I wish to convey our congratulations to Mr. Sam Kahamba Kutesa on
his election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-ninth session. We wish him success in the coming
year.

We are not living in the worst of times, but they
are not the best of times either. Standards of living are
far higher for more of the human race than ever before.
But we face global crises of several types: internal
and cross-border conflicts, epidemics, disasters both
natural and man-made, climate change and international
crime. We are facing grave threats from terrorism and
extremism. The latest manifestation is the Islamic
State in Iraq and the Sham (ISIS). It is brutal and
cruel and a travesty of all that religion stands for. Its
unspeakable acts of cruelty, including abductions and
brutal murders of civilians, constitute crimes against
humanity. Singapore condemns those terrorist actions
in the strongest possible terms. ISIS will continue to
target those who do not conform to its extremist agenda.

The threat of such terrorism and radical ideology
is not confined to the Middle East. It affects the whole
world. An estimated 15,000 foreigners from at least
80 countries, including from South-East Asia, have
travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight. That fact that ISIS
can attract so many foreign fighters highlights the
need for a comprehensive strategy to counter them. In
addition to military and intelligence efforts, we must
also combat the radical ideology used to recruit foreign
fighters, which fuels their extremist agenda.

Singapore firmly supports all international and
regional cooperation efforts. We welcome the strong
leadership of the United States, in particular in the
formation of the international coalition to combat the
ISIS threat. We also welcome the Jeddah Declaration
by Arab countries to stand united against ISIS. Security
Council resolution 2178 (2014), on foreign terrorist
fighters, which Singapore co-sponsored, is an important
step to combat global terrorism and will be critical to
cutting off financial and material support for ISIS and
preventing the movement of foreign terrorist fighters.
No country can insulate itself from those problems.
We need to combat them at all levels. Fair economic
development, good governance and political and social
stability will be critical in increasing a country’s
resilience against those threats.

The President’s choice of the theme “Delivering
on and implementing a transformative post-2015
development agenda” for this year’s session and his
emphasis on a comprehensive, action-oriented post-2015
development agenda are particularly timely. Singapore
commends the work of the Open Working Group on
Sustainable Development Goals and looks forward to
the Secretary-General’s report of its recommendations.

We also welcome the contributions of major
forums, such as the Third International Conference on
Small Island Developing States (SIDS), recently held
in Samoa. Singapore had the privilege of co-chairing
the preparatory committee for that forum with New
Zealand. It is important that the views and concerns
of small States be properly factored into the post-2015
development agenda. The Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) were successful due to the pragmatic,
outcome-based and quantifiable approach to the
Targets. We hope that same approach will be taken in
respect of the post-2015 development agenda. Those
MDGs that were not fully achieved should be included
as an intrinsic part of the post-2015 agenda.

Regarding the principles for sustainable development,
Singapore is participating actively in the discussions
for the post-2015 period, focusing on those areas where
we can contribute — key principles that were critical
to our development path and might be relevant to other
developing countries.

First is the principle of honest and competent
government. Corruption is a drag on development and
an intrinsic source of social instability. Fighting it
needs political will, strong leadership and unceasing
vigilance from the whole society.

Secondly, rule of law is integral to sustainable
development. Governments need sound and effective
institutions. Those institutions, including the civil
service, the judiciary and law enforcement agencies,
must be built on core principles of equal justice and
meritocracy, regardless of ethnicity, religion or gender.
Social capital — the trust that people have in one
another, their leaders and the system — is as necessary
to sustainable development as financial capital.

The third principle is that economic and social
policy must be pragmatic, not dogmatic. Singapore
does not advocate any standard model of government

or economic structure. The only model is to work with
what you have within the context of a country’s culture
and resources, prudently and for the benefit of the
people. Policies have to be judged by their outcomes,
not according to ideological content. Both consistent
attention and responsive implementation are necessary
to achieve long-term goals. We will put those ideas
forward during the discussion.

Since the urban centres of small States tend to have
disproportionately large social, political and economic
weight in the country, a dysfunctional urban centre can
have a much greater negative effect on a small country
than on a big one. Today, slightly more than half of the
world’s population live in cities. By 2050, that will go
up to 70 per cent. Most of that growth will take place
in Africa, Asia and Latin America. As noted on page
17 of the report of the High-level Panel of Eminent
Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, cities
are where the battle for sustainable development
will be won or lost. Mismanaged urbanization can
intensify inequalities. Asia is already home to 61 per
cent of the world’s slum dwellers, and Africa is home
to about 26 per cent. The Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development has predicted that by
2030, 2 billion people could live in urban poverty. They
will be at risk from overcrowding, epidemics, crime
and pollution.

Yet, urbanization has in fact been significant
in the progress towards achievement of the MDGs,
especially in reducing poverty. Successful cities bring
up their rural hinterlands. Today, cities account for
over 80 per cent of global gross domestic product. The
outcome document of the United Nations Conference
on Sustainable Development (resolution 66/288, annex)
itself recognizes that well-planned cities promote
economically, socially and environmentally sustainable
societies. They are engines for growth and are more
resource-efficient than rural societies.

The challenge is therefore really to manage
urbanization well. Singapore has been contributing to the
discussions on sustainable urbanization as co-chair of
the Group of Friends on Sustainable Cities. Singapore’s
Centre for Liveable Cities was established in 2008 to
distil, create and share knowledge on sustainable cities.
It has developed a Liveability Framework as a tool to
analyse what a sustainable city would actually entail
and help countries define the policies they need to
achieve that goal. To us, a sustainable city means having
a competitive economy, environmental sustainability
and a high quality of life for all inhabitants, rich and
poor alike. We hope that the Liveability Framework can
be incorporated as part of discussions for the United
Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban
Development — Habitat III — in 2016.

In the area of water and sanitation, last year
Singapore submitted resolution 67/291 to the General
Assembly to designate 19 November as World Toilet
Day in the context of Sanitation for All. This year, we
will observe that Day together with relevant United
Nations agencies and civil society organizations by
focusing on the serious problems faced by women and
girls who lack basic sanitation access. That issue needs
greater attention than it has received so far.

What is the way forward? Once the post-2015
development agenda has been agreed, countries will
need to consider implementation. South-South, North-
South and triangular cooperation in capacity-building
and sharing experiences are important parts of the way
forward. In our early years, Singapore benefited from
the expert advice of specialized agencies, international
organizations and developed countries. In 1992, we set
up the Singapore Cooperation Programme to share our
development experience, the successes and the failures
alike, with other developing countries. The Programme
is designed to build capacity in fields that could
be of interest to countries, in the hope that that will
smooth their developmental path. Recently, at the third
Small Island Developing States Conference in Samoa,
Singapore launched a dedicated package for SIDS.

Singapore supports the universal and inclusive
approach to the post-2015 development agenda. Each
society must draw its own lessons from its own
experiences and find solutions according to its national
circumstances. Naturally, there will be differences of
opinion, but we must not lose sight of the ultimate goal
of ending extreme poverty in our lifetimes. With the
MDGs, we managed to halve the number of people
living below the poverty line, and there is real hope
that we can do even better.

Let us all work together to ensure that by the
seventieth anniversary of the inception of the United
Nations, in 2015, we can unite around a clear vision
of how to provide our future generations the future we
want.


Let me start
by congratulating you, Mr. Kutesa, on your election
as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-
ninth session. I am confident that the Assembly will
make meaningful progress during this session under
your able leadership. I would also like to express my
appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his
tireless efforts to tackle the numerous crises breaking
out around the globe.

Next year marks the seventieth anniversary of the
founding of the United Nations. I am prompted by the
state of our world today to reflect once again upon the
noble dreams and ideals that inspired the founders of
the United Nations 70 years ago. The founders aspired
to build a new world that places people at the centre, as
the opening words of the Charter of the United Nations,
“We the peoples”, remind us. Throughout the ensuing
decades of the Cold War and the post-Cold-War era, the
United Nations tackled countless crises, striving, as it
did so, to fulfil its purpose of maintaining international
peace, promoting development and upholding human
rights.

Yet our world continues to be beset by widespread
disputes and conflicts, both large and small, despite
the efforts of the United Nations. The civil conflicts
raging on in Syria, Libya and South Sudan are causing
the deaths of untold numbers of innocent women and
children. In Iraq and surrounding areas, the activities
of foreign terrorist fighters are posing new threats to
peace internationally, not to mention in the Middle
East. The fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Ukraine call
for more fundamental and lasting solutions. The recent
Ebola outbreak in Africa, widespread poverty and
natural disasters underscore the scope of the threat
from multiple challenges.

In order to push back against those challenges
to peace and development, we need to return to the
founding spirit of the United Nations by putting people
first and promotinge cooperation among the Members
of the family of nations. To meet the aspirations of
the international community for justice and common
prosperity, the United Nations needs to continue to
play a central role in arranging more rapid and efficient
responses.

The Republic of Korea was founded in 1948 with the
blessing of the United Nations. It was able to safeguard
freedom and democracy during the Korean war that
broke out two years later, again with the help of the
United Nations. Once a country that barely managed to
survive with United Nations assistance, the Republic
of Korea is today a nation that has achieved both an
advanced market economy and democracy. In the course
of that journey, the Republic of Korea came to espouse
the values upheld by the United Nations — peace,
development and human rights — as its own vision.

Given its history, the Republic of Korea is no
stranger to the agonies of the civil wars, aggression,
poverty and humanitarian disasters that are unfolding
around the world. That is why the Republic of Korea
is actively working to serve international peace and
promote human rights and sustainable development
as a member of the three major Councils of the United
Nations: the Security Council, the Human Rights
Council and the Economic and Social Council.

The developments unfolding in the Middle East,
Eurasia, and North-East Asia are a far cry from the
peaceful and just world that was envisioned by the
United Nations founders. Overcoming the instability
and chaos we see today must start with our adherence
to the fundamental order and norms of the international
community, namely, respect for sovereignty and
territorial integrity; refraining from the threat or use of
force in violation of the Charter; and respect for human
rights and humanitarian values.

We need to prevent the development and
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction such as
nuclear weapons, which pose a fundamental threat to
international peace and security. In that regard, we
welcome the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons
through the joint efforts of the United Nations and the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
and the progress being made in addressing the Iranian
nuclear issue.

By the same token, I would underline the urgency
of resolving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
nuclear issue, which presents the single greatest threat
to peace on the Korean peninsula and in North-East
Asia. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is
the only country to have conducted a nuclear test in
the twenty-first century. Its nuclear programme not
only is a serious threat to international peace, but
also amounts to a total rejection of the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which is the
backbone of the global nuclear non-proliferation
regime. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
must make the decision to give up its nuclear weapons.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea should
follow in the footsteps of other countries that have
abandoned their nuclear weapons in favour of reform
and opening-up, and it must choose a different path that
supports its economic development and improves the
lives of its people. Should it do this, the Republic of
Korea, together with the international community, will
provide our strong support for developing the economy
of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In addition to that serious challenge on the Korean
Peninsula, North-East Asia is undergoing a difficult
transition. There are growing tensions in the region
surrounding issues of history, territory and maritime
security. Yet, unlike other regions, North-East Asia
lacks a mechanism for dealing with those problems
through multilateral consultations. It is against that
backdrop that I am seeking to advance a North-East
Asia peace and cooperation initiative that is aimed
at building an order of trust and cooperation in the
region. In my view, building up habits of cooperation in
practical areas, such as climate action, disaster relief,
nuclear safety and tackling transnational crime, can
materialize into a multilateral process of cooperation
along the lines of what we see in Europe.

In that context, I have also proposed creating a
North-East Asia nuclear safety consultative body to
discuss nuclear safety issues, a topic of shared interest
for the countries in the region. At the same time, we
are reaching beyond North-East Asia and seeking to
build transportation and energy networks across an
economically interdependent Eurasia, which would
help strengthen political trust and security across the
continent.

This year marks 20 years since the Rwandan
genocide, the world’s greatest humanitarian tragedy of
the late twentieth century. The international community
had pledged “never again” in the aftermath of the
genocides in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the
1990s. Yet, we are witnessing today a different type of
humanitarian disaster unfolding in Syria and Iraq. The
Republic of Korea is actively participating in the efforts
of the United Nations to prevent such humanitarian
tragedies. The Republic of Korea strongly supports
United Nations policies to protect human rights, such
as the Rights Up Front initiative and the Secretary-
General’s “open gate” policy. Even as we speak, Korean
troops are taking part in United Nations peacekeeping
missions in South Sudan and Lebanon, helping with
peacebuilding, reconstruction and the protection of
civilians and human rights.

The Republic of Korea also attaches great
importance to preventing human suffering, particularly
of women and children, who are most vulnerable,
in conflict situations. In that context, during its
presidency of the Security Council in February 2013,
Korea presided over an open debate (see S/PV.6917) on
the protection of civilians in armed conflict and helped
raise global awareness. Korea is also participating in and
championing the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.
Sexual violence against women during armed conflicts
is a clear violation of human rights and humanitarian
norms, regardless of how long ago or where it occurred.

The human rights situation in the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea is also the subject of
profound interest and concern for the international

community. In March, the Human Rights Council
adopted recommendations proposed by the Commission
of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea. The Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea and the international community should
take the necessary measures to implement those
recommendations. In that regard, the United Nations
office that will soon be set up in the Republic of Korea
to investigate human rights abuses in the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea is expected to reinforce such
efforts. The international community should also pay
greater attention to the human rights situation of North
Korean defectors. The relevant United Nations agencies
and countries should provide the necessary support
so that defectors can freely choose their resettlement
destination.

The challenges facing humankind today, such as
absolute poverty and climate change, can be addressed
only through a concerted international response, given
their complexity and intertwined character. Less than
500 days remain until the target date of the Millennium
Development Goals, which was launched with the
aim of eradicating absolute poverty and increasing
social and economic opportunities. The Republic of
Korea is ready, by harnessing our unique historical
experience, to play a bridging role between developed
and developing countries as the post-2015 development
goals are set. In that regard, the decision was made as
a result of the Busan Partnership agreement, adopted
at the Ministerial Meeting in April in Mexico, to turn
the Global Partnership for Effective Development
Cooperation into an international development
cooperative mechanism.

The Republic of Korea will seek to enhance the
quality of its overseas assistance. We will continue
to share our development experience, by globally
promoting the Saemaul movement model, which was
conducive to eradicating rural poverty in Korea through
the spirit of diligence, self-reliance and cooperation.
Having seen the power of education in propelling its
own development, the Republic of Korea strongly
supports and is championing the Secretary-General’s
Global Education First Initiative. Korea will share its
lessons learned and provide substantive support to the
United Nations initiatives on education, which is one of
the main themes of the post-2015 development goals. To
that end, Korea will host the World Education Forum
in 2015 and make efforts to reach an agreement on the
new education objectives for the next 15 years.

Climate change is no less an existential threat
to humanity than the question of war and peace. At
the Climate Summit 2014 held at United Nations
Headquarters yesterday, 23 September, leaders
proclaimed their collective resolve to reach a consensus
on the post-2020 new climate regime. Going forward,
an agreement must be reached on a new climate regime
by the 2015 Conference of the Parties to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in
Paris. As the host country of the Green Climate Fund
(GCF) and the Green Growth Global Institute (GGGI),
Korea is committed to supporting international efforts
to strengthen developing countries’ mitigation and
adaptation capacities. Above all, we will continue to
work for the full and early operationalization of the GCF
and for the expansion of GGGI assistance to developing
countries. Korea views the climate challenge not as a
burden but as an opportunity to unleash new value,
markets and jobs through technological innovation.
We are nurturing new energy industries. And we hope
to share the fruits of our efforts with other developing
countries.

The Korean people gained independence 69 years
ago, but the subsequent division of the Korean peninsula
precluded its membership in the United Nations as a
single sovereign State. The two Koreas were admitted
separately as Member States to the United Nations
in 1991. Having two separate seats despite a single
language, culture and history is clearly not normal.
This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fall
of the Berlin Wall, but the Korean peninsula remains
stifled by a wall of division. Countless separated
families have been spending decades in agony, longing
to see their loved ones. Every year, many leave for a
place where they will never be able to meet their loved
ones in person. I call on the international community to
stand with us in tearing down the world’s last remaining
wall of division.

Not long ago, I proposed to the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea that we build corridors that
can connect our environment, our livelihoods and our
culture. In my view, a genuine community that can heal
the wounds of division and move both sides forward
together will come about only when people from the
South and the North are able to live in natural harmony
within a single ecosystem, when separated families are
able to come together and ease their agony, and when
culture is shared.

Today, the Korean peninsula is divided by a
4-kilometre wide, 250-kilometre long demilitarized

zone (DMZ). The DMZ, built around the military
demarcation line to prevent renewed conflict, has
in reality ended up preventing the back-and-forth
movement of people for some 60 years. But from the
stretches of the DMZ would emerge, in those decades, a
treasure trove of nature’s wildlife. The DMZ ecosystem
is a testament to the fact that the South and North are
part of a single whole, one which both sides should
work together to restore. And so I hope to build inside
the very symbol of our division a world ecopeace park
that would begin to reconnect the Peninsula’s divided
nature and divided people. If we can sweep away the
barbed-wire fences from small areas inside the DMZ
and thereby allow people from both sides to live in
natural harmony, such a park could emerge as a corridor
of life and peace.

I call on the United Nations to spearhead these
efforts. Building a park that embodies respect for
international standards and values, and doing so under
United Nations auspices, with all the parties to the
war on board — the two Koreas, the United States and
China — would serve to ease tensions and promote the
peaceful reunification of the two Koreas. A unified
Korea would be a starting point for a world without
nuclear weapons, offer a fundamental solution to the
North Korean human rights issue and help unlock a
stable and cooperative North-East Asia. Just as the
unification of Germany laid the ground for a new Europe
by integrating that continent, a unified Korea could set
in motion a new North-East Asia. I am confident that a
peacefully reunified Korean peninsula will contribute
to realizing the founding purposes and values espoused
by the United Nations.

The founders of the United Nations were not
deterred by the heat of war from looking to the future and
planning for a peaceful post-war world. The Republic
of Korea is committed to a vision of diplomacy that
seeks lasting peace and unification on the peninsula
and peace and development in North-East Asia and
contributes to building a happier world. The Republic
of Korea will do its part in that noble undertaking to
ensure that the United Nations continues to safeguard
our common values and cements its place at the centre
of global governance.


It is indeed
an honour for me to address this body for the first time
since assuming the portfolio of Minister for Foreign
Affairs a little over one year ago. I take pleasure in
sharing the perspectives of the Government of Saint
Kitts and Nevis on matters before the General Assembly
during its sixty-ninth session.

Allow me to start by congratulating Mr. Kutesa on
his election to the office of President of the General
Assembly, to steer the course of the Assembly during
this session. Indeed, his sterling contribution in
his native Uganda, where he serves as Minister for
Foreign Affairs, and his efforts at strengthening the
African Union have prepared him for the challenging
task of finalizing the development of the post-2015
development agenda.

My delegation wishes to commend his predecessor,
Mr. John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda, for his
leadership in presiding over the Assembly at its sixty-
eighth session. His focus on the development of the
sustainable development goals and other issues of
importance to small island developing States (SIDS)
and developing countries in particular is worthy of high
commendation.

The theme of the sixty-ninth session, “Delivering
on and implementing a transformative post-2015
development agenda”, is quite timely as we enter a new
dispensation that reflects global priorities that were not
contemplated at the time the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) were conceptualized leading up to
the year 2000. As we work on implementing the
post-2015 development agenda, we must ensure
that the 17 sustainable development goals recently
formulated are effective in building on the foundation
laid by the Millennium Development Goals. It is my
delegation’s hope that the agenda as developed will be
transformative in nature, with a high degree of success
in its overarching objectives — the eradication of
poverty and hunger, and the promotion of sustained and
inclusive economic growth.

We are mindful that MDG 8, which calls for the
strengthening of global partnerships, remains part of
the unfinished business of the Millennium Development
Goals established at the Millennium Summit in 2000. It
is therefore highly important that we take great care in
ensuring that the first 16 sustainable development goals
are buttressed by a robust suite of implementation tools
that will effectively serve as the catalyst for achieving
success in the post-2015 development agenda.

My delegation can never overemphasize the
importance of rendering effective and operational Goal
17, which calls for the strengthening of the means of
implementation and the revitalization of the global
partnership for sustainable development. We are
therefore heartened by the President’s expressed plan to
convene three high-level thematic debates and one high-
level event geared towards, inter alia, strengthening the
means of implementation in order to achieve sustainable
development in its three dimensions.

We pay keen attention to the first event, the
debate on the means of implementation. We are of
the view that achieving sustainable development will
require mobilization and the effective use of financial
resources and technology development and transfer,
in addition to capacity-building at all levels. It will
also entail increased investment in the social sectors,
infrastructure, community development, climate
financing and the protection of global common goods.

The key question before us in relation to the means
of implementation is how we mobilize the significant
resources that will be needed to turn the aspirations
of the post-2015 development agenda into tangible

outcomes. I wish to pledge my Government’s support
in advancing the basic thrust of the President’s tenure.
A strengthened global partnership should foster close
collaboration between and among Governments,
provide for an increased role of the private sector,
ensure a fair international trading regime, and foster
national and foreign direct investments.

My Government wishes to reiterate its firm
commitment to doing its part to ensure that we
achieve the goals developed to sustain economic and
social development in a manner that will preserve
the environment and ensure stable, safe and peaceful
societies. Since our last address to this body, Saint
Kitts and Nevis has solidified its position as a leader in
the Caribbean in attracting foreign direct investment,
specifically in its tourism infrastructure, and
building its industrial base in the light manufacturing
sector — electronics and electrical components. We have
also successfully forged public-private partnerships in
renewable-energy ventures providing sustained growth
for our economy.

One of the peculiar vulnerabilities of small island
developing States such as Saint Kitts and Nevis is
our susceptibility to economic and external shocks,
which results in a state of high indebtedness. It is
no secret that high public debt affects the ability of
Governments to achieve sustainable development in all
its dimensions. In the area of economic sustainability,
we developed in 2011 and successfully implemented
a comprehensive approach to the management of our
national debt. Our plan included debt restructuring
with international financial institutions, an exchange
offer for government bonds, the curtailment of public
borrowing to sustainable levels and a creative land-for-
debt swap initiative.

I am pleased to report that by the end of June, we
had successfully reduced the ratio of our debt to gross
domestic product (GDP) by 50 percentage points, from
over 145 per cent pre-restructuring to 95 per cent now.
I am even more pleased to report that our debt-to-GDP
ratio is projected to decline further, to 85 per cent by the
end of 2014. In spite of our fiscal discipline, however,
it is important for us to be mindful of the fact that one
severe climate event can erase the gains achieved,
effectively sending us into a vicious cycle that makes
it difficult if not impossible to achieve sustainable
development on the economic front.

At this juncture, I would be remiss if I failed to
echo the call for a new paradigm for the assessment
used in the policy of graduation, which currently uses
the narrow policy of per capita gross national income
to confer middle-income and high-income status on
developing countries. Saint Kitts and Nevis is of the
view that that measure is grossly inadequate and needs
to take into account the peculiar vulnerabilities of
SIDS. We commend the Commonwealth secretariat
for the innovative work it has been spearheading to
encourage leading international financial institutions
to accept a broader matrix, including the vulnerability
index, to correctly assess the true economic situation of
SIDS such as Saint Kitts and Nevis.

I must emphasize that graduation to a higher
income category makes it difficult to access resources
to sustain our economic, social and environmental
policy objectives. Borrowing funds at a high rate on
the international market serves only to perpetuate the
vicious cycle of debt and threatens our sustainable
development. That runs contrary to the goals and
objectives of the post-2015 development agenda. In
that connection, I call on the international community,
including the leading international financial
institutions, to broaden the scope of the assessment of
SIDS in order to avoid creating scenarios where debt
sustainability measures undertaken at the national
level are undermined by the policies of international
institutions. Saint Kitts and Nevis stands ready to work
with the international community by contributing its
ideas to the debate in order to ensure a most favourable
outcome.

My delegation is convinced that a nation’s wealth
lies in the health of its people — its productive sector.
We continue to wrestle with the high incidence of
non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in our country
and region. We wish to reiterate our call for a strong
global response to combating the high incidence of
non-communicable diseases, in particular in developing
countries. In our last statement to this very body (see
A/68/PV.15), our Prime Minister stressed the need for
this international body to keep on the front burner a
practical strategy to address the high incidence of
NCDs within our region and throughout the world.
In that connection, I wish to commend the outgoing
President of the General Assembly, Ambassador John
Ashe, for convening a number of events focusing on
that matter of great importance to my delegation.

It is our hope that the final report on the
informal interactive hearings with non-governmental
organizations, civil-society organizations, the private

sector and academia on the prevention and control of
NCDs, which was held in June 2014, will serve to build
on the outcome of the initiatives resulting from the
High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases,
held in September 2011 during the Assembly’s sixty-
sixth session, and the work conducted during the
following session.

My delegation is indeed pleased to see the inclusion
of non-communicable diseases in the goals and targets
for sustainable development as part of the post-2015
development agenda. We support the goal to ensure
healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all
ages. We also support the target to reduce by one third
premature mortality from non-communicable diseases
through prevention and treatment, and to promote
mental health and well-being by 2030. We look to
the various specialized bodies of this international
Organization for guidance and support as we seek to
meet the targets and indicators under that and all goals
developed as part of the post-2015 development agenda.
We reiterate the call for the strengthening of the means
of implementation of the goals and targets and for the
revitalization of the global partnership for sustainable
development.

Climate change remains more than an environmental
concern for small island developing States such as Saint
Kitts and Nevis. We regard it more as a threat to our
existence. The adverse effects of climate change are well
known: persistent adverse weather conditions, floods,
extended droughts and rising sea levels. My delegation
is convinced of the need to preserve our planet Earth
for ourselves and generations yet unborn. We have an
obligation to combat climate change through mitigation
and adaptation measures.

Climate change financing and technology transfer
will be pivotal to the success of that objective. We
urge widespread acceptance by the international
community of creative initiatives such as debt swap
for climate adaptation and mitigation. My Government
is convinced that such proposals, developed with
assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat, provide
SIDS with a greater degree of flexibility as we try to
achieve sustainable development. We welcome the
commitment of the President of the General Assembly
to provide appropriate impetus and momentum to the
ongoing process under the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reach a
global agreement on climate change by 2015.

Maintaining peace and security remains one of
the main priorities of the United Nations. That ideal
is captured in the post-2015 development agenda as
sustainable development goal 16, to achieve peaceful
and inclusive societies and the rule of law and to build
effective and capable institutions. I am pleased to
report that at the national level we have implemented
strategies that have brought a reduction in violent crime
and strengthened institutions that sustain peaceful and
inclusive societies. We are grateful to our development
partners — the Governments of the United States of
America, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada,
the European Union, and the Republic of China on
Taiwan — for their invaluable assistance in that regard.

Thirty-one years ago, our new nation forged a
strategic and mutually beneficial relationship with
the Republic of China on Taiwan. That relationship
has grown by leaps and bounds, and it touches all
three dimensions of sustainable development. As
the dialogue continues on the implementation of the
post-2015 development agenda, Saint Kitts and Nevis
regards itself suitably qualified to speak on the valuable
contribution which the Republic of China on Taiwan
can make to the international community.

At the recent SIDS Conference in Samoa, our
Prime Minister had the privilege to speak of the value
of the partnership established with the Government
and private sector of Taiwan in implementing a number
of projects in renewable energy, specifically the
establishment of a solar panel manufacturing plant and
the outfitting of Government buildings and street lights
with solar panels. The latter project will assist us in
Saint Kitts and Nevis to achieve the goal of ensuring
access to affordable, reliable and modern energy
services for all.

For many years, our Government has called for
the international community to allow the Republic
of China on Taiwan to participate in the work of the
organs of the United Nations system. That call is by
no means arbitrary in nature. It has resulted from
our partnership in numerous development initiatives
across the sustainable development spectrum. Saint
Kitts and Nevis is therefore pleased to note that Taiwan
was recently invited to attend the Assembly of the
International Civil Aviation Organization for the first
time since 1971. We are equally pleased to note the
participation of Taiwan in the World Health Assembly
and to offer our commendation to the Government and

people of Taiwan for sharing their expertise in the fields
of medicine and civil aviation safety.

At this juncture, we are convinced that the time
is right for that spirit of understanding and inclusion
to extend to the area of the ongoing negotiations
in the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change and the United Nations Environment
Assembly. My Government is equally convinced that
the experiences gained by Taiwan in its strategy for
building environmental and economic resilience can be
shared with the international community through the
UNFCCC.

While the international community is focused
on maintaining peace and security, we are pleased to
underscore the active role played by the Government
of the Republic of China on Taiwan in promoting peace
and security across the Taiwan Strait and for proposing
the East China Sea Peace Initiative, thus demonstrating
its commitment to international peace and security.

The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis remains
concerned by the decades-old unilateral trade embargo
imposed on Cuba. That relic of the Cold War runs
counter to the principles of international law, principles
which undergird the United Nations system. We stand
by our sister nations in the Caribbean Community and
the Group of 77 and China and reiterate our call for
creative ways to resolve that perennial issue, which
adversely affects the tenor of hemispheric relations.

My delegation recognizes the challenging weeks
and months ahead as we prepare in earnest to implement
the post-2015 development agenda. We offer our fullest
support in that regard. Such support is critical to the
successful implementation of the development agenda.
May we, as an international community, redouble our
efforts in a manner that will redound to the benefit of
developed and developing countries alike.


We live in a globalized world that is moving towards
multipolarity in an age characterized by the threat to
the survival of the human species. The United States
Government and NATO will not be able to reverse that
trend with a new world division through the force of
arms. However, there is a serious risk that in trying to
do so, they render the world ungovernable.

The huge nuclear and conventional arsenals
that have been built up, the imposed annual military
expenditure that amounts to $1.75 trillion and the
increase in military budgets to 2 per cent of the gross
domestic product required of all States members of
NATO will not help to address or to resolve issues such
as poverty, hunger, epidemics or waves of migration or
to overcome the global economic, environmental. food,
energy and water crises.

As has already been demonstrated, wherever the
so-called unconventional warfare described in the 2010
United States Special Forces Army Training Circular
18-01 and the innovations of the 2010 United States
Quadrennial Defense Review are practised, chaos
ensues through the destabilization or destruction
of States, the proliferation of violent and extremist
groups and the tearing apart of nations, cultures and
religions, thereby seriously jeopardizing regional and
international peace and security. It is necessary to
condemn the militarization of cyberspace and the illegal
and covert interference in the information systems
of some countries in order to use them in aggressive
actions against third countries to stir up conflict, as
well as global espionage on Governments and entire
societies.

The extraterritorial application of United States
laws to the detriment of other sovereign nations is
becoming increasingly aggressive and encourages
the use of unilateral sanctions, in particular financial
sanctions, as a tool of foreign policy. The use of its
courts of justice to impose multimillion-dollar fines,
including on its allies, under decisions that violate
international law, has become a means of punishment
and threat and a way to spuriously obtain financial
resources. Governments, by failing to defend their own
sovereignty and to apply their own laws so as to protect
the standards of the international financial system and

the legitimate interests of their nations and those of their
companies and citizens, are creating the conditions
necessary for the proliferation of such practices, which
jeopardize the independence of all States and the rule
of international law.

Media empires, increasingly linked to the
hegemonic goals of the Western Powers, continue their
misinformation campaigns, shamelessly and cynically
manipulate facts and create public opinion matrices
that promote aggression. We need another international
order, where there is no room for the philosophy of war
and the plundering of natural resources.

The foreign intervention in Syria must stop. It is
inconceivable that Western Powers encourage, finance
and arm terrorist groups to set them against a State,
while trying to combat their crimes in another State, as
is now happening in Iraq. The United States Government
violates international law when it launches, in contempt
of the United Nations, unilateral bombings without
respect for sovereign borders or States under the guise
of dubious coalitions.

The attempt to deploy NATO up to Russia’s borders
will have serious consequences for international peace
and security and for the stability of Europe. The
sanctions against Russia are immoral and unjust. The
strategic American deployment in the Asia-Pacific
region will create dangers for the sovereignty of all
nations in the area.

Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people,
most recently in the Gaza Strip, should not remain
unpunished under the protection of a veto in the
Security Council. Palestine should already be a State
Member of the United Nations, established within the
1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The General Assembly must exercise the
prerogatives conferred on it by the Charter of the
United Nations in the current dangerous and unstable
international situation, which is full of threats and
challenges. The Security Council should be rebuilt
on the basis of democracy, transparency and the fair
representation of the countries of the South, which are
discriminated against, as permanent and non-permanent
members. It should be built on credibility and strict
observance of the Charter, without double standards,
obscure procedures or the anachronistic veto. The
Organization needs profound reform and the defence
of its principles. The Secretary-General should be the
defender and guarantor of international peace.

The 1.2 billion people who live in extreme poverty,
the 842 million people who suffer chronic hunger,
the 774 million illiterate adults and the 57 million
uneducated children affirm that the Millennium
Development Goals — which are questionable from
a methodological point of view — were a mirage.
There has been and still is a lack of political will in
the Governments of industrialized States, where
blindness and ineffective selfishness prevail. Insatiable
transnational businesses increasingly focus on the
ownership of huge resources. The unequal distribution
of wealth is increasingly ruthless.

It is necessary, inevitably, to establish a new
international economic order. In these circumstances,
the discussions on the post-2015 development agenda
give us little reason to hope. However, we must try
to reach agreement, as that is the most urgent task. It
must be the result of an inclusive intergovernmental
negotiation. The resulting document should not be the
interpretation of a few parties to the consensus, but
rather of the consensus itself.

It is urgent to make sub-Saharan Africa a priority.
It is essential to confront jointly and decisively, with
sufficient and genuine cooperation, the Ebola epidemic
that is affecting some countries of the continent. Cuba
has decided to maintain its medical cooperation in the
32 African countries where more than 4,000 specialists
are working and is willing to extend its cooperation,
under the auspices of the World Health Organization
(WHO), to other, most affected countries, as has been
reported. Our doctors and paramedics will do so
completely voluntarily.

We call on the international community, particularly
industrialized countries with substantial means, to
forcefully respond to the call of the United Nations
and WHO to supply financial, health and scientific
resources right away in order to eradicate the scourge
and prevent it from claiming more lives. The necessary
resources should also be contributed to support the
African Union’s Agenda 2063, which sets forth the road
map for the development of the region.

In the past five decades, 325,000 Cuban health
workers have assisted 158 nations of the South, including
39 African countries, where 76,000 have worked. Also,
38,000 physicians were trained free of charge in 121
countries; of those, 3,392 were in 45 African nations.
If Cuba, small and subject to a blockade, has been able
to do that, how much more could have been done for

Africa with the cooperation of all, especially of the
richest States?

At the second Summit of the Community of
Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), in
Havana, we agreed on what is needed to achieve the
goal of making societies more just and inclusive. It
is indispensable that there be a better distribution of
wealth and income, the eradication of illiteracy, quality
education for all, real food security, health systems
with universal coverage, and the fulfilment of other
human rights.

The solemn Proclamation of Latin America and
the Caribbean as a zone of peace, signed by the Heads
of State and Government, enshrines respect for the
principles and norms of international law, the promotion
of a culture of peace, nuclear disarmament and general
and complete disarmament, and the inalienable right of
every State to choose its political, economic and social
system. We also undertook to make Latin America
and the Caribbean a region free from colonialism and
expressed support for the inalienable right of the people
of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence.

The Havana summit recognized that the current
economic, financial and environmental crises have
delivered particularly harsh blows to small island
developing States, including the nations of the
Caribbean. Their efforts to improve the welfare of
their populations should not be punished by calling
them middle-income countries through schematic
calculations of per capita income, without taking into
account their specificities and vulnerabilities.

In CELAC, the region of Latin America and the
Caribbean has found a native and legitimate space
to forge from its rich diversity the essential unity to
fulfil the dreams of our heroes, achieve the complete
independence of “Our America” and make a substantial
contribution to creating balance in the world. In that
effort, there have been significant developments — the
meeting between the Union of South American Nations
and Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and
South Africa (BRICS); the meeting between the
leaders of China and the countries of Latin America
and the Caribbean; and the establishment of the China-
CELAC Forum in Brasilia in July, as had been agreed
in Havana. We welcome the Fortaleza Declaration,
also adopted in July in Brazil, at the sixth summit of
the BRICS countries — whose economies account for
25 per cent of world gross domestic product and almost
40 per cent of the population of the planet — as well
as the setting up of a development bank and a foreign
exchange reserves common fund, which are important
for the countries of the South and for the construction
of a new international financial architecture.

We express our solidarity with the Bolivarian
and Chavista revolution, which, under the leadership
of President Nicolas Maduro, is battling to fend off
destabilizing actions and foreign interference. We
support the worthy fight being waged by Argentina
against speculative capital funds, and we oppose the
interventionist decisions of the United States courts
that are violating international law. In addition, we
reiterate our strong support for the legitimate rights
of Argentina with respect to the Malvinas Islands. We
also reiterate our unwavering support for the fight that
Ecuador is leading against the ecological pillaging
and damage caused by the activities of transnational
companies.

On the eve of the International Decade for People
of African Descent (2015-2024), we would recall that
this year we celebrate the 210th anniversary of the
independence of Haiti, whose anti-slavery and pro-
independence revolution was the precursor of liberation
movements in Latin America and the Caribbean. Haiti
deserves special contributions for its reconstruction
and development, under the sovereign leadership of its
Government, in which we encourage the international
community to participate. We support the claim of the
Caribbean to receive reparations from the colonial
Powers for the horrors of slavery.

The State Department has again put Cuba on
its unilateral and arbitrary list of State sponsors of
international terrorism. Its real purpose is to increase
scrutiny of our international financial transactions
worldwide and justify the policy of blockade. During
the current Administration, there has been a tightening
of the extraterritorial dimension of the blockade, with
a strong and unprecedented emphasis in the financial
realm, through the imposition of huge fines on banking
institutions in third-party countries. An example of this
is the scandalous and unjust mega-fine imposed on the
French bank BNP Paribas. Furthermore, the current
Administration has not stepped back from promoting
destabilization in Cuba. It allocates millions of dollars
to that end in its budget every year and increasingly
relies on undercover methods, such as the use of
information and communications technology. The
ZunZuneo project, sponsored by the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID), which

not only violates Cuban law but also the law of its own
country, is the latest evidence of that.

Recent disclosures about the use of young people
from our continent in subversive actions in Cuba,
a project funded and executed by USAID, confirm
that the Cuban Government is right in its countless
denunciations of the ongoing illegal plans of the
United States to subvert Cuba’s internal order, in
violation of Cuban sovereignty, the sovereignty of
third countries and international law. We cannot fail
to remember that this month marks the sixteenth year
of the unjust imprisonment of three Cubans from the
Cuban Five — Gerardo, Ramón and Antonio — who
with the utmost altruism confronted the terrorist plans
organized within United States territory against our
country. I therefore reiterate, on behalf of the people
and Government of Cuba, that we will not cease in our
efforts to call for their return to their homeland.

Cuba, for its part, remains calm and prepared for
mutually respectful and responsible dialogue, based
on reciprocity, with the United States Government.
At the same time, Cuba continues to make progress
in the updating of its socioeconomic model, despite
adverse international circumstances marked by a global
economic crisis and the tightening of the blockade.

Updating Cuban’s economic socialist model is
aimed at ensuring well-being, equity and social justice
for all Cubans. The changes that we are introducing
are also geared to preserving the achievements of the
Revolution, which so many generations have fought for.
The goal is to build an ever more just, prosperous and
sustainable Cuban socialism.


I am
proud to represent a small but great nation, El Salvador,
before the Assembly. Our history has been full of
painful moments, but also times of hope and courage.
For years, we struggled to achieve democracy. We
marked a historic global milestone when we became
the first country in the region to end a painful civil war
through dialogue and reconciliation in order to begin to
build a democratic country.

Like most developing countries, we face the familiar
challenges of reducing poverty and social inequalities
and building the conditions needed for families to
have healthier and safer lives. Experience has shown
us that it is only through solidarity, respect, inclusion
and equity that we can overcome those challenges. In
recent years, we have made significant strides in human
development. In rural areas, we have reduced extreme
poverty to 13.6 per cent; we have allocated 14.8 per cent
of our gross domestic product to social spending; and
we have raised primary education coverage to 93.7 per
cent and reduced illiteracy by a little over 5 percentage
points. We have achieved an important reduction in
maternal mortality, and we have improved sanitation
services and access to drinking water for the population.

We have witnessed significant changes, and just
as we did 14 years ago at the Millennium Summit, we
are working on the parameters that will lead us to a
more just and equitable world. However, our debt to
humankind remains. We continue working to create
factors that can enhance our human development and
provide stronger social protection, which will allow us
to ensure universal access to basic social services on a
sustainable basis.

We are one year away from the most important
world summit in our history, where we will evaluate
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in
particular the goals that have been achieved, and
where we will define the new post-2015 development
agenda, based on a new comprehensive, transformative
and inclusive development paradigm. We believe in
a vision for development that meets the needs of our
peoples, in which all human beings have a full and
dignified life, living in democracy and enjoying the
right to sovereignty and determination and the right to
choose our path towards peace and development. The
new agenda must integrate universal issues, such as
migration, climate change, food security, education,
health, public safety and world peace. We must not keep
repeating the errors of the past. Based on the experience
of the MDGs, we must reduce the inequality gaps and
the structural causes of poverty and exclusion.

The new global agenda requires us to come to an
agreement on how to face the great threat of climate
change, which afflicts us with hardships and limits the
opportunities for families to live with dignity. The next
few months are key for the establishment of a road map
to implement the parameters of the new development
paradigm. We must work together, using an approach
based on shared but differentiated responsibilities.

It is urgent to amend the existing financial
architecture and international cooperation mechanisms
so that they meet the needs of our peoples with
effective institutions and transparent mechanisms.
We must renew the terms under which development
assistance is granted, review its amounts and ensure
the implementation of procedures that facilitate
the principles of sustainable development. The new
development indicators should make exclusion and
inequality visible. To that end, measurements must focus
on whether needs are met and opportunities provided.
The objectives and goals should address personal
fulfilment and our right to the pursuit of happiness as
much as the economic growth of countries.

I call upon the United Nations to maintain its
resources and programmes in Latin America, and
in particular in Central America, regardless of the
macroeconomic classification of our countries. To
reduce the United Nations presence would only
exacerbate the serious economic and social inequality
problems suffered by the region.

Financing for development is vital for the
implementation of the sustainable development goals
and the post-2015 development agenda. I reaffirm the
resolution adopted by the Council of Ministers of the
Central American Integration System (SICA), which
stresses that financing for development should be based
on the priorities of the countries concerned, making use
of innovative financing mechanisms. We must explore
new sources, such as the resources found in offshore
areas, a global asset to which only a handful of countries
now have access. El Salvador expresses its commitment
to the new global alliance for development, based on
the Monterrey Consensus, the Doha Declaration on
Financing for Development and the outcome document
of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development (resolution 66/288, annex).

Much work still lies ahead. However, countries will
not be able to accomplish that work unilaterally, but
should rather take action within the framework of the
United Nations. We must also unite to advance the reform
process of the United Nations, especially since we need
a strengthened and renewed Organization. We need a
General Assembly, the main forum for global debate,
with an agenda focused on the most pressing issues of
the international community, and a Security Council
open to increased representation and participation
by all Member States. We call for the strong support
and political will of all Member States, so that we can
have an Organization that can provide timely support
in the face of the new challenges posed by history. In
the context of those global challenges, our Government
reaffirms its call for a comprehensive and inclusive
development agenda for social peace, capacity-building
and consensus-building across sectors.

In recent years, my country has launched a
transformation process that focuses on sustainable
development, the fight against poverty and the
reduction of inequality, exclusion and social injustice,
and that promotes an equality agenda with a focus on
gender and human rights. In our country, the Universal
Social Protection System Law is an invaluable tool that
integrates for the first time a network of social policies
and strategies that provides basic services to people, is
focused on the most vulnerable population groups and
is designed to address the main challenges we face.

El Salvador makes every effort to improve the quality
of life of the population and to build the conditions that
will help us to strengthen family unity, values and create
opportunities for new generations and raise awareness
about the risks of irregular migration, especially to the
United States. I call upon the international community
to support us in overcoming the situation generated
by the increased flow of unaccompanied migrant
children travelling to the United States. The United
Nations system, including the General Assembly,
must play a greater role in addressing the migration
issue and recognize that human mobility is a relevant
factor in the Organization’s work and include it in the
implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

As we address that phenomenon, which has many
causes, we are convinced that we must act with a
comprehensive approach that provides protection
for the rights of our children, ensures respect for
the due process of law and provides support for the
reunification of children with their parents. We must
work with the communities of origin of the migrant
population to create better conditions and increase the
investment in education, health, safety and jobs — all
from a perspective of joint responsibility among the
countries of origin, transit and destination.

Threats to public safety represent another major
challenge faced by our country and others in the region
and throughout the world. We will not rest until we
ensure the necessary conditions for Salvadorans to live
safely and in peace. The various sectors of our society
are responding to the call of our Government, and we
hope that the international community will strengthen
its support for the titanic struggle that El Salvador and
Central America are waging against violence in all its
different forms.

We observe with concern the many conflicts and
threats to international peace and security. We deeply
regret the loss of lives, particularly of children, as
a result of the indiscriminate attacks in Gaza. We
welcome the peace plan presented by Egypt, and we
urge the parties involved to endeavour to ensure a firm
and lasting peace that achieves the coexistence of two
States, Israel and Palestine, within secure borders.

We are concerned about the recent attacks and
human rights violations committed by the self-
proclaimed Islamic State against the defenceless civilian
population. We call on the international community to
close ranks in United Nations bodies so as to put an end
to those brutal acts. Only the coordinated action of our
multilateral system can achieve the results to which we
all aspire.

We will always be committed to peace. All citizens
of the world must become peacemakers, as Saint
John Paul II himself said during one of his visits to
El Salvador. El Salvador, as a beneficiary of United
Nations support during our historic peace process,
cannot fail to strengthen its commitment to support
peacekeeping operations around the world. As a
country, we are providing support through our prompt
contribution to the United Nations Multidimensional
Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, and we are
standing with the Haitian people in their recovery
process, as part of a joint effort of the United Nations
system, which cannot be neglected.

I wish to stress that human rights is one of the
priority working areas of our foreign policy. In that
context, El Salvador has presented its candidacy to the
Human Rights Council, which will hold elections at
this session of the General Assembly. Our candidacy
represents an opportunity for us to continue to fulfil
our international commitments and to demonstrate the
importance of living under the rule of law in harmony
with our environment.

In our efforts in pursuit of peace and inclusive and
equitable development, there is no place for contempt
for fundamental principles and freedoms. I refer here
to the economic, trade and financial blockade against
the sister Republic of Cuba, which, in spite of that
unilateral action against its people, has overcome the
obstacles and adversity imposed on it with exemplary
perseverance and determination. Consequently,
El Salvador calls for an end to the blockade. We believe
that the inclusion of Cuba in the list of States sponsors
of international terrorism is unfounded. Cuba must be
removed from that mechanism, whose sole purpose is
to justify the blockade.

I want to highlight the contribution to multilateralism
made by the countries of Central and Latin America
and their regional organizations. Let me mention in
particular the Central American Integration System,
where we have be able to set out a multidimensional
regional agenda that guides our regional work through
five main pillars: economic integration, social
integration and the fight against poverty, comprehensive
disaster management and the adaptation to climate
change, institutional strengthening and democratic
security.

The Central and Latin American region needs
international support for the Central American
Security Strategy, which will allow our Governments
to complement national efforts and have a greater
impact on regional security. I reiterate the call for the
international community to give its full support to the
Strategy. The activities of regional bodies, such as SICA
and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States, are fundamental and are aimed at strengthening
solidarity and cooperation among all peoples of the
world.

As I have stated, we are witnessing an
unprecedented process of change in the world, which
brings with it both opportunities and challenges. If we
are to succeed, we must unite and integrate our peoples
and Governments in a global community — committed
to the values of democracy, peace, equality, progress
and development. I conclude by stating that, within
our modest possibilities, we are ready to meet that
challenge.


Thanks be to the almighty
Allah for giving me another opportunity to address
this global body at a time when human civilization is
teetering on the brink of a major catastrophe. Before
going further, let me convey our warm felicitations
to you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the
General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. While
wishing you success, I would like to assure you of the
support and cooperation of the Gambia during your
tenure as President of the Assembly. I would also like
to commend your predecessor, Mr. John William Ashe,
for his able stewardship as President of the General
Assembly.

It is a well-known fact that injustice, iniquities,
exclusion and greed all contribute to the creation of
international tensions that can lead to catastrophic
consequences, conflicts, wars, death and destruction.
Today we witness lamentable inertia on the part of
the United Nations, as powerful Member States take
undue advantage of weaker Members; unjust economic
and financial sanctions are imposed on other Member
States; others are bullied and their natural resources
looted; or wars are waged against still others, simply
in the name of democracy, freedom and regime change.
All of those actions are based on false pretences.

That is not the scenario that the noble and
distinguished gentlemen, the founders of the United
Nations and its Charter, envisaged. What those great
founding fathers of the United Nations intended over
half a century ago was a world body committed to
promoting the principles and ideals of peace and security
and advancing the causes of justice and equality;
freedom for all; and respect for the sovereignty and
the territorial integrity of States, rich or poor, black or
white, big or small; and respect for the social, spiritual,
religious and cultural values of all peoples. Therefore,
in order to uphold the founding principles of the Charter
of the United Nations, Member States must avoid the
promotion of all forms of aggression, confrontation
and dangerous tension by exercising maximal restraint
in the pursuit of their individual or collective national
interests at the expense of others. In fact, the pursuit of
one’s interest at the expense of the legitimate interests
and security of others is criminal.

Invariably, when major tensions erupt into conflicts
or wars, the world economy as a whole suffers, with
major disruptions or reversals in the developing
countries. That has been evident in the wake of past

regional or international conflicts, when oil prices, for
example, surged, with the developing countries bearing
the brunt of the debilitating consequences. In short, the
United Nations must be seen not as a prejudicial but
rather as an all-embracing global body that stands for
the interests of not only the few and the powerful but all
its Member States.

The Gambia acknowledges with satisfaction the
outcome document of the United Nations Conference
on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we
want” (resolution 66/288, annex), and the resulting
establishment of the Open Working Group on Sustainable
Development Goals and associated consultative
forums, including the African regional consultations
on the sustainable development goals. While the
Gambia appreciates the proposals of the Open Working
Group on the post-2015 development framework, it is
hoped that the goals and targets outlined thus far will
reflect an integrated and transformative agenda that
would ultimately build upon the gains made from the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) in order to fully address the many difficult
challenges that we face today.

It is in that connection that we welcome the choice
of the theme for this session, namely, “Delivering on and
implementing a transformative post-2015 development
agenda”. That theme is indeed pertinent and timely, as
it gives fresh impetus to our ardent desire to identify
a set of global priorities to steer the international
development agenda, once the MDGs expire at the
end of 2015. However, in launching that new initiative
for transformative change, we must not allow novelty
to mask any shortcomings of the MDGs experiment.
There is a need to take stock of the achievements and
failures of those Goals and indeed to renew support
to those developing countries, particularly the least
developed, landlocked and island developing countries,
that may still have difficulties in meeting their critical
MDG targets before the end of 2015.

At a time when the world is facing multiple and
complex challenges, there is a need to pay attention to
the commanding role that the United Nations should be
playing in advancing international peace and security,
justice and the fundamental rights and freedoms of all
peoples. The attainment of the post-2015 sustainable
development goals will be elusive, unless the United
Nations begins to execute its core mandate in earnest
and exercises its commanding role in dealing with the
host of local and international crises that are disruptive
to development. A few current issues stand out on which
the United Nations has yet to be seen to be playing a
leading role.

First, there is Ebola, a deadly haemorrhagic
fever that has claimed more than 2,000 lives in West
Africa, mostly in the severely affected countries of
the Republics of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The World Health Organization has warned that, if no
major efforts are made immediately, more lives will be
lost and the economies of those countries will come
under serious strain. Already, the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund have projected that,
owing to disruptions in the labour force and productive
sectors of the economies of those countries, declines
in their respective economic growths could range
from 1.5 to 3.5 percentage points, if current conditions
remain unchecked.

For those affected countries, all development
efforts are now on hold as they grapple with that
contagious and deadly disease. It is encouraging that
the United States Government has committed, rather
belatedly, some funds and military assets to curb the
spread of that disease. That gesture is more than just
humanitarian aid. It is also, as President Obama said,
in the national security interest of the United States.
That is true because in a globalized, interconnected
world, infectious diseases can easily spread to any part
of the world. It is for that reason that the United Nations
should take the lead in mobilizing international support
to fight Ebola, which is an evident danger not only to
West Africa but to the world at large. On that note, we
want to thank the Russian Federation for being one of
the first major Powers to respond to the outbreak of
deadly Ebola by providing scientific and medical teams
to some of those countries as soon as the outbreak was
announced.

Secondly, for some time now, the world has been
witnessing the bloodiest and most heinous form of
terrorism, unleashed by satanic and sadistic human
vermin disguised as Islamic militants, who are acting
ostensibly in the name of Islamic purity. In reality,
those sons of infamy and their shameless and deceitful
claims of devotion to the peaceful and noble religion of
Islam are, in fact, an insult not only to all true Muslims,
but to our Prophet and humankind in general.

Before the emergence of the mujahideen in Iran and
later in Afghanistan in the 1980s, which was a movement
subsequently associated with Islamic terrorism by
the Western mainstream media in total disregard for

its creation and sponsorship by the Western Powers
to fight proxy wars against the Islamic revolution in
Iran and the Soviets in Afghanistan, there existed no
Islamic terrorism. Islam in its entire history has never
been associated with violence or terrorism, as those
activities are haram, or forbidden, for a Muslim. Islam
is a religion of peace and tolerance and has nothing to
do with the activities of those anti-Islamic bands of
dangerous criminals, who spread nothing but deep-
seated hatred for human life and whose sole intention is
to desecrate and defame Islam.

Consequently, those various treacherous hate
groups cannot be associated with Islam, as our Islamic
religion is pure and unique and cannot therefore be
classified into varying degrees such as moderate Islam,
democratic Islam, extreme Islam or violent Islam.
Simply put, Islam is a pure religion that encourages
the best of human behaviour and interpersonal
relationships, among other virtues, as prescribed
by Allah, the almighty creator. In other words, the
adherents of those lunatic fringe groups of bandits
and gangsters, such as Boko Haram, the Islamic State
in Syria and Al-Qaida, are dangerous criminals and
enemies of human civilization and development and
should therefore be wiped off the face of the Earth,
because we do not need them.

Thirdly, the situation in the Middle East remains
highly volatile, and the United Nations has been
watching the cycle of violence in the region rather
helplessly. In the most recent conflict between the
Palestinians and Israelis, approximately 2,000 people
from Gaza, mostly women and children, died at the
hands of the Israeli army, and approximately 70 Israelis,
all of them soldiers except for three children, lost their
lives. The continuing expansion of Israeli settlements
on Palestinian land, despite repeated calls for restraint
by the international community, is unacceptable, as it
undermines any prospects for a two-State solution. The
United States Government has played a very strategic
and useful mediating role in the past, but the United
Nations must now take up its commanding role in
seeking a peaceful settlement that is just, durable and
acceptable to all the Members of the United Nations.

Fourthly, as part of its core mandate in promoting
global peace and security and greater understanding
among peoples of different backgrounds and cultures,
the United Nations must do more to advocate a culture
of peace, tolerance and understanding, not only among
the world’s great religions but also among Member
States themselves. That is important, as we continue to
witness a growing propagation of disinformation and
misrepresentation, especially by the Western media,
about Islam in general and the application of sharia law,
particularly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi
Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, and sharia is the
legal system in Islam and the only divine Constitution
for not only the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but all
Islamic States. Therefore, the incessant criticisms and
misrepresentations of the application of sharia law in
Saudi Arabia or anywhere else are disrespectful and
abhorrent. It is an insult to all true Muslims to describe
sharia law as barbaric. As a matter of fact, the most
barbaric laws are those that are not based on any divine
teachings. Sharia is the legal system that the almighty
Allah has prescribed for all Muslims, and we will apply
it to the letter.

In the same vein, the General Assembly should be
commended for the designation, two years ago, of World
Interfaith Harmony Week. It urged Member States to
designate the first week of February each year as World
Interfaith Harmony Week, when messages of goodwill
and tolerance are spread through mosques, churches
and other places of worship. While that was a good
beginning for promoting peace and harmony among
religions and peoples of different belief systems, the
United Nations must do more to counter the continuing
attacks on Islam, in particular by people who do not
even believe in the existence of a supreme creator
called Allah. Those infidels have no moral high ground
to describe any religion — because they do not believe
in God, and religion belongs to God — much less say
anything about a religion as pure, authentic and noble
as Islam.

Finally, the United Nations must play its central
role in addressing the injustices associated with the
unilateral or bilateral application of economic and
financial sanctions by one Member State against
another as a coercive tool of foreign policy, because that
contravenes the fundamental principles of international
law, international humanitarian law and the principles
and norms governing peaceful coexistence among
sovereign States. In that regard, the Gambia calls on
the United States Government to unconditionally end
the long-standing United States embargo on Cuba,
which has brought about untold hardship for the Cuban
people. Is it not ironic that the Power talking today
about respecting Ukrainian sovereignty and freedom
to choose their own way of life is the same Power that
has maintained a system of unjustifiable collective

punishment against the Cuban people for almost five
decades, thereby devastating their economy, simply
because, just as the Ukrainians today, Cubans decades
ago opted for a system of governance of their choice?

That brings me to the subject of climate change.
Climate change and development are inextricably linked.
The impact of climate change is felt in all countries,
particularly developing countries, as it undermines
their ability to achieve sustainable development. While
Africa is not responsible for the pollution and the other
factors causing climate change, it stands to suffer the
most. With 96 per cent of Africa’s agriculture being
dependent on rainfall and 50 per cent of the fisheries-
related jobs estimated to be lost by 2050, climate change
poses dire consequences for livelihoods in Africa. The
Gambia firmly believes that mitigating the adverse
effects of climate change requires a timely and decisive
global response. It is a challenge that should unite us,
not divide us. In that regard, the Gambia joins other
countries affected by climate change and like-minded
groups in urging the developed countries that are
parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change to fully implement their commitments
under the Kyoto Protocol.

In 1974, the Assembly adopted the Declaration on
the Establishment of a New International Economic
Order (resolution 3201 (S-VI)), which was designed
to address some legitimate concerns of developing
countries, such as improving their terms of trade
and other issues relating to the promotion of a more
equitable international economic system. Many of
the political, economic and social issues that inspired
the new international economic order still remain
unresolved, four decades after that historic declaration.
As the post-2015 agenda attracts our attention today,
we must not relegate those old concerns of developing
countries to the dustbin of history. In a nutshell, their
old concerns, as well as their new aspirations, must
no longer be set aside. To that end, the foundation of
any transformative agenda should logically begin with
genuine reform of the global governance institutions,
particularly the United Nations system.

Given the current membership of the Security
Council, the reform of that important organ of the
world body is long overdue. We African leaders have
for a very long time been calling attention to the need
to restore the effectiveness and legitimacy of the United
Nations by allocating two permanent Seats with full
veto powers, as well as two non-permanent seats on
the Security Council to reflect current geopolitical
realities.

If the demands for the reform of the Security
Council in the interest of equity and justice cannot be
accommodated, then concrete action must be taken for
the General Assembly to assume all the powers of the
Security Council and its responsibilities, including the
power to impose sanctions. Under such an arrangement,
all decisions of the General Assembly would have to be
voted for by all Members and endorsed by the majority
of its membership, thus ensuring a more democratic
and transparent global body called the United Nations.

On a final note, I want to call the attention of the
General Assembly and the Security Council to the very
frequent and mysterious sinking and capsizing of boats
carrying mostly black African migrants looking for
greener pastures in the West, only to end up in body
bags on European shores. Strangely enough, those
countries, which pretend to love Africans so much
that they are always preaching to African leaders
about good governance, the rule of law and respect
for human life and rights, have been eerily quiet about
the very dangerous, racist and inhuman behaviour of
deliberately causing boats carrying black Africans to
sink, selecting only a few lucky ones to be rescued
and sent to concentration camps, called asylum-seeker
camps. Those camps are as bad as Nazi concentration
camps, and nobody, no country or human rights
institution in the West has ever raised the alarm to that
sort of genocide in the twenty-first century.

If earlier Africans who received the European
explorers before colonialism had treated them the
same way, Africa would not have been colonized for
400 years. The European explorers were nothing short
of people seeking greener pastures for their fellow
Europeans, as Europe had, at the time, turned into
brown pastures. After 400 years of colonial looting and
misrule in Africa, Africa today is reduced from green
to brown pastures, owing to overgrazing. Now African
explorers are not only unwelcome, but are greeted with
instant death on European soil. That is unacceptable.

The United Nations must therefore conduct a
full and impartial investigation into that man-made
catastrophe, namely, the sinking or capsizing of boats
carrying young Africans to Europe. If those boats are
able to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean
Sea, only to sink on European coasts, we must find out
what deadly mysterious force exists on the European
Mediterranean coasts that causes boats carrying young

Africans to disintegrate and sink upon arrival. Racism,
greed and hatred can only breed hatred, violence and
disastrous confrontation between races. We African
leaders should stand up together, I hope, to protect those
young Africans from mass murder on European coasts.
I hereby call on the United Nations to commission such
an investigation as a matter of priority and urgency in
order to avert a major racial confrontation. We have the
right as Africans to defend our black people, wherever
they are. As we welcomed all races to Africa, we will
not accept that Africans should be treated like dogs,
with impunity. That is unacceptable. If the United
Nations fails to take action, we will take action. And
the action we take will be determined by us.

In the Gambia we do not attack people because
they are white or black, or because of their religion.
No foreigner in the Gambia would say, “I was attacked
because I am a foreigner”. If a foreigner comes into
contact with the police, it is because he has committed
an offence for which even a Gambian would be
arrested. If we cannot tolerate each other, the world will
never see peace, because nobody can stop migration.
The Almighty Allah created this world for us to move
around, the same way Europeans moved around when
Europe was bankrupt. Europeans came to Africa for
400 years. We never killed them. They overstayed, and
some of us had to fight to get them out. Now they have
overgrazed our land. We also want greener pastures, but
Europeans cannot accept us. Let them send Africans
back, but do not kill them. Europeans have no right to
kill them.

Out of the hundreds of European explorers who
came to the Gambia in those days, only one European
died on the River Gambia over a span of 400 years.
Today, over a span of five years, more than 500
Gambians have lost their lives on European coasts.
That is unacceptable. Enough is enough, and the United
Nations must intervene, and intervene quickly, or else
we will all live to regret our failure to take appropriate
action at the right time.

Geopolitical realities have changed. Let the West
accept that, and with us endeavour to change along
with those realities, as we move together towards
the peaceful, brighter future we want. The so-called
military super-Powers must know that humankind
would be sent back to a pre-Stone Age should they be
reckless enough to unleash World War III.

We cannot have our cake, eat it as we please, and
at the same time dictate to others how, when and where
they should eat theirs. In the twenty-first century,
humankind has a need only for super-Powers of peace
and development, not for mediaeval European-style
warmongers. Why can we not accept the diversity of
the human race and its attendant diversity in cultures,
religions and ways of life as each of its diverse groups
deems fit?