YouSaid · the spoken record

John M. Silk

lines on the record: 48
first: 2011-09-24
most recent: 2019-09-24
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

“We are not helpless victims; rather, we are pushing forward our own policy tools to define the future. But will anyone respond to our dire need for assistance at scale? When I was a young boy in the Marshall Islands, the unavoidable sound of ocean waves crashing upon our coral reefs was, to me, a natural symphony. But to my grandchildren, that same sound is rapidly becoming, to them, a threat of inundation. Do they not share my same right to live in their ancestral homes? In response, I can only quote our national Constitution, that “All we have and are today as a people, we have received as a sacred heritage which we pledge ourselves to safeguard and maintain, valuing nothing more than our rightful home on the[se] islands.””
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“If we as a world and the United Nations are truly serious about leaving no one behind, we should recognize the participation and assistance of all relevant sources, and thus appropriately recognize Taiwan’s partnership and engagement with my own nation and others. For those unfamiliar with the geography of atoll small nations like my own, coral atolls are formed by the sinking of extinct volcanoes, leaving us with thin, low-lying and narrow islands. That demands a perfect sea-level balance — one that is now upset by sea-level rise. Warming waters are leading to an increased and near-constant bleaching of coral, the survival of which, globally, is now at risk by mid-century. My nation is literally being eaten away. But we share the sentiment that we are not sinking, we are fighting.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Accountability within the United Nations system is needed to help answer the joint call by the leaders of the Pacific Island Forum for unique and targeted assistance in addressing remediation. The Republic of the Marshall Islands strongly affirms its close relationship with Taiwan. The lasting friendship between our free and democratic nations is truly unstoppable. Indeed, this past month our Parliament strengthened those ties through a unanimous resolution. Further, Taiwan should play a clear role within the United Nations system that includes meaningful participation in the relevant specialized agencies and mechanisms, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the World Health Assembly and the International Civil Aviation Organization.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We are still facing challenges from the impacts of nuclear-weapons testing, and our experience should be a global lesson of the humanitarian consequences of nuclear detonation. We have been left with a devastating footprint on our health, well-being and environment and the rights of our population. That is a result of contamination that we did not cause and which we lack the capacity to fully understand, let alone address. Our recent establishment of a national nuclear commission, as well as the progress that it has made towards a work plan, are historic steps forward. But we cannot do it alone, and we call for the assistance of the Secretary-General to define a structured work plan by the United Nations system with a defined focal point within the management team at United Nations Headquarters.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We join our region in thanking the Secretary-General for his initiative in undertaking meaningful and effective United Nations system reform and his drive to succeed where others have fallen short. In particular, we emphasize the importance of the Secretary-General’s advocacy in proposing to establish a new United Nations multi-country office in the North Pacific. Despite strong efforts, the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Multi-Country Office in Fiji cannot effectively serve 10 diverse and remote nations from a single Office. Our northern subregion is missing out on existing assistance opportunities within the United Nations system because of those disconnections.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“However, our challenge is that our small island Government is simply overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the nearly 250 SDG statistical indicators at hand. Clearly, that structure was not designed to fit the structure and capacity of small island nations, and as a result, global participation is limited to a one-size-fits-all structure. We have therefore realized in the Marshall Islands that the SDGs are a springboard and a tool to get to island-tailored strategies. We want the United Nations to work for us, and not the other way around. More targeted assistance by the United Nations system, including with regard to the statistical capacity of line ministries, is urgent.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“As the nation with the first woman leader in the independent Pacific, the Marshall Islands believes that it is important for UN-Women to continue to strengthen its focus in our region and collaborate to address the root causes of gender inequality, and to do so while working within our cultural contexts. There was once a time when small island nations were not recognized within the United Nations. As the meeting yesterday on the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway made clear, island nations are now well recognized as global leaders and innovators within our own right. Yet we all still have much to do in turning words into action. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a groundbreaking achievement in their use of indicators to benchmark progress towards clear targets.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Improving childhood development in the first 1,000 days of life will have a dramatic and lasting impact on our future generations. The Pacific Islands region has made positive strides but still has substantial work ahead to more effectively address gender equality. This is not just a matter of policy tools and capacity but also of political will. Even with recent legal and legislative improvements in my nation, the rates of domestic violence remain unacceptably high. Our island region has the lowest rate of women in Parliament in the world.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Our health is vital. We face communicable diseases such as the ongoing nationwide dengue fever outbreak, which is worsened by climate impacts. We also face non-communicable diseases, including one of the world’s highest incidence rates of diabetes. We welcome the partnership with the World Health Organization and other organizations and call urgently for greater efforts to collaborate on island-tailored strategies. We have the political will at the highest levels, but we lack the capacity and resources needed to protect our population. In that regard, we welcome the ongoing collaboration with UNICEF and the World Bank to help us study, understand and address childhood stunting and the root causes of that problem, which has hindered the physical growth, education and well-being of generations of Marshallese children.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“due to the threat posed by sea-level rise and the region’s vulnerability to natural disasters.” I suggest that the significance of that statement is underrecognized and that it could spur a vital and much-needed dialogue on climate change with our region. Our Pacific Islands Forum stands united in our leaders’ adoption of the Boe Declaration as the defining regional security framework. The recent recorded vote this summer on General Assembly resolution 73/332, entitled “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Pacific Islands Forum”, was a sad moment for both the Pacific region and the United Nations. The Member State that called for that recorded vote seems to have no shame in publicly bullying the smallest and most vulnerable nations in the world. The wider implications of that should be of grave concern to any democratic nation.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We welcome current assistance and urge a more intensified focus on the part of our partners and the international community on combatting illegal fishing in our region. Not only does it benefit our own regional security, but it also helps to preserve global food security. We welcome partner efforts to help us achieve a free, open, democratic and secure Indo-Pacific region. Our island nations worked hard to achieve independence, and maintaining our stability, sovereignty and security is a clear priority. Further, we welcome the recent issued made by the United States during the recent Pacific Islands Forum: “The United States recognizes that addressing environmental degradation and climate change is a priority in the Pacific...”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We look forward to concluding negotiations next year on a robust new treaty for biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction under the Law of the Sea, which provides coherence among sectors. As I reported to the Human Rights Council earlier this year, the members of our regional Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency have also recently issued a declaration to ensure that human rights are protected in our fisheries sector, including aboard foreign vessels that dominate our waters. Fisheries in the Pacific are often a proxy for security and influence. As my President told the Group of Seven leaders last year, illegal fishing is not only an economic menace but also a threat to our sovereignty.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I truly hope that we will be judged on the strength of our conviction, the merits of all that we have accomplished on our own human rights record and all that we have committed to pursuing, and not be judged on the size of our gross domestic product or the number of chocolates that we have handed out. As the Marshall Islands, we are presenting to the General Assembly what we do have: ourselves, our stories, our independent voice and our passionate belief that everyone must be held to account. The Pacific Islands region is a steward of global oceans and sustainable fisheries. My own country is more than 99 per cent ocean, and, as such, for some what is a distant and obscure policy issue is for us our livelihood and identity.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Yet we still have much to do to ensure a resilient future. When I entered politics years ago, the Marshall Islands was in its youth as a newly independent nation. We were truly nation-building. But now, as an atoll small island developing State, a nation only one metre above sea level, with no higher ground, the climate crisis now forces us to engage in nation-saving. That is not academic — it is real; it is now; and it imperils our future, security and core human rights. For those reasons, the Marshall Islands will stand in two weeks’ time for election to the Human Rights Council. Our experience has taught us to be not only a bridge-builder and a careful listener, but also a nation unafraid to take a strong stand when it is needed, even if it is unpopular.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I am drawing the attention of the Assembly directly to that chapter of the Marshall Islands’ history to illustrate the global importance of human rights, because ours is far from the only moment at the United Nations when we, as Member States, have failed our solemn obligations to our peoples and to take meaningful and effective action to address the core human rights of those most in need, and when larger politics have so clouded our vision that the world has too often acted too little, too late or sometimes not at all. We know that from our own perspective in the Pacific, but it is also a common cause embodied in the core human rights treaties and commitments that we all share. In the Marshall Islands, we have built up our own protection of human rights, not just by joining treaties but by working steadily to turn words into action.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The Marshallese people know that from our own experience. Our history with the Organization extends to its foundation and Charter of the United Nations. As a former United Nations Trust Territory, we approached the United Nations twice — in 1954 and again in 1956 — to stop the testing of nuclear weapons on our shores, and twice the United Nations disregarded our petitions, in place of resolutions authorizing nuclear detonations. Twice our voices went unheard, and twice larger political concerns overruled the protection of our human rights. As a Human Rights Council special rapporteur affirmed in 2012, this is not just a gravely difficult legacy, but a contemporary reality that continues to impact our human rights.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I have the honour to bring the warm greetings of Yokwe on behalf of the people and Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. I congratulate the President on his election and I rest assured that he will continue the strong efforts of his predecessor. I also want to express my deep condolences to the people of the Bahamas and all the victims of Hurricane Dorian. They should know that, as fellow islanders, the people of the Marshall Islands stand with them. The United Nations must be the platform for the voices of the most vulnerable peoples and Governments of the world. Yet we are all at a time in global politics when countries are being driven to look inwards, at the very moment when we all need to be doing the opposite. We risk the tragedy of overlooking those most in need.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We must look outward to embrace the community of nations rather than look inward at our own self-interest to the detriment of others. Multilateral engagement must be our guiding light as we move towards a more effective and efficient United Nations.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Practical approaches could allow us to work through existing controversies in order to achieve the global benefits of universal participation, including in the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the World Health Organization. Security Council resolution 2758 (1971) has been misused to justify the people of Taiwan’s exclusion from the United Nations. As a result, we are missing an important opportunity to cooperate with a proactive contributor to peace and the common global good. The United Nations, I believe, can and must do better. In conclusion, these may be trying times, and the challenges of the world are severe, but it is in such adversity that true character is defined. And if an effective United Nations was ever truly needed, it is now.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“While it may be our own Pacific economic and environmental survival at stake, it is also a great incentive for the rest of the world to know that two thirds of our planet’s surface is no longer in peril. No one is to be left behind when it comes to the SDGs or to complying with the Charter of the United Nations. Therefore, we should consider that the exclusion of Taiwan from the United Nations and its related agencies has created major challenges for both the Government and the people of Taiwan in the pursuit of their fundamental right to participate. As is the case for my nation, Taiwan is an indispensable partner for the international community, including for our own receipt of humanitarian aid, medical assistance, disease prevention, environmental protection, anti-terrorism and transnational-crime prevention.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“As parties to the narrow agreement and beyond, we in the Pacific have the potential to effect a profound change in the role of the market in order to dramatically strengthen our own economic trajectory and boost global food security along the way. The United Nations system itself must do far more to help us focus on these transformative opportunities. And even if some of our partners are still slow to rise with us, the marketplace is already leading the way. What the Pacific region is doing for tuna by ensuring our participation while promoting sustainable practices, we are also doing with the wider oceans. Increasingly our political partners will come to realize that our political support depends not just on the pressure they apply, but on how willing they are to follow our lead on sustainable oceans and fisheries issues.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We must re-examine the management decisions that led to such an outcome. Without stronger focus from the United Nations system, small island developing States could face serious barriers to their ability to implement the SDGs. The Ocean Conference on the implementation of SDG 14, which took place last June, stands as a watershed moment of political will. But the good words uttered in those forums too often fall short when it comes to making global and regional decisions on oceans and fisheries. The Pacific small island developing States have sounded the alarm on the state of the world’s oceans, which everyone has heard, but perhaps the alarm is not loud enough.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We cannot do it alone, and we cannot do itwith an international architect that, however good its intentions, has frequently lost the focus needed to help us make the connections between international forums and our local communities. Before we engage in an impossible fight over resources, we must first examine the use of our resources already at hand. Our small in-country team often struggles with gaining access to seasoned international staff who can help us learn to navigate the system. The United Nations Development Programme Resident Coordinator for the Marshall Islands actually resides in another nation nearly 3,000 kilometres away. Our Resident Coordinator, who is fully dedicated to her mission, is also charged with being a coordinator for eight other remote island nations, one of which she is a resident of.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The Republic of the Marshall Islands strongly agrees with the widespread call from the large and growing chorus of our fellow Member States for a more effective and efficient United Nations. It is beyond necessary. We support the Secretary-General taking action under his own authority to continue to initiate practical but powerful efforts to reduce duplication and improve delivery. It is a question not only of the use 17-29813 11/28 of public funds, including our own, but also of all of us improving our ability to achieve our full potential and making clear progress in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We strongly support the leadership of our Pacific island neighbour, Fiji, as the incoming President of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and we hope that in its care and with its leadership, the parties will adopt a strong set of rules. The Paris Agreement is only as strong as the political confidence that stands behind it. It is beyond imperative that, even in such early moments, committed nations start the challenging task of pushing ourselves to do even more. Even with our limited resources, the Marshall Islands is committed not only to implementing the Agreement, but also to exploring where our own action on energy can be strengthened. We must match our own ambitions with respect to emissions with stronger approaches and closer bilateral work.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We urge the ratification of and full participation in the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which is the legacy of the personal drive of the late Minister-in-Assistance to the President of the Marshall Islands, Mr. Mattlan Zackhras, who suddenly and tragically passed away last month. At the end of a long night of negotiations last year, the late Minister said that when the Amendment was adopted he would be proud to call on all Marshallese children because he knew that the Kigali Amendment could mean the difference between whether they would have a country — and a future — or not.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Just across from the United Nations, in the East River, there sits Belmont Island. It is a small, raggedy little outcrop only 1 metre tall. This island in New York must now serve as a reminder for the world’s diplomats that if they ever see it vanish beneath the rising sea, then they must also know that they have lost the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. Climate change is real, and no credible scientist could ever make it otherwise. But what we see with our own eyes, in our low-lying islands, reveals a real present and growing threat to our own survival and security as a nation and as a State Member of the United Nations. We welcome the entry into force of the Paris Agreement, which stands as a truly robust, ambitious and long-term agreement. We must not allow our confidence in each other to be thrown off by road bumps in the short term.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“It will always remain our fervent hope that such weapons of mass destruction shall never again be tested or unleashed upon the world and that all nuclear-armed nations will find the necessary political will to disarm. Earlier this year, my country experienced the tragic loss of our one-time Minister and climate ambassador, Mr. Tony de Brum, and I wish to express my gratitude to those who have conveyed their condolences. Ambassador de Brum once said that for the Marshall Islands, “[w]e are suffering the result of climate change and of the nuclear legacy and we have had nothing to do with either... In either case, people have to choose to end this world, this universe. You can either do it slowly with climate change, or you can press a button and blow it up. And neither is justified”.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Recent events should be creating far greater political resolve to curb and ultimately eliminate global nuclear threats. In this regard, the Republic of the Marshall Islands supports those nations that are now able to accede to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in so doing, and we will continue to add our own voice in all forums, including in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and the Review and Extension Conferences of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. We are committed to a closed and inclusive examination of our own participation in the Nuclear- Ban Treaty by listening closely to our stakeholders and affected citizens, taking into account any possible implications for our common security relations.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Our people and environment have suffered as no other people should. The impacts of this legacy today remain stark and present challenges, passed from one generation to the next: from mother to daughter, father to son. This is why, in 2012, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste outlined the clear human rights implications and responsibilities which we affirm. I thank the Secretary-General for his statement to the Chair of the Pacific Island Forum on 14 August 2016, in which he said that “finding a solution to this issue is critical for the future of the Republic of the Marshall Islands”, assuring us that relevant United Nations entities stand ready to respond to requests for assistance.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The Republic of the Marshall Islands condemns these test efforts not just for its own security, but because we know the impacts first-hand. The 67 nuclear tests conducted in my country between 1946 and 1958 have produced a burdensome legacy that we hope no other nation or people will ever have to bear. These tests were conducted when my country was under the tutelage of the United Nations Trusteeship Council, which was charged with our welfare and well- being. When the Marshallese leaders travelled to New York to present two petitions to urgently halt nuclear tests in 1954 and 1956, the United Nations responded with Trusteeship Council resolutions 1082 (XIV) and 1493 (XVII), which are the only times any United Nations organ has ever specifically authorized nuclear tests. The consequences of this ignorance were — and are — beyond horrific.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The threat posed to Guam is a threat to the wider Pacific Islands region, and we express our concern about the challenges these actions have posed to peace, security and cooperation across the wider Pacific Rim. The highest levels of the Government of the Marshall Islands vociferously condemn the nuclear test of 3 September and related actions. There is no need for debate: these actions are clear violations of Security Council resolutions and seriously challenge the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime based on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. I am appalled that the Marshall Islands, of all countries, is again facing the very real threat of an atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The United Nations stands strong as the only place that all of us in the world have to confront our darkest challenges together. Even if the present moment appears uncertain, we must all remain confident and committed to ensuring that the Organization will speak for those who might not otherwise have their voices heard. Recent events with regard to North Korea and its growing nuclear threat must serve as a clear mandate for strong, urgent global cooperation and effective action. The Marshall Islands is a small island nation in the Pacific, and we wish only peace, security and stability for the world. We cannot ignore this sudden and obvious threat to the territory of Guam, our closest neighbour, friend and home to some of our citizens.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“On behalf of the Government and the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, I have the honour to convey warm greetings to the General Assembly. I congratulate His Excellency Mr. Miroslav Lajčák on his election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy- second session. I am proud that his predecessor from the Pacific, His Excellency Mr. Peter Thomson, will continue his service to the United Nations as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Ocean. I also extend the condolences of my Government for the destruction and tragic loss resulting from the recent disasters in Mexico, the United States, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas, Dominica and the territories of the United States and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Barthélemy, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos and other islands.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The General Assembly witnessed a historic moment last week, in which, for the first time, the general debate was initiated by a woman, namely, President Rousseff of Brazil. The Marshall Islands welcomes the Secretary-General’s renewed priority on addressing gender, including a strengthened UN-Women institution, particularly in the Pacific. The message for nuclear weapons, global security and climate change is the same: international law is not an empty promise.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We urge the United Nations and its Member States to consider that model and develop effective means for Taiwan’s participation in specialized agencies, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Civil Aviation Organization. The Security Council must transform itself into an effective and contemporary body. The Security Council should be restructured to accommodate those nations whose size, leadership and responsibility, in particular the Group of Four — Japan, Germany, India and Brazil — warrants a permanent presence in the Council. Further efforts should be made to ensure that Africa and small nations, including island States, have improved access and an amplified voice.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“As a significant global economic leader, Taiwan can make substantial contributions to the international community. The Republic of the Marshall Islands welcomes increased dialogue on key cross-Strait issues. That progress deserves recognition by the international community. Given that the primary purpose of the United Nations is to maintain international peace, the world cannot afford to overlook Taiwan’s strong efforts in promoting peace 15 11-51398 and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, including with regard to climate change. The 2009 invitation by the World Health Organization for Taiwan to participate as an observer has not only benefited global medical progress, including on non-communicable diseases, but also serves as an effective model for its wider participation in other key organizations.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We do not need sympathy; we need solutions and political innovation. Thirdly, the Marshall Islands is carefully studying options for clarifying the relevant international obligations related to climate change and how it affects our statehood. Working with our close neighbour, the Republic of Palau, we are committed to pursuing requests for legal advisory opinions from international tribunals in order to recognize the international legal principles that address questions of our survival and security in the context of climate risks. We have also agreed to work with Palau and other vulnerable and low-lying countries to formulate and advance our own legally binding climate agreement. We, the most vulnerable, must act when others lack the political will to do so.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We are now choosing creative paths to drive urgency into our broken negotiations and to pursue practical initiatives to address the threats and risks. First, the Marshall Islands joined with the Government of Mexico in urging the United Nations in its coming Climate Change Conference to consider the use of voting as a means of last resort. Secondly, in July, we joined with our Pacific small island developing States colleagues to push for the Security Council to recognize that climate change now poses an incontrovertible threat to international peace and security. We reiterate our call for the Secretary-General to report on those threats. Petty arguments about forums and mandates cannot be allowed to prevail at the risk of our statehood. All organs of the United Nations must now be proactively engaged.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The Secretary-General was able to see for himself the vulnerability and existential threat facing low-lying island States. He has now rightfully challenged world leaders to respond. What were once theoretical and distant risks are now on the verge of becoming our reality. International climate negotiations are at serious risk of entering a phase of political stalemate. Negotiators have spent more than two decades in complicated processes that have delivered very little in terms of practical action to mitigate the climate change problem. Often blocked by only a handful of countries, the international community is still unable to commit to emissions cuts and targets sufficient to ensure the survival of the Marshall Islands and other low-lying nations. The Marshall Islands can wait no longer.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Next year, the critical United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development must not only focus on moving towards a global green economy but must also pay specific attention to a global “blue economy” — one that ensures specific, measurable and time-bound targets for guaranteeing the sustainability of the global oceans and their fish stocks, particularly in regions dotted by small island States like my own. Greater commitment is needed to utilize targeted global high seas closures, thereby ensuring sustainable fisheries, as we are already doing in the Pacific. The hour is past for vague rhetoric. Leaders must respond with action rather than continued neglect for the world’s oceans. The Marshall Islands warmly welcomed the visit this month by the Secretary-General to the Pacific region.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“International commitments to ensure sustainable fisheries and to visibly advance our development aspirations can no longer be paid mere lip service and then later be ignored by our partners in regional processes, including the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. The Marshall Islands presently only sees a penny of benefit for every dollar of the market value of our Pacific tuna. The conservation measures by the parties to the Nauru Agreement, including the Vessel Day Scheme and high seas closures, must be implemented by our partners, not only to reduce pressure on overfished stocks but also to ensure our rightful place as a full economic actor. Twenty years ago, global leaders meeting at Rio de Janeiro set forward a high international benchmark for sustainable development, crafting a range of strategies and commitments.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“They pose threats to our human security, public health and environmental safety. We welcome the attention of Pacific Island Forum leaders, and we join the call for assistance from international bodies and development partners. The Republic of the Marshall Islands is not just a small island State; we are a large ocean nation. 11-51398 14 Together, the oceanscape of the Pacific islands is an area that covers 10 per cent of the world’s surface and is four times the size of Europe. The way we manage our maritime space is therefore a central pillar in our basic development aspirations, and has significant implications for the health of global oceans.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It is our hope that United Nations will have the courage and will to rise above the past and make a difference, rather than allow itself to remain controlled by history, and make excuses. As I said earlier, for decades, Marshallese leaders have returned to the United Nations to repeatedly speak of the legacy of the nuclear testing in our country. It is my hope that one day a new generation of Marshallese leaders will come to this forum not to speak of this sad legacy, but rather to proclaim that the work is done and that all is well. The impacts of nuclear testing are not the only historical legacy from international actors in the Marshall Islands. Unexploded ordnance from the Second World War and oil leakage are persistent issues for our outer island communities.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Sadly, I am concerned that the Secretary-General has thus far neglected this critical opportunity. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, which was invited to contribute to the Secretary-General’s efforts to assemble a report, has termed the General Assembly’s deliberate mandate to be “not appropriate” and “an apparent error” in need of formal correction (A/66/46, para. 13). That is not only insensitive but it reveals that perhaps the United Nations itself has yet to come to terms with, or even to merely acknowledge, its decisions on nuclear safety taken 60 years ago. That negative approach could preclude efforts to bring to the attention of this body important scientific work that has been done in assessing the consequences of the nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The United Nations has a clear responsibility to acknowledge and address the consequences of nuclear testing undertaken under its watch — and a special responsibility has already been acknowledged by the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Last year, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report on the effects of atomic radiation in the Marshall Islands. Such a report would represent the potential for the Marshall Islands, the United States and the United Nations to take a very positive step forward towards understanding our past, bringing closure to this sad chapter in our history and beginning to understand how the international community can assist us in addressing future remediation challenges. The involvement of the United Nations is key.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Acting with assurances of our protection, the United Nations and its administering authority, the United States, detonated 67 large-scale nuclear explosions in the Marshall Islands. For decades, Marshallese leaders have returned to the United Nations to speak of the continuing impacts — cancer, fear and continued exile from our homeland — and of a science where goalposts are always moving. Three weeks ago, the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, in their communiqué, not only recognized the special responsibility of the United States of America but also agreed to support the Marshall Islands at the United Nations, including in addressing the issue of the Secretary-General’s report.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“On behalf of President Jurelang Zedkaia, I bring warm greetings from the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the General Assembly. The Marshall Islands also welcomes South Sudan as the newest Member of the Organization. The Marshall Islands congratulates the Secretary- General for making nuclear disarmament and nuclear safety a top priority at the United Nations during his second term. Fifty-seven years ago, at the dawn of the Cold War, the United Nations held the Marshallese people in trust. Marshallese leaders petitioned the United Nations to put a halt to the testing of nuclear weapons. The United Nations responded with Trusteeship Council resolutions 1082 (XIV), adopted in 1954, and 1493 (XVII), adopted in 1956.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)