YouSaid · the spoken record

Denzil Douglas

lines on the record: 166
first: 1997-09-24
most recent: 2012-09-24
sittings or episodes: 7
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

“We hereby place on record that we have received assistance from the United Nations system and, in particular, from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and I assure the representatives in this world body that our efforts at rehabilitation have proceeded with what some have described as remarkable speed. But, however commendable emergency assistance is, it is not a formula for long-term, sustainable development. Countries such as ours need the continued support of the international community to ensure that our development is not sacrificed on the altar of globalization and trade liberalization. How will the banana farmers in Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica, or the sugar- cane workers in Saint Kitts and Nevis preserve the integrity of their families?”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The Assembly expressed its support for the efforts of my Government, and several other governments in the region, as we coped with that particular disaster. The Assembly also urged all States as a matter of urgency to contribute generously to the relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. It further requested the Secretary-General, in collaboration with the international financial institutions and other bodies and agencies of the United Nations system, to assist the affected Governments in identifying their medium- and long-term needs and in mobilizing resources, as well as helping with the task of rehabilitation and reconstruction in the affected Caribbean countries. I have dealt with this at some length because Saint Kitts and Nevis wishes to thank the Assembly for the support expressed in that decision.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In the meantime, my Government welcomes the continued efforts of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in promoting the interests and concerns of small island States. All small island developing States, like those of us in the Caribbean, are susceptible to the vagaries of nature as well as to man-made difficulties. Just last week our brothers and sisters in the Bahamas, like those along the south-eastern coastal states of the United States of America, suffered terrible and destructive losses as a result of hurricane Floyd. I urge States Members of the United Nations to be generous in their support for any reconstruction endeavours for the thousands of displaced people. 25 Last year Saint Kitts and Nevis suffered a similar major blow, from hurricane Georges.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In a few days, the United Nations will convene a special session of the General Assembly for the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for the small island developing States. We trust that the international community will give due recognition to the efforts being made by small island States to implement their commitments under the Programme of Action and note that those efforts have been affected by financial and other resource constraints and by global, economic and environmental factors. We look forward, therefore, to the international community's providing continued support for capacity- and institution- building programmes and projects in the small island developing States.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We applaud the progress being made with regard to women in development since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World Conference on Women on 15 September 1995. Our country has demonstrated its unswerving commitment to gender equity by our participation in the Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). For its part, Saint Kitts and Nevis is currently implementing a new gender management system and is introducing measures to ensure that the national budget in my country is more sensitive to gender issues. We are grateful to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation for technical assistance in this regard.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Saint Kitts and Nevis welcomes the assistance of the international community to enable us to realize our objectives in this regard and to give this programme even greater forward thrust. It is our view that the technological advancement of the past 54 years, instead of creating dislocations, should be used to improve understanding. It should be used to improve efficiency of production and to provide better revenue allocation and better living standards. Saint Kitts and Nevis urges those countries with the wherewithal to demonstrate appropriate leadership. I encourage them to use the availability of and their access to these technologies not only to generate greater economic wealth for themselves, but also to advance the economic and social well-being of the citizens of the world.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We have a duty to help make, for them and with them, a better world than the one in which we now live. Additionally, I have noted that the agenda for this fifty-fourth session includes an item entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”. Saint Kitts and Nevis wishes to place on record its country's support for that item, as we are doing everything in our power to build the development of our youth through sports. By the same token, I am proud to report that our educational policies are yielding very positive results. We in Saint Kitts and Nevis have achieved a 98 per cent literacy rate and we have not only begun, but are intensifying the process of making all of our young people computer-literate and equipped to face the challenges of the new dawning century.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In addition to the scourges of human conflict, there are other evils which still stare us in the face in these last few months of the closing year of the century. Poverty still confronts the vast majority of mankind. Children are still dying of malnutrition and some, in order to get food, have to allow themselves to be victimized and turned into cannon fodder. Some still do not get an education. Indeed, there are many children around the world who do not enjoy a childhood. I am happy that the United Nations has declared the decade beginning 2001 to be the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World. The new millennium belongs to our children. It belongs to our children in Saint Kitts and Nevis and to the children of the world.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Saint Kitts and Nevis is persuaded that the Chinese people have the capacity and the accumulated wisdom to find a solution to whatever their differences appear to be, but our relationship with 24 the authorities of the Republic of China, with whom we have conducted diplomatic relations since our independence in 1983, convinces me that the 22 million Chinese on Taiwan have a valuable contribution which they can make to international dialogue. The record of their development as a freedom-loving, peaceful, pluralistic democracy; the miraculous rebuilding of their economy; and their contribution to developing countries are all attributes which, in our view, require that they be recognized as being capable of making a contribution in international forums, including those of the United Nations.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“At this point, Saint Kitts and Nevis would like to express profound condolences to the Government of the Republic of China on Taiwan on the loss of lives which resulted from the recent devastating earthquake. We hope that the process of recovery will be speedy. I call on the international community, therefore, to come to the assistance of Taiwan, which in times past has assisted willingly in bringing relief to countries facing similar disasters. Let me know say a word about the unsettled issue of the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In doing so, let me first make it clear that it never has been and is not now the intention of my country to interfere in the internal affairs or to give offence to any State Member of the United Nations.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Saint Kitts and Nevis urges the United Nations and fellow world leaders to work towards preserving the integrity of the country and the people of Kuwait and to ensure that they enjoy the dignity of life without fear. The territorial integrity of their national must be respected and preserved and the Security Council solution concerning Iraqi aggression in Kuwait should be fully implemented. By the same token, Saint Kitts and Nevis notes the peace process in Ireland and compliments all those who are contributing to the process. The world community should give its support to this initiative so that those who are seeking to retard the process of peaceful development will find no encouragement.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We still hope, however, that there will be equal responsiveness to the people of the Great Lakes region and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. Since I have referred to the outrages in areas of the world which constitute a dark blot on the human condition, perhaps I ought to balance my remarks by recognizing that, in one area of the world, the Middle East, where peace for such a long time seemed illusive, a process of peace is now finally under way. I should place on record the appreciation of my country for all those who are assisting in the process of peace. We must continue to support the efforts of the peacemakers in order to ensure that the rhetoric of violence is silenced.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“My Government would like to commend the work of the Secretary-General and all others who have sought to pull us back from this abyss of human disaster. Saint Kitts and Nevis urges the Indonesian authorities to discharge their obligations with maturity and to work together with the international community for the preservation of the peace and the protection of the people of East Timor. We welcome the acceptance by the Indonesian authorities of an international protective force and we pray that the people of East Timor will have their rights respected and be able to develop in freedom and democracy. We commend the recent commitment of the international community to the reconstruction and development of Kosovo and, now, to the people of East Timor.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Now that the job of rebuilding is under way, let us look forward — look forward with hope to an era of peace and reconstruction — and let us hope that what may have seemed initially a failure may turn out to be part of the striking success of the United Nations. As if there is to be no respite from the challenges affecting this body, while we thought we were overcoming the problems of Kosovo there flared up the problem of East Timor. Saint Kitts and Nevis, as a small State, has been appalled at the wanton violence and death visited upon the East Timorese people since the referendum. This world body must roundly condemn the inhumane activities perpetrated against the people of East Timor only because in seeking to fulfil their aspirations to live as a sovereign people, they gave legitimate expression them.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“But even now, during the closing months of the closing year of the millennium, mankind has been afflicted by violence and brutality, and man's inhumanity to man has been expressed in some of the most outrageous fashions. The recent development in Kosovo, the terribly disturbing stories of the human tragedy that befell its people, the injustices that were highlighted during that conflict — all this constitutes a severe limitation in the work of the United Nations. My Government takes the view that genocidal activity, from whichever sources it emanates, is unacceptable and a violation of international law. The United Nations must therefore be vigilant as it continues its pacification efforts.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I recognize that even though they have only now attained full membership in the United Nations they are well seized of their obligations and they will play their full part in upholding the principles of the Charter. Once again I congratulate them and wish them well for the future. 23 When this Organization was formed, some 54 years ago, it ushered in bright hopes and held out bright promise. It was an Organization dedicated to the ending of war and the enhancement of peace. Nations were to have beaten their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. I wish that, as we come to the end of the twentieth century and embark upon the twenty-first, we really could have celebrated this bright new world.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Once again, I would like to express my unreserved esteem for the Secretary-General, whose charm, affability and intellect have been of great benefit to the United Nations system. It is clear to all that Mr. Kofi Annan is making a unique contribution to the development of this, our Organization. My country, Saint Kitts and Nevis, its Government, its people and myself heartily commend the Secretary-General. May I take this opportunity to say a word of welcome and congratulations to the three new Member States admitted at the opening of this fifty-fourth session: the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga. As representative of a small island State from the Caribbean, I am happy to welcome them as small island States from the Pacific region.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I wish most heartily to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to lead this body at this most significant time, as we stand at the threshold of the new millennium. I am persuaded that your antecedents, both in your own country and here at the United Nations, have eminently prepared you for the role that you have been elected to fill. I, for my part, pledge the total support and assistance of my delegation for the accomplishment of your great task. I would also like to pay tribute to the work of your predecessor, the Foreign Minister of Uruguay, a representative of the Group of Latin America and Caribbean States, who steered the General Assembly through the difficult period of the fifty-third session.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“I urge negotiation and the development of confidence-building measures as a way to move towards improving cross-Strait relations. We also call on the Government of Iraq to abide by all United Nations resolutions and to release all Kuwaiti prisoners of war and detainees, as well as those from other countries. In conclusion, as we continue this debate I trust that we will be able to move beyond the constraints of the developed/developing country paradigm of us against them. To advance the human condition for all humankind will require meaningful partnership. Instead of apportioning blame, I urge Member States to join with me as we rededicate our energies to the search for lasting solutions. By working together, it becomes easier to find ways of attaining our national aspirations without trampling on the legitimate dreams of others.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We believe that the family bonds and historical tradition that have made the Chinese people a great nation ought to be preserved. We believe that the time has come for the voice of the millions of Chinese people in the Republic of China on Taiwan to be heard and factored into the international agenda. We believe that adequate, urgent and practical mechanisms must be developed to allow them to participate in the work of all nations. In a world bedeviled by so many challenges, and in need of collective action and new resources, we alienate people and Governments at our own peril. We have an obligation to work with and encourage the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to support the progress made to date, so that the advancement of the human condition transcends politics.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“It is important to recognize that the role of consumption is just as important as that of supply. Therefore, we have a shared responsibility and must focus on joint approaches informed by cooperation and by mutual respect and understanding. Saint Kitts and Nevis remains undaunted and relentless in its approach to the interdiction of illicit drugs, as we work together with all nations in the name of justice, equity and advancing the human condition. In the spirit of advancing the human condition, my Government urges restraint, patience and dialogue on the critical issues that separate the Chinese people in both geographic and political terms. It is our sincerest hope that the common aspirations and expectations of the Chinese people will be fulfilled in the near future in an environment of peace and mutual respect.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Many small nations pay our assessed contributions regularly to the United Nations system despite our meagre resources and the challenges to our national survival. We therefore expect more. We expect tangible benefits from our membership. It is incumbent on the United Nations to work with small island States to ensure that they reap the rewards of the changing political market economy. 23 In my address last June to the United Nations special session on drugs, I assured this community of my Government?s commitment to fighting the illicit drug trade. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis remains resolute in its commitment to cooperate in the eradication of the narcotics trade and associated vices. This noble fight against a most nefarious and well- financed enemy carries a high financial cost.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“However, the rules of this system will have to be informed by the special situation of vulnerable small island States. We welcome initiatives on resource mobilization, on external debt relief, on trade and financing for development and on good governance of the international monetary and financial systems. Good governance should refer not only to developing countries; it ought to be extended to include better management of the international economic system. Failure to do so would lead only to instability, uncivil societies and an ungovernable global market place. The socio-economic and political dilemma facing small island developing States must be addressed now; otherwise, the human and political cost would be too high for us to bear.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“In anticipation of the changes taking place, our countries have made significant reforms. Regrettably, however, the international community, including prominent international financial institutions, has not always rallied in support of our efforts. Each year we build and we rebuild, but we are susceptible to external forces such as hurricanes. Our efforts, however, seem to go unnoticed. Today, the wide rift between expectation and achievements continues to grow. Saint Kitts and Nevis looks forward to the convening of a special session to review the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action, and the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. We urge the United Nations and the international financial institutions to take a fresh look at ways to help small developing countries integrate into this emerging system.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“One only needs to pay casual attention to the media to appreciate the tendency towards national and transnational mega-mergers and strategic economic business alliances that are taking place around the world. Our region is fast developing a competitive disadvantage. Earlier I spoke of injustice. I consider it an injustice when capital can be mobilized and deployed in such ways that could easily destroy the welfare of entire nations with impunity or stifle competition completely. Globalization has been touted as a great vehicle of opportunity and promise; but I ask, for whom? Globalization, it is said, offers a huge reservoir of resources for investment growth, economic equity and social advancement. However, in my region we are yet to see these promises. In the Caribbean, we are much more familiar with the risks of globalization.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Foreign direct investment, as I have come to understand it, integrates markets through intra-business activities and the production systems of countries. Therefore, our economies cannot participate in this huge and rapidly growing production system because we have not been given necessary technical, technological and material support to move into the centre of the global market place through its main vehicle — that is, production. To make matters worse, we have not been allowed opportunities to gain appropriate access to those critical markets, whereas foreign businesses based in those countries have the access and capability to dominate and flood our markets with their cheap products.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“International capital is steadfastly in search of new markets, yet has continued to overlook our region. Consequently, the vast majority of the $4 trillion in foreign direct investment spent in 1997 bypassed our countries in the Caribbean region. At the centre of international integrated investment flows, “are large international and transnational corporations and their affiliates whose global sales volume was estimated to have reached some $7 trillion in 1995”. This poses the question of how our agri-based and export-oriented economies cope with or even attempt to compete against giant transnational institutions in an era in which international production has now become more important than exports in terms of the delivery of goods and services to foreign markets.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“It is being said that the structure and growth of the world investment climate are being shaped by current events such as the Asian crisis, the European monetary union, along with the creation of the euro, advances in technology, liberalization of national financial markets and their integration into a global market. Where does this situation leave small island developing States like Saint 22 Kitts and Nevis, especially when so many critical factors militate against our development priorities? Foreign direct investment is considered one of the main vehicles of the liberalization process. Small developing economies are being forced to liberalize and integrate into the centre of a global economic system which has always relegated us to the periphery.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“It has been said, “when the empire of man over nature can no longer be easily extended, then the only way for a people to increase its standard of living is by redistributing the sources or fruits of industry from others to themselves”. Any real hope for a more peaceful and equitable twenty-first century lies in the evolution of our thinking on human rights and other issues critical to small island States. One of the most crucial challenges in the coming century will be to address the quicksand of uneven economic development within the current economic system. These have direct consequences for the disparities in wealth and resource distribution. I raise the issue of vulnerability not to crave preferential treatment for our region, but because the international community must be mindful of our peculiar circumstances.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“It is impractical to alienate an individual?s human rights from the right to development. These are inseparable and paramount. My Government regards the growth of human rights in its entirety as a genuine step towards strengthening democracy itself. In order for democracy to take root and the democratic process to develop in its sincerest sense, we must nurture the complete range of fundamental human rights. Then and only then will the human person flourish. When we hold ourselves up as standard bearers of democracy and bastions of human rights protection, it becomes essential to preserve human dignity worldwide.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“I therefore salute the men and women who have made this century great. It becomes critically important, therefore, that as nations we utilize these landmark developments and shared experiences as the blueprints for the enormous challenges of poverty eradication, illicit drug trafficking, nuclear proliferation, warmongering, economic inequity, and disaster prevention and mitigation. Inasmuch as this century has brought exceptional technological advances, economic initiative and growth, the new millennium will demand greater moral strength and public leadership. It will require its leaders to develop similar courage and statesmanship against powerful challenges. It will dare us all to harness the moral energy to transcend partisan agendas in favour of a common global imperative.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“However, the removal of this fragile access, which we must fight to maintain, could wreak untold havoc in social and economic terms on the lives of so many poor families in the eastern Caribbean region. The insidious tentacles of injustice have such tremendous reach that international institutions such as the United Nations will be expected to devise ways to arrest its corrosive character by lending considerable support to the efforts of small island developing countries. I say all this against the backdrop that most decisively, the twentieth century has etched in our consciousness evidence of the power of the human mind in its infinite creativity and potential. Now we are able to cure illnesses once thought incurable, and we create technological feats that boggle the mind.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“I feel compelled to reiterate the problems of small States, especially in the light of continuous attempts to undermine our economies. My Government does not take lightly the complaints brought before the World Trade Organization, which are tantamount to the devastating hurricane winds on the small, vulnerable banana-producing economies in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. I also fear that, as such initiatives continue, the sugar industry in my own country will suffer a similar fate. Our negligible exports, in percentage terms, cannot pose any credible threat to any transnational corporation or large producer of bananas and sugar.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“21 I make an urgent appeal for the international community to come to the aid of our countries and our peoples. A draft resolution will shortly be introduced to the Assembly on countries of the north-eastern Caribbean affected by this year?s storm, and I urge countries to support this effort by co-sponsoring the draft. Also, I wish to express the gratitude of my Government to those agencies, persons and Governments which have responded so readily in lending assistance. I would hasten to add that the task of rebuilding will not finish as soon as the eyes of the camera shift their focus, nor will normalcy in its true sense return in a matter of weeks. We need material, technical and financial support on an ongoing basis as we rebuild our country.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The health sector and our ability to provide high- quality care have been seriously compromised. Not only did the smaller rural hospitals suffer damage to property and equipment, but also the Federation?s main hospital, the Joseph N. France General, lost a significant portion of its roof, and damage to equipment and stocks is considerable. The scene of devastation is equally mind-boggling and severe in other neighbouring islands, such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba and St. Maarten. The suffering in my country is therefore not unique. However, the fact that we suffer the same fate year after year and rebuild only to watch our progress washed and blown away so easily speaks to the need to look seriously at the vulnerability of small island States.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“It is about women and children made homeless. This is about real life, not just figures arbitrarily concocted for dubious purposes. It seems that we have become a community that relies heavily on figures. Therefore, let me share some of these figures here. Initial estimates of the damage and loss in productivity caused by only one hurricane have been placed at over $400 million, far exceeding the gross domestic product of Saint Kitts and Nevis. An estimated 85 per cent of the residential housing stock suffered slight to major damage; of that 85 per cent, approximately 25 per cent was destroyed. The agricultural sector, one of the major pillars on which the Saint Kitts and Nevis economy stands, has been devastated. Agricultural output — sugar and non-sugar alike — is expected to be reduced by as much as 50 per cent next year.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Today, I stand before the Assembly having witnessed firsthand the effects of hurricane Georges, which brought all sectors of the economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis to a standstill and increased the possibility of suffering. In a matter of a few hours, the growth and progress of the last few years have been literally wiped from the landscape of our lives. Large sectors of our rural communities in particular now appear to be reverting to a state of abject poverty. This is the stark reality — the reality of small island developing States. We have no tolerance for bureaucrats or financial houses telling us which levels of development are acceptable. Our reality after a hurricane is about people living without the basic necessities that we all take for granted. It is about families displaced, having to watch their dreams in ruins.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“On the eve of the new millennium, I am still quite dissatisfied with the level of attention the world community is paying to the severe economic, environmental and potential political problems that threaten small island developing States. These problems are not new to this forum; they are well established and documented facts. Only last year, I spoke about the vulnerability of small island States and the need to establish practical, viable programmes to help us in our own development process. I lamented also last year the serious and ill-conceived notion of graduating small States like Saint Kitts and Nevis into artificial categories based on gross national product per capita.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Conceptually, political human rights, now a critical component of some foreign policy positions, have been fused imperceptibly with democracy, hence politics and human rights have become synonymous. I too am an advocate of human rights protection, and I believe strongly that if we insist on politics in human rights, the politics should be to enhance human dignity and the human condition by including all rights. The corpus of human rights demands innovative approaches whereby an individual?s human rights are not measured only by the freedom to vote but also by the right to self-development in a holistic sense.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“It is indeed my privilege, on behalf of the Government and people of Saint Kitts and Nevis, to have this opportunity once again to address the General Assembly. I feel especially pleased to participate this year, which coincides with the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an instrument that has sought for the last 50 years to protect and advance the political, social and cultural human rights of peoples around the world. Throughout this half-century, the debate on human rights has focused critical attention on cultural, social and political rights. Regrettably, we have failed to develop an international agenda which includes economic rights as an integral part of fundamental human rights.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Let this session of the General Assembly be a watershed when collective efforts were translated into appropriate action and well-deserved results.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“In conclusion, fulfilling the expectations of our citizens is not a simple task, but we cannot and must not become discouraged. I hope, therefore, that as we endeavour to accomplish our goals Member States will not continue to make unreasonable demands on this Organization while refusing it the requisite tools and resources for appropriate action. Our world needs a stronger United Nations. Our countries and our peoples need its intellectual supervision and potential for impartiality. Let us not try to relegate it to the periphery, lest we risk serious consequences in the future. Let us commit to writing a history of which we can be proud, lest history should hold us in contempt for squandering our children's heritage.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Saint Kitts and Nevis urges both sides to use negotiation and creative confidence-building measures in addressing their differences Saint Kitts and Nevis also urges the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to commit their collective energies to the pursuit of common approaches to resolving the current impasse that divides them. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis maintains that progress on this issue requires sustained dialogue, political will and the goodwill of all. We also believe that the remarkable strides the Chinese people on Taiwan have made in the last two decades should not be squandered. The international community can benefit, and stands to benefit significantly, from the economic, technological and social advances of Taiwan.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“We must, therefore, yield to such imperatives. One case in point is the Middle East, where the current crisis calls for a nurturing of mutual trust and a clear willingness to understand the need for all the parties to come to the bargaining table. Saint Kitts and Nevis believes that durable peace and security are the common desires of the nations involved. Success requires boldness and commitment. Genuine progress will come not from violence, recrimination and mistrust, but through partnership and dialogue.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Hence, we urge the international community to fulfil its promises under the Barbados Programme of Action and other commitments to the developing world. Our survival as a region is intimately interwoven with our environment, and our physical and economic limitations should not be further burdened by the transshipment of hazardous waste through our waterways. Such actions are a flagrant violation of our human rights and an affront to our sovereign dignity. As we work to fulfil the dreams of those who came before us, I trust that we will succeed in developing confidence in the capabilities of the United Nations and entrust it with realizing our common objectives. At the same time, there will be occasions when we must challenge ourselves to appreciate that some problems in international affairs require indigenous approaches and remedies.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“This reality clearly demonstrates that it takes only one disaster, only one violent act of nature, only one volcanic eruption to dislocate an entire population, decimate an entire economy and destroy the entire social fabric of a people. The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis, like other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, has extended a willing hand of health and social support to the people of Montserrat. We continue to provide employment and other business opportunities to those who have come to our shores in Saint Kitts and Nevis from the island of Montserrat. I urge the international community to join the Caribbean in taking prompt, decisive and tangible steps to assist the people of Montserrat. Montserrat is a microcosm of our precarious existence.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Such a process will have to be guided by and nourished with vision, political will and an appreciation of the global imperatives of sustainable development and poverty eradication. It will involve foresight, profound analyses, and a willingness to look beyond national self-interest. Working together to shape our collective destiny could enable us to reduce the risks of future political and social conflicts. I believe firmly that the special circumstances and vulnerability indices of small States must be at the forefront of international debate. If there were ever a question as to the vulnerability of small States, I challenge the Assembly to recall the unfortunate situation 4 on the Caribbean island of Montserrat.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Are people in the developing world not entitled to a higher standard of living, or must they always straddle the boundaries of poverty and exist only at levels which the developed world considers acceptable indicators of human progress? It is important for us to dedicate our energies to the logic of prevention. In Saint Kitts and Nevis we believe strongly that prevention is better than cure. We believe in enabling our peoples to have a life free of poverty and despair. The Secretary-General has called for greater efficiency in management, greater resource mobilization and redeployment of potential savings to the development fields. This is long overdue. It is also the duty of Member States to ensure that new resources are targeted at development.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The Labour Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis has undertaken to build 1,000 new, affordable homes by the end of this century. We believe that all our citizens have the right to live in dignity and to have access to the basic necessities of life. We have already turned over 100 new houses, and by the end of this year we expect 300 families to be moving into new homes in Saint Kitts and Nevis. This is the commitment of the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis to the development of its citizens. I have said in the past, and I maintain now, that we must abandon the practice of using gross national product per capita to measure standards of living for people in the developing world. How can the developed world and multilateral agencies deny assistance to countries on the basis that such a country has reached this artificial threshold?”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“In the coming years, not only will we still be struggling to combat poverty, but the concepts of sovereignty and governance will also be seriously challenged as we endeavour to cope with the complex implications of forces that face our societies and menace our democracies. The transnational nature of information, of capital, of labour and of technological advances will not spare our tiny countries the trying consequences unleashed by globalization. Despite these difficulties, Saint Kitts and Nevis will not become a nation of mendicants. We will give priority to the right of our citizens to economic well-being. For what good would it do if our people achieve their human right to exist but are denied the right to live dignified lives?”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)