set by the Declaration, including elaborating
fair and acceptable approaches to the issues of the
access to, and use and distribution of, natural
resources; maintaining environmental sustainability;
combating transnational threats; and establishing a
free, tolerant and stable developing world in the
context of globalization.
 One of the most serious problems of the present
day is the reasonable use of natural resources and,
above all, water and energy resources. Various and
ambiguous approaches in this sphere hamper the
process of development and lead to conflict situations
and sometimes to ecological catastrophes. The fate of
the Aral Sea may serve as an example. The receding of
the Sea has tragic consequences not only for the
peoples of Central Asia but also for the larger
subregion and even all of Eurasia.
 It is necessary to underscore that the major point
is the use of resources and watercourses of
transboundary rivers, which over the span of centuries
have met the vital needs of States and peoples living
along these rivers. The Republic of Uzbekistan
believes that all decisions on the use of the
watercourses of transboundary rivers, including the
construction of hydropower facilities, must in no way
inflict ecological damage or infringe upon the interests
of the population of countries in the neighbouring
territories.
 The Convention on the Environmental Impact
Assessment in a Transboundary Context of February
1991, the Convention on the Protection and Use of
Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
of March 1992, and the Convention on the Law of the
Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses
of 1997 directly point to the reasonable use of
transboundary river resources. Those Conventions
require that transboundary waters be used in a
reasonable and equitable way, taking into particular
account their transboundary character, in the case of
activities that have or are likely to have a
transboundary impact.
 In the case of the infliction of damage, all
measures must be taken to repair or mitigate such
damage, and, if necessary, the issue of compensation is
to be considered. It is underscored in United Nations
Conventions that the watercourse States shall cooperate
on the basis of sovereign equality, territorial integrity,
mutual benefit and good faith. According to those
fundamental requirements of the Conventions,
authoritative international experts must give guarantees
that the construction of hydrotechnical facilities will
not have irremediable ecological consequences and
will not throw off the established balance of the use of
watercourses of transboundary rivers by all States
located in the basin of those rivers.
 We are convinced that those requirements must
be fulfilled in the implementation of various projects
building hydropower facilities in Central Asia with the
participation of both national and transnational
companies, so as not to allow for a catastrophic
deterioration of the ecological situation in the region.
We would like to remind investor countries who have
expressed a wish to participate in the implementation
of such projects of those conditions.
 The current situation in Central Asia
demonstrates the interlinking of many contradictory
processes, which could negatively influence security
not only in our region, but also far beyond its limits.
Uzbekistan has consistently supported the effective
post-war recovery of Afghanistan. We strongly believe
that stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan should be
accomplished not through militarization, but through
demilitarization, the resolution of outstanding social
and economic problems and support to the country’s
population through the active participation and
assistance of the world community. Certainly, the most
important conditions for that are the reaching of a
consensus, the taking of coordinated measures by all
parties interested in stabilizing and reviving
Afghanistan and curbing the ever-present drug threat
that emanates from that country.
 The matter of shaping and promoting an ideology
of tolerance, mutual understanding and cultural
diversity has taken on a special urgency in the context
of maintaining peace and security at the regional and
global levels. The Republic of Uzbekistan makes its
own contribution to the support of the dialogue among
cultures and civilizations, which must be maintained in
the framework of international law without strain or
pressure, without attempts to impose unacceptable
values and moral norms and by preserving respect for
peoples, thought processes which have been shaped
over many centuries and millennia. The correctness of
such an approach was particularly stressed during the
international conference on Uzbekistan’s contribution
to the development of Islamic civilization, held in
Uzbekistan in August 2007, and attended by prominent
scholars, theologians and government and public
figures from different parts of the world.
 The designation by the Islamic Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization of Tashkent, the
capital of Uzbekistan, as a world capital of Islamic
culture represented the recognition of the role and
significance of Uzbekistan in Islamic civilization.
Uzbekistan has for centuries been a centre of
enlightened Islam, which seeks to strengthen in the
consciousness of people such eternal values as the
aspiration towards kindness and peace, tolerance in
inter-ethnic and inter-faith relations, and mutual
respect and accord among peoples, regardless of the
colour of their skin or their beliefs. That is why we are
seriously concerned about some negative
interpretations of the historical role of Islam and the
deliberate distortion of historical facts. We resolutely
oppose the transformation of counterterrorism into
Islamophobia and into an overt or covert stand-off with
the Islamic world.
 In such circumstances, the role of the United
Nations is more important than ever before in
encouraging and promoting cultural diversity, tolerance
and mutual understanding among religions. In that
context, Uzbekistan welcomes the High-level Dialogue
on Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and
Cooperation for Peace to be held on 4 and 5 October.
 In conclusion, I wish to express the sincere hope
that the results of the work of the General Assembly at
its sixty-second session will promote the successful
realization of the joint efforts of Member States to
address challenges and threats to global security, as
well as the further peaceful development of the world’s
nations.