YouSaid · the spoken record

Janet Bostwick

lines on the record: 54
first: 1998-09-24
most recent: 2000-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Heads of State and Government equally provided us with a concise, focused and realistic blueprint for action by the United Nations in the twenty-first century. They have charged the Secretary-General to keep a score-card, the results of which will determine whether we have been true and honourable custodians of the United Nations Charter. It is imperative for us to demonstrate individually, and through our collective efforts, that we can leave for succeeding generations the kind of world envisioned in our Charter.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“We also join other delegations in condemning this attack and in urging the Government of Indonesia to spare no effort in bringing those responsible to justice. We also extend condolences to the family of the United Nations refugee worker killed in an attack in Guinea. In situations such as these, we must show that we can meet the concerns of our peoples and our world. Through the historic Millennium Declaration, heads of State and Government reaffirmed their faith in the United Nations and its Charter as indispensable foundations for a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. They also emphasized that the United Nations is the pre-eminent global organization and has a central role in setting and acting upon the global agenda.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Furthermore, we must arrest the process whereby many issues, including some of critical concern to developing countries, have been moved out of the ambit of this universal Organization into narrower, special interest organizations. These organizations harmonize and seek the interest of their Member States. Therefore, the decisions they take can run counter, not only to the interest of non-Member States, but also to that of global society as a whole. 24 Allow me to raise one more serious concern - the safety and security of our international civil service, the dedicated men and women who are the embodiment of the United Nations global outreach. In this respect, we extend our profound condolences to the families of the staff members who lost their lives as a result of the recent attack on the United Nations office in West Timor.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Forgive me if I restate the obvious — the Secretary-General cannot carry out the crucial mandates we ourselves have entrusted to him unless and until he is assured of adequate and predictable resources on a timely basis. At the same time, the quotas on the basis of which the Organization receives its resources must be assessed in a fair, transparent and equitable manner. Only in this way will we be able to give renewed impetus to the vibrant process of administrative and budgetary reform currently under way. By so doing, we will also break the cycle of the Organization's inability to implement the mandates that we ourselves have collectively set.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The Bahamas welcomed the recently convened conference in Barbados under the auspices of the World Bank, UNAIDS, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/ WHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), CARICOM and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which brought together high-level Caribbean health, education, economic development and labour policy-makers. The Bahamas is committed to doing its part in addressing this serious problem and has offered to host a regional centre to assist in combating this HIV/AIDS pandemic. The agenda set for the United Nations by world leaders is a formidable one.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Our commitment means that we must achieve a comprehensive reform of the Security Council. Addressing the unfolding human tragedy of HIV/ AIDS is also an important front on which the Millennium Declaration charges us to work. The pernicious effect of this disease, particularly on the economically productive sectors of society, has had a devastating impact on families, communities and nations globally. However, the major burden that AIDS presents, particularly for health care systems, has been most profoundly felt in developing countries, where it threatens to limit and reverse development efforts. Adequate resources must be provided to confront HIV/ AIDS, particularly in Africa. In this regard, the pharmaceutical industry must be encouraged to play its necessary role.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“We must, for example, reach agreement to ensure the success of the high-level international and intergovernmental event on financing for development, to be held in the year 2001. Our commitment means that we must ensure that technological advances benefit not just the few, but all of humankind. We must work more assiduously towards the elimination of human rights violations, including violence against women and the trafficking in women and children. We must ensure equal rights for men and women, to bring down barriers to development. For countries such as the Bahamas, forced to bear the brunt of sustained illegal migration, the United Nations must collectively address not only the challenges of migration flows worldwide, but also the reprehensible practice of alien-smuggling.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Therefore, the Bahamas looks forward to next year's United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. We are confident that the commitments made in our Millennium Declaration will motivate us to grasp this significant opportunity for concerted action. We especially urge developed countries in which firearms are manufactured to take the steps necessary to prevent illicit arms trafficking. In the Millennium Declaration, world leaders committed themselves to the eradication of poverty, hunger and disease, and to making the right to development a reality for all. This commitment compels us to act on several fronts to achieve our objectives.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“We reiterate this appeal in the face of recent evidence that suggests that 23 the highly professed safety measures touted by the nuclear-power industry are questionable. In the Millennium Declaration, world leaders committed themselves to overcoming many seemingly intractable problems for which effective responses can only be of a global nature. The world's drug problem, and the trafficking in small arms and light weapons, are issues for which the global community urgently needs results. While these twin evils are, in our view, closely linked, every indication is that the trafficking in firearms is taking on a life of its own. The introduction of firearms into ordinary, non-drug related criminal activity, and even domestic conflict, is perhaps the greatest single threat to peace and stability in the Bahamas today.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“In line with the Millennium Declaration and their own national efforts, the small island developing States now expect action, through initiatives such as global disaster management strategies and a vulnerability index. Such initiatives must take fully into account the socio-economic development and survival of small island developing States. For Caribbean Community (CARICOM) small States, we also hope to see the development of an integrated management approach to the Caribbean Sea advanced. We would also, in this United Nations, urge our partners in the developed world not to continue to put our countries at risk by shipping nuclear and hazardous wastes through the Caribbean Sea.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“There is another commitment in the Millennium Declaration that is of critical importance to small island developing States such as the Bahamas and other members of the Caribbean Community. The Millennium Declaration reaffirms the United Nations resolve to address the special needs of the small island developing States by implementing both the Barbados Programme of Action and the outcome of the twentysecond special session of the General Assembly on this plan. It did so in recognition of the vulnerability of their economies to external shocks and their susceptibility to climate change, sea level rise and natural disasters. I wish to re-emphasize here that the call in the Barbados plan is for action.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The United Nations resolve that globalization must be fully inclusive and equitable should be buttressed with effective action to ensure a vibrant global economic order in which all countries, large and small, developed and developing, mutually benefit. The Bahamas is now an observer in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and will move purposefully towards full membership. We have chosen to take this course of action because we intend to participate fully in the WTO processes. These processes should, and must, make globalization and trade liberalization inclusive and equitable instruments for development. We made this commitment at the highest level at the Millennium Summit.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“We urge those countries to cooperate in resolving these issues on the basis of constructive multilateral dialogue, given that the pressures applied in this and other areas not only disrupt growth and development, but could well lead to the reversal of the gains made in the development process. The intensity of protests in Seattle and in Washington, D.C., have mirrored the frustration of many developing countries in a globalization process which appears to be biased towards the rich and powerful and to widen the gap between haves and have-nots. Yet no country can opt out of globalization. Nor can we ignore the challenge its potentially devastating consequences present for peace and security.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Currently we are amending our legislation and reinforcing our regulatory regime so as to fully comply with international best practices. While the Bahamas will move expeditiously to correct deficiencies in our financial services industry, we call upon the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and the other concerned financial agencies established by developed countries to immediately adopt open and transparent procedures to recognize when such deficiencies have been corrected and to then take the necessary action as a matter of priority. Additionally, it has been a source of serious concern to us in the Bahamas that one group of countries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), would seek to unilaterally determine what constitutes “harmful tax competition” in respect to financial services.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“It cannot be business as usual in this United Nations. The Millennium Declaration placed globalization high on the list of issues requiring urgent attention. As a process offering opportunities for growth and development, globalization has never been challenged. It is a grim reality, however, that few have profited, and some, particularly smaller economies, have become marginalized and even more vulnerable. For many of the small island developing States of the Caribbean, their mainstay industries, particularly bananas and financial services, have come under extreme pressure in this rapidly globalizing world. With respect to financial services, the Bahamas has always cooperated, and will continue to cooperate, with international efforts to combat money laundering.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Tuvalu's membership is a sign of the confidence that the United Nations continues to enjoy among nations of the world as the best hope for the realization of the aspirations of all peoples. We applaud the Secretary-General's continuing commitment to the United Nations. This was particularly demonstrated by his bold proposals for the reform and revitalization of the Organization, which culminated in the practical, responsive and visionary Millennium Summit Declaration. The Declaration was unanimously adopted by an unprecedented number of heads of State or Government. In this Millennium Declaration, world leaders collectively and succinctly 22 outlined the labyrinth of issues on the global agenda for which solutions are essential in the twenty-first century. It is now our responsibility to implement it in good faith.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The Bahamas delegation sincerely congratulates Mr. Harri Holkeri on his election to the presidency of this Millennium Assembly and assures him and the members of his Bureau of its full cooperation and support. I wish also to commend Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab of Namibia, who presided over the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly. The Bahamas delegation also wishes to pay special tribute to the Co-Chairpersons of the Millennium Summit, Ms. Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, and Mr. Sam Nujoma, President of the Republic of Namibia. Their combined wisdom and focused leadership contributed in no small part to the success of the Millennium Summit. The Bahamas is pleased to welcome Tuvalu as the newest Member of this Organization.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Thus, the Organization must be assured of funding on a reliable, predictable and timely basis to carry out the mandates entrusted to it by its Member States. The broad range of problems and issues on the United Nations agenda cannot be solved without investment in multilateralism and partnerships. It is our responsibility to make the United Nations a highly effective organization fully capable of responding to the security, political, economic and social challenges of the twenty-first century. The Bahamas pledges its full commitment to play its part in United Nations efforts to secure a better future for all.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“From this last perspective, it is the continued position of the Bahamas that the question of refugees, for example, should not continue to be divorced from the broader question of illegal migration. Under the revitalized agenda, the United Nations would have improved partnerships with other regional and international organizations. Such partnerships with organizations including the Commonwealth, the Organization of American States and the Caribbean 17 Community would further the coordination of solutions to problems of a global nature. The United Nations cannot do what we ask of it unless it is provided with the necessary resources. The common values we share, and our determination to find solutions to the world’s problems, should give us the political will to build on what the United Nations has accomplished to date.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We share the view that the summit should not be just a commemoration, but should also be substantive. The Bahamas wishes to reflect briefly on what the summit’s approach might include. We see the summit not as a forum for a restatement of lofty ideals or of the practical initiatives that were the outcomes of past international conferences. The millennium summit must be used as a catalyst that would build, especially, on the outcomes of those conferences to produce a revitalized international agenda for the twenty-first century. That agenda should take into account the accomplishments of the United Nations system as a whole in the areas of economic and social development as well as peace and security, and it should be realistic.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In a constantly changing global environment, United Nations reform must continue to be a priority to ensure that the Organization remains relevant to the role envisaged for it under the Charter. Negotiations on the multifaceted objective of Security Council reform have moved at a frustratingly slow pace. It is clear that the Council must be reformed, and that one of the main objectives must be its enlargement. This has the support of the Bahamas. However, in determining criteria for expanded membership of the Council, consideration must be given to a mechanism for all Members to enjoy the privilege of serving thereon. The Bahamas welcomes the General Assembly’s decision to convene a millennium summit at the beginning of the Millennium Assembly.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We continue to urge greater efforts to control the illicit manufacture of and trafficking in firearms, including the ratification and implementation of relevant international conventions. The failure to achieve general and complete disarmament means that serious threats to international peace and security persist. The production and stockpiling of chemical, biological and other weapons of mass destruction exacerbate this situation. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, to which the Bahamas is a party, has been a key success in recent disarmament initiatives. The Convention demonstrates what can be achieved when there is unity of purpose in the field of disarmament.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“For the United Nations International Drug Control Programme to carry out its mandate, adequate resources must be allocated to it. Drug trafficking into and through the Bahamas is a major threat to our socio-economic development. A significant proportion of the national budget continues to be spent on drug law enforcement. I wish to emphasize that even though we do so at the expense of vital national programmes, the Bahamas will not relent in its efforts to overcome the serious challenges posed by drug trafficking and related criminality. We are particularly concerned about the traffic in illicit firearms, which appears to be working in tandem with the drug trade. Further, with the increase in firearms comes an increase in violent crime committed with those firearms.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The Bahamas participated in a Caribbean Community mission to Haiti in July of this year; that mission reviewed with the Haitian Government its preparedness for elections. In so doing, we signalled our support for the process of free and fair elections in Haiti. We also fully support the efforts of the Economic and Social Council and of the General Assembly for Haiti’s reconstruction and for the strengthening and furtherance of its democracy. Last year, at the twentieth special session of the General Assembly, on the world drug problem, the international community adopted a new and detailed programme of measures to enhance the effectiveness of national, regional and international drug control activities. Member States must now implement the programme, particularly by meeting the targets set in the special session’s concluding documents.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“16 The Bahamas supports the growing consensus on human rights, which focuses on principles and values including democracy, good governance and the rule of law. We also believe that United Nations Member States should honour the human rights commitments they have made. The Republic of Haiti is a fledgling democracy courageously facing significant political, economic and social challenges. These myriad challenges have resulted in a sustained influx of illegal immigration from Haiti into the Bahamas. Together with other illegal immigration, particularly from other countries in the Caribbean region, illegal Haitian immigration continues to be a burden to the socio-economic structures of the Bahamas. We therefore have a vested interest in the stabilization of Haiti’s democratic institutions and economy.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In the Bahamas, for example, women have made significant strides in Parliament, the judiciary, public service and business and service organizations. However, the Bahamas is cognizant that there are still serious challenges to women’s equality. We are particularly concerned about the traffic in human beings, predominantly women and children. The Bahamas intends to continue its active support, both nationally and internationally, for efforts to help women realize their legal rights, attain economic empowerment and rise above poverty. It is our hope, therefore, that the Beijing review will result in strategies to further engage the international community in support of the world’s women.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The significant number of reviews issued recently or expected in the coming months, of the outcomes of United Nations Conferences on small island developing States, population and development, social development and women, attest to the efforts of the United Nations to meet its economic and social obligations under the Charter. The Bahamas confidently expects that these reviews will all confirm that renewed political will and action are required to meet the goals we set, at a high level, in Barbados, Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing. Let me comment briefly on our continuing efforts to maintain the momentum for gender equality, a subject which will be taken up in the five-year Beijing review. Women worldwide continue to break through glass ceilings.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We cannot help but emphasize — as so many States did at the recently concluded twenty-second special session — how imperative it therefore remains for the Barbados Programme of Action to be implemented. It is in this context that we urge renewed commitment on the part of all to the search for consensus on the draft resolution on the recognition of the Caribbean Sea as a special area in the context of sustainable development. Together with our Caribbean Community sister States, the Bahamas has made known our concern regarding the transhipment of nuclear and hazardous waste through the Caribbean Sea. Yet these shipments continue. We reiterate our wish to see these shipments stopped: they constitute the gravest risk to the fragility of our marine environment and our economies.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In May this year, it was reported to our Parliament that the economy of the Bahamas was experiencing a period of dynamism. In 1998, our economy grew some 3 per cent, the unemployment rate was 7.8 per cent and net foreign investment inflows amounted to $491 million. But on 14 September 1999, hurricane Floyd struck the Bahamas, and the entire archipelago felt its impact. Significant damage was done to the environment, infrastructure and property. The full implications for the economy of our country of the relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts have yet to be calculated. What happened in the Bahamas underscores the continuing validity of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, adopted in 1994.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The Bahamas is concerned about the action taken within the international community to inhibit or prevent the use of offshore centres and to label them, impertinently, as “harmful” tax jurisdictions. Furthermore, there is a tendency to treat all offshore jurisdictions as a homogenous group, which they are most definitely not. The Bahamas had the opportunity to address the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on harmful tax practices in August this year in Paris. We emphasized there that strict regulations and appropriate legislation, specifically formulated to counter money laundering and other illegal activities, govern financial institutions in the Bahamas. The Bahamas is committed to working with all concerned to address these and related issues.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Where preferential treatment is removed before Caribbean countries can restructure their economies, severe hardship results. We therefore believe that all concerned must make an effort to find a solution to the banana problem. We see the new round of WTO negotiations scheduled to begin in Seattle in November as an invaluable opportunity for developing countries to have their concerns incorporated into the discussions. The Bahamas is currently giving consideration to acquiring observer status in the WTO. It fully intends to follow the multilateral negotiating process and to bring its concerns to the table, particularly in the areas of trade in services and differential treatment for small economies. Growth in the economy of the Bahamas is in part attributable to the services it offers as an offshore financial centre.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“If enlightened self-interest were to prevail in long-standing conflicts elsewhere in Africa, Asia and Latin America, they too could be resolved. Global attention could then be turned towards development and human betterment, as envisaged in the Charter. Globalization and trade liberalization are gaining currency as means of promoting accelerated development and opening opportunities to bridge the gap between rich 15 and poor. However, concerns are being expressed that the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its dispute settlement mechanisms put the interests of the strong ahead of the interests of the weak. Indeed, the anticipated benefits of free trade give little comfort to Caribbean States and farmers dependent as they are on bananas for their foreign exchange earnings and their very livelihood.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“However, we believe that whenever the United Nations responds to internal conflicts and threats to regional stability, it must do so with one and the same degree of urgency, with adequate resources and with consistency. It is with these considerations in mind that the Bahamas supports United Nations efforts to bring peace and stability to areas of conflict in all regions of the world. Recent United Nations peace initiatives give us hope that long-standing and seemingly intractable problems may have solutions. Indeed, the Bahamas is encouraged by developments in the Middle East, particularly the signing this month of the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum. We see these developments as having the potential to end decades of conflict in that troubled region.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“At the same time, new challenges will have to be addressed. Recent events in Europe and elsewhere in the world, spawned by internal conflict, have raised questions as to whether States fractured by ethnic, religious and other strife could build national identities to span these divides. At the same time, they remind us that the greatest care must be taken in making exceptions to the general principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other States. The Bahamas believes that this principle remains an important safeguard for international peace and security. The Bahamas accepts that internal conflicts create situations in which the Security Council should act, in accordance with the Charter.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I am pleased on this occasion to warmly welcome the Kingdom of Tonga, the Republic of Kiribati and the Republic of Nauru, the United Nations newest Member States, to this community of nations. These countries add to the growing number of small island developing States in the United Nations and underscore the need for the Organization to increase its efforts in support of this important constituency. The United Nations was created with a mandate to work collectively for a better world, and since its inception it has contributed to positive developments in the global arena. However, significant challenges persist. The agenda of the fifty-fourth session shows that even as some progress has been made, we will continue at this session to grapple with many of the thorny issues that have preoccupied the international community over the decades.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The Bahamas shares the confidence that the international community has placed in you, Sir, as the envoy of Namibia and of the continent of Africa to preside over this fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly, the last in this twentieth century. My delegation congratulates you and pledges its full support as you guide our deliberations at this critical juncture. My delegation’s congratulations are also extended to Mr. Didier Opertti, who represented our Latin American and Caribbean region as President of the fifty-third session. My delegation wishes to commend the Secretary- General of the United Nations for his leadership of this highly complex Organization on which rest the hopes and aspirations of the world’s peoples and which is our best prospect for a stable world.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The vision of our United Nations to meet the needs of our people is achievable, but only if our purposes and principles are designed for the common good rather than for narrow nationalistic objectives. Otherwise, such motives will inevitably produce inadequate programmes and adversely affect relationships. The lessons of history no longer take centuries to be deduced. They present themselves starkly before us, often in our own lifetime. Will we choose to learn from them? The answer lies with each of us.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“It is my Government?s fervent hope that work will continue in this important area. As the Assembly is aware, the Bahamas has on many occasions repeated its objection to the use of per capita income as the sole, or principal, measuring tool for the economies of developing countries. This yardstick does not, and cannot, take into account the special circumstances of countries like the Bahamas, with our archipelagic make- up, our ecological fragility and our economic vulnerability. Yet these are all integral measures of our state of development. My Government looks forward to the upcoming review in 1999 of the Barbados Programme of Action, and hopes that all issues of concern to small island developing States will be addressed in line with the chapters of the Programme of Action.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“My Government is acutely aware that, while private capital flows have played an indispensable role in the advancement of developing economies, they should not be relied upon as the single source of financing for capital development. In this connection, the Bahamas notes the recent call for a high-level international intergovernmental forum on financing for development aimed at furthering the global partnership for development. My Government supports this call and applauds the Assembly?s efforts to explore the matter further by soliciting input from Member States. We call on this body to address the issue in as comprehensive and integrated a manner as possible. 10 My Government was also pleased to note the convening, in December last, of the expert group meeting on vulnerability indices here at the United Nations.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“This need remains critical, particularly in the light of the quickening pace of the globalization of production and of capital flows, and the liberalization of trade since early in this decade. Clearly, these developments have not provided equal opportunities for all countries to share in the benefits of globalization. Countries — developing countries, least developed countries and countries with economies in transition — ought to be assisted in their efforts to become integrated into the mainstream global economy, without incurring disruptive and punitive economic, social and cultural costs. These are matters of survival for small economies like that of the Bahamas. Questions are now being raised concerning the adequacy of the international financial system to meet the growing demands of the world?s diverse economies.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Notably, we welcomed the recent twentieth special session of the General Assembly on the world?s drug problem. That session adopted important decisions designed to chart the future course in the international fight to combat the supply, traffic and consumption of illicit drugs. It is now imperative that Member States commit themselves to the implementation of those decisions. The past 12 months have been a period of turmoil for the world?s economy, marked in particular by the crippling financial crisis in South-East Asia. The fallout from that crisis is now being felt, in varying degrees, globally. We have, from time to time, in this forum underscored the importance of establishing a sustainable and equitable international framework for highly integrated global markets.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“For our part, we have joined Member States of this hemisphere in acceding to and ratifying the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials. We commend similar action to all Member States of this body. The Bahamas, after experiencing an abatement in the illicit transit and traffic in narcotic drugs through its territory, regrets to inform the Assembly that it is again confronted with this scourge. Drug seizure quantity and frequency have increased, and the numbers of persons arrested and charged with drug offences are similarly increasing. Past experience has taught us that this is not a problem which can be resolved by any single State. International cooperation is critical if this menace is to be controlled.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We were pleased to join the more than 100 countries which have signed the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, which we have also now ratified. We call upon all Member States that have not done so, to do the same. The Bahamas is seriously concerned by the proliferation of handguns and other weapons which continue to infiltrate small island developing States. The use of these conventional weapons by perpetrators of crime considerably raises the level of violence in our societies and threatens our social, economic and political fibre. We call on countries manufacturing handgun and other weapons to assume greater responsibility over the sale and export of such weapons, and to strengthen their international collaborative efforts to combat this problem.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Unfortunately, his recent reports on trouble spots around the world continue to reveal a disturbing picture. In a world shrunken by globalization, every trouble spot has the potential to affect us all. Our energies, exerted in search of real solutions to these global crises, must therefore match those expended in pursuit of responses to our national challenges. Let us seek to mark the fiftieth anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping with an enlightened breakthrough in this area. The continued production and use of land mines internationally continues to maim and kill thousands of innocent men, women and children in developing countries. The Bahamas abhors these actions.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“As a peace-loving nation, and one in which respect for human dignity has historically been upheld, the Bahamas condemns terrorism in all its forms. Such wanton acts are inhumane and wreak havoc on entire communities. It is for these reasons that the Bahamas will continue to lend its support to all legitimate national and international efforts to stem the spread of terrorism and to work towards its elimination. To this end, we will continue to cooperate with the international community to bring the perpetrators of terrorism to justice, as well as to address comprehensively the root causes of terrorism. We call on all Members to act similarly. 9 We wish to thank Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his untiring efforts in the promotion of international peace and security.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Bahamas also recognizes and accepts the appropriateness of adopting sunset clauses, establishing time limits for United Nations mandates. Given the sensitivity of the matter, however, we strongly recommend that final decisions be arrived at on the basis of consensus among the Organization?s membership. The Bahamas believes that the Security Council as currently composed reflects some inequities and imbalances of this Organization. A living organization must adapt to changing circumstances if it is to remain relevant. A Security Council reflecting the eminence of post-Second World War Powers cannot be expected to adequately address concerns of our post-colonial world. As we approach a new millennium, it would be in our interest for this central organ of our Organization to be more reflective of our present reality.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We must be vigilant against slippage in our commitment to the goals of the Organization so eloquently embodied in our fiftieth anniversary pledge to be a people “united for a better world“ in which the human condition remained our highest priority. We must all accept that the United Nations can only be, and will only be, as successful and responsive as we the Member States allow it to be. The United Nations success is our success. The reform measures adopted last session provide a useful platform from which to refocus and improve our Organization. In this regard, the Bahamas welcomes the proposals for both a Millennium Assembly and a Millennium Forum, so as to forge a closer partnership with civil society.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In this regard, I wish to acknowledge and thank the United Nations Environment Programme (UNDP) for its continuing assistance to the Bahamas as we seek to enhance our capacity to catalogue, manage and protect our rich biodiversity; and to thank also the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for its assistance in improving our response to the challenges created by climate change and sea level rise. It is important that we begin to deal forthrightly with the obstacles which impede the United Nations from playing as effective a role as it ought, or might, in the global economy.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We call on this Assembly, therefore, to begin to address the need for a review of the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The Bahamas is an archipelago of some 700 islands stretched over some 80,000 square miles of ocean. We are home to one of the most important coral reef systems in the world and of important species of flora, fauna and animal life, both terrestrial and marine. Our responsibility to conserve and protect our environment for the welfare of future generations is clear. Equally clear is the fact that we require continued international assistance if we are to succeed.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We call upon the international community to make every effort to address this problem in a comprehensive manner. The Bahamas continues to be challenged by the uncontrolled entry of economic migrants to its territory, a struggle which receives scant international recognition or assistance, notwithstanding the considerable financial burden foisted upon our small developing State. Indeed, undue pressure is frequently brought to bear upon our small society to absorb such economic refugees without regard for the serious social and political consequences of such requests. It is clear that the important United Nations conventions crafted to address the problems of political refugees following the Second World War do not adequately address the problem of today?s undocumented economic migrants.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)