YouSaid · the spoken record

Julius Chan

lines on the record: 55
first: 1995-09-24
most recent: 1996-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
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 will continue to support wider efforts at reform, including those directed at and through the United Nations, in order to meet the challenges of global change and embrace the imperatives of reform in readiness for the twenty-first century.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“However, those institutions themselves need to operate with greater flexibility and to be more sensitive to the particular needs of Governments to preserve democracy, the environment and their people’s national identity and culture. My Government takes a global view of Papua New Guinea’s foreign relations and of issues on the United Nations agenda. We encourage official agencies, business and non-governmental organizations both to “Look North” and to “Work the Pacific” for mutual benefit with close neighbours. Conscious that we must not overlook longstanding friends, we give high priority to reinforcing core relationships. Our overall objective is to continue reform at home in order to meet the challenges of global change.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Thus, not only has aid been reduced, but recipients are even more locked and tied to donors’ own preferences. The effect that the failure to honour commitments can have on national forward planning can be very severe. It underlines the need for a reduced reliance on aid and for the development of a greater degree of self-reliance. In view of the vital role that the business sector can play in mobilizing capital for investment and trade, we welcome schemes designed to assist in the development of the private sector. We especially welcome the contributions made to such schemes by the advanced industrial countries. We cannot achieve all our reforms without the support of world institutions. That is accepted.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Rather, it is intended to help small island countries manage their way through the transition to the achievement of APEC’s vision of open-ended regional free trade by the year 2020. As an active participant in institutions established under the Lomé Convention, Papua New Guinea would like to encourage other member States to give early consideration to the kinds of changes that would facilitate development processes and objectives consistent with World Trade Organization rules. Conscious of the aid fatigue now spreading through many advanced industrial countries, we urge Governments and people of goodwill to recognize the time and effort that development requires. With a few very honourable exceptions, donor countries have not reached — and in 7 many cases have fallen far behind — aid targets to which they agreed a generation ago.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“We appreciate the positive interest that ASEAN members have expressed in the idea and we strongly support closer cooperation between ASEAN and the South Pacific Forum. As the only Pacific island country directly involved in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (APEC), but by no means the only such country likely to be affected by the process, Papua New Guinea has proposed that APEC set up a scheme to help build capacity among the 13 small island developing countries in the region so that they are not left or pushed behind. The proposal that we are now developing in greater detail is emphatically not intended to be yet another open-ended aid programme under a different name.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“National and collective self-reliance are both means of achieving and integral to the objective of sustainable development. They are critical to maintaining and strengthening the security and sovereignty of States. National self-reliance is among Papua New Guinea’s constitutional goals and directive principles. Collective self-reliance through South Pacific cooperation is among the commitments contained in my Government’s Pacific Plan and implemented through our current national budget. My Government’s proposal that Papua New Guinea should enter into a form of permanent association with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is intended to further the process by which we cooperate with neighbouring countries to promote collective self-reliance.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Conscious of the violations that have occurred on all sides and of the need to avoid any repetition, my Government is in the process of trying to strengthen existing arrangements by establishing a national commission on human rights. My Government has embarked on an ambitious programme of structural adjustment, because we — and not some outside body — think that we should in order to ensure that development can be sustained for future generations. While we accept external advice and appreciate external assistance, we have not yielded to, and will not give in to, external pressure. It is crucial that the official conduct of such bodies not raise basic questions about relations between these institutions and the sovereignty of the member States that they are supposed to serve.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“It has always been a complex domestic issue. In keeping with the mutual respect for national sovereignty that is basic to international law, Papua New Guinea calls on all other States to refrain from statements and actions that send misleading signals to those who violate our laws; to cooperate in preventing smuggling and other illegal violations of our borders; and generally to prevent outsiders from interfering illegally in Papua New Guinea’s internal affairs. In so doing, we add the reminder that it is not the foreign meddlers who will suffer most from the effects of the crisis — it will be the people of Papua New Guinea, including the overwhelming majority of Bougainvilleans, who consider themselves to be part of our nation and entitled to the same rights as all other Papua New Guineans.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Even now, rival gangs of armed criminals continue to threaten the lives of innocent people, trying to destroy what the people, provincial leaders and the national Government are doing and reconstructing. They undermine all efforts to maintain the rule of law. In a particularly barbaric attack on 8 September this year, 12 members of our security forces were killed at the Kangu Care Centre in South Bougainville. Despite the worst efforts of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army and its sympathizers abroad, my Government is standing firm. We will not give them the satisfaction of departing from our basic objective of restoring peace and rebuilding all they have destroyed. We appreciate the understanding displayed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights when it considered the Bougainville situation earlier this year.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“I therefore negotiated a cease-fire, arranged a regional peacekeeping force and agreed to peace talks in October 1994, only to find that the militant leaders would not honour the agreements reached. Even so, my Government has been prepared to talk to those who will talk to us. We have established the Bougainville Transitional Government and continue to provide protection for people forced to flee from their homes by the criminal actions of an armed and militant minority. We continue to restore services and to encourage reconciliation, but the mounting toll of destruction, injury and loss of life caused by the militants gave the National 6 Government no alternative but to lift the ceasefire on 21 March this year.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“We will not accept illegitimate attempts to delay or derail complete implementation of the Matignon Agreements. Having reviewed the French Government’s record elsewhere in the region, we ask ourselves whether French Polynesia, as well as Walis and Futuna, should be included in the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. The international community has a duty to see that France meets its responsibilities to the people of our region and a prime responsibility must be the right of self-determination. On Bougainville, my Government is firmly committed to doing all that we can to resolve the crisis that has racked the Bougainville Province in my country since 1989.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Their development, and even their very survival, often depend on international cooperation and law. Having achieved national independence under United Nations supervision, Papua New Guinea is firmly committed to the United Nations Special Committee on the Situation With Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Despite criticism from certain quarters, we were therefore pleased to welcome and host the Special Committee’s regional seminar held in Port Moresby in June. Together with all other members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group and the South Pacific Forum, we remain firmly committed to the orderly decolonization of New Caledonia, with special safeguards for the indigenous Kanaks.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The European Parliament has adopted a resolution recommending that the United Nations identify options for Taiwan to take part in the activities of bodies answerable to the General Assembly. The United Nations has an obligation to assist in maintaining a secure environment in which economic growth and other forms of development can continue for the benefit of the peoples of the region as well as their partners around the world. It is therefore time to address the question of Taiwanese participation in institutions and processes set up to further the universal objectives of the United Nations Charter. Respect for the national sovereignty of Member States is basic to the United Nations Charter. Small island developing countries tend to be especially vulnerable to a wide range of possible threats.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Together with other coastal States in the region, we look to distant-water fishing nations for cooperation in giving effect to the United Nations Agreement on straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks so that it does not weaken existing regional arrangements. In the wider Asia-Pacific region, Papua New Guinea calls for a reduction of avoidable sources of stress, uncertainty and risk on the Korean Peninsula, both for the sake of the countries directly involved and because of their potentially adverse effects on other countries. Concerned about events earlier in the year, I repeat last year’s call for the United Nations to do its best to ease the tensions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Important regional organizations in the Asia-Pacific have found ways of following the principle within the region.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Consistent with agreements reached at the regional level, Papua New Guinea has adopted a comprehensive code of logging practice designed to promote the sustainable use and in-country processing of a rich renewable natural resource. We are gravely concerned at the threat that climate change poses to the very survival of low-lying atolls. Entire countries in our region face the risk of extinction. Papua New Guinea joins with other developing countries in calling on the advanced industrialized countries to look beyond their immediate self-interest and adopt specific targets for reducing greenhouse emissions, an issue which generates considerable emotion among us.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“5 The South Pacific Forum has expressed support for the early conclusion of negotiations over a legal regime covering civil liability for nuclear damage. Committed to furthering cooperation against threats to our region, the South Pacific Forum is working on an arrangement through which member States can respond to legitimate requests for assistance from one another’s disciplined services, including police. The same arrangement could also be used for consultations intended to help prevent, manage and settle disputes. We continue to broaden, deepen and diversify other areas of security cooperation, including law enforcement.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The Treaty of Rarotonga is complemented by the MSG’s Lakatoro Declaration on Denuclearization in Oceania. Subregional and regional efforts are again complemented by similar arrangements negotiated during the past year in South-East Asia and Africa, as well as by the much older arrangements that apply to Antarctica and Latin America. Papua New Guinea welcomes the Brazilian proposal to link these arrangements into a comprehensive nuclear-weapon-free zone covering the entire southern hemisphere. Having supported the recent passage of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, we would now like to see it extended to outlawing simulations, limiting the development and acquisition of new nuclear weapons and, ultimately, bringing about complete disarmament.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Following the extreme outrage that the South Pacific felt when France resumed its testing programme in French Polynesia last year, I can now report that the programme has ceased. The remaining nuclear Powers with interests in our region — France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America — have signed the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga). France has been readmitted as a post-Forum dialogue partner. As much as we welcome the developments during the past 12 months, Papua New Guinea believes that more is required before our region can be described as genuinely nuclear-free. Outstanding needs include a broader treaty, systematic monitoring of former test-sites, cleaning up, compensation and the provision of alternative sources of income for the people of French Polynesia.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Conscious of the threats and limitations on self-defence that we face together with other small island developing countries, Papua New Guinea has always regarded collective security as an important key to national security. Diplomacy is the means by which we seek to cooperate with all other States committed to peace. As the current Chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), I am pleased to report that we welcomed Fiji as a new member at our Summit in June. We also adopted a document — “Melanesia Beyond 2000” — which outlines our objectives and strategy for the MSG’s second decade. We have emphasized our commitment to cooperation on a wide basis and have also agreed to a proposal on weapons control. The South Pacific Forum is developing the idea on a region-wide basis.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Being a member of the Government that led Papua New Guinea to its independence, I cannot allow our national sovereignty — or our Government’s ability to respond to our people’s needs — to be compromised now. Experience of the difficulties of reform at home has reinforced my Government’s commitment to reforming the United Nations. The principles remain the same. We strongly support efforts to ensure that the world has a truly effective, flexible and responsive Organization through which to cooperate in meeting the challenges of the twenty- first century. The United Nations is founded on the idea that security involves much more than military defence against threats of armed attack.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Twenty-one years after giving ourselves a “home-grown” Constitution, we are now engaged in a comprehensive process of reform that is equally “home-grown”. My Government is just as determined to bring about comprehensive structural adjustment. Following decisions to devalue and float our national currency, the kina, we are now reducing the size of the public sector. We are making the official interface with the private sector more business-friendly and encouraging commercial enterprise. While international agencies and foreign aid donors provide valuable support, the impulse, direction and pace of reform are emphatically Papua New Guinea’s own.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“While we recognize that those whom existing arrangements most favour are well placed to delay or block change, we firmly believe that the Council’s composition should be altered. It must take better account of the geographical distribution and sovereign equality of Member States. Concerned that it seems to be taking longer to reform than it originally took to form the United Nations, Papua New Guinea’s voice and vote are emphatically for change. We believe that the time for action is now. Papua New Guinea has embarked on an ambitious programme of domestic reforms, including both constitutional and economic-policy changes. Having legislated a new system of provincial and local-level governments in order to improve the delivery of services to our people, we are actively engaged in implementation.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Yet as far as its permanent membership goes, the Security Council in particular remains, much as it has always been, the product of decisions made before most Member States became independent. Some of the strongest critics of the cost and alleged inefficiencies of the United Nations come from States that are among the slowest in paying their membership dues. While they criticize weaknesses in the Organization’s performance, they are often among the most eager 4 advocates of giving it new assignments. Their actions — and inaction — suggest that they confuse cutbacks in the resources available to the United Nations with real reform. Like other members of the Non-Aligned Movement, Papua New Guinea is firmly committed to reforming the Security Council.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The United Nations has in fact been successful at one kind of change: adding to our agenda responsibilities and activities in areas such as peacekeeping, peacemaking, human rights and sustainable development. It has, however, been very much less successful in rationalizing its operations and administrative support. Humanity needs a much more focused, trim and vital United Nations. Without internal reform, the risk of overload is only too real — and, arguably, overload is already here. Even more importantly, we, the Members of the United Nations, have to do more, much more, to adapt key institutions to the changed and still-changing circumstances of a post-colonial, post-cold-war world. Almost everyone agrees what the main issues and options are.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Despite the many thought-provoking speeches made for the fiftieth anniversary, I regret to say that signs of fundamental and far-reaching changes required remain elusive. Yet we live at a time when the only constant factor is change. The preamble to its Charter makes it quite clear that the United Nations itself was — and is — intended to be an agent of change. If our Organization is to remain relevant to the challenges ahead, then it, and we the Members, must adapt and keep on adapting, as the world continues to change. Invented to raise humanity’s sights beyond the horizon of destruction caused by world war, the United Nations must be continuously reinvented in order to play an effective role in a rapidly changing world.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“On behalf of the people and the Government of Papua New Guinea, I congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election to preside over the General Assembly at its fifty-first session. The warm relations that have developed between our two nations make it a particular pleasure to welcome you to your high office and to wish you well in carrying out your duties. I would also like to record our sincere appreciation for the wise leadership with which your predecessor guided our deliberations during the historic fiftieth session of the General Assembly. The rapid approach of the year 2000 raises the question whether — and how — we are going to try to make the turn of the century a turning point for the United Nations.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“There are many global issues confronting us today, and the United Nations provides us with the best chance — the only chance — of handling them successfully. So let us act for the sake of all humanity. In this global age we must mend our ways. We must think with global heads and attend to humanity’s needs with global hearts. Only then will our attitudes have kept pace with the realities we face. Only then can we leave a better world for our children.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“I say again that it is, however, an Organization that my Government strongly believes the international community cannot do without. If the United Nations did not exist, we would have to invent it. Fifty years on, our task is to reinvent it, to make it better, to allow it to fully and ably serve humanity. This is a most noble goal that must be pursued with pragmatic intensity and determination. The fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations is the time for each and every Member nation to recommit itself to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. We must do it for peace, and with the vivid recollection of Hiroshima and Nagasaki never far way. If we are to welcome the new century as we should, then the United Nations Charter provides the yardstick for the challenges ahead.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“It will make the world a better place, more equipped to take on the challenges of the future with justice and dignity for all. The United Nations undoubtedly stands for humanity. It provides the best possible avenue to peace, security and prosperity. While we all acknowledge the worthy objectives of the United Nations Charter, no country can claim that it has given full and complete support to the Organization. Unfortunately, the United Nations has time and again been used for parochial pursuits, whether in respect of peace-keeping, human rights or environmental areas or in Security Council deliberations. In this very imperfect world, it would be naive to have ever expected perfect solutions from the United Nations.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“There is a need to take a case-by-case approach in addressing the problems of the Territories under colonial administration to ensure that the wishes of the people concerned are adequately and realistically taken into account in determining their eventual political status. In our immediate region, we are keen to see the decolonization process in New Caledonia allowed to take its due course, consistent with United Nations principles and practices. While we acknowledge the progressive attitude taken by the French Government with regard to New Caledonia, we are concerned that certain negative and counter-productive policies still exist. In that regard, we call on France to fulfil its decolonization responsibilities quickly and with dignity. The eradication of colonialism before the year 2000 will place us on a more enlightened plateau.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“While we acknowledge and commend the United Nations for its decolonization achievements, its task is not yet complete. There are still many Territories under colonial domination of one form or another. In recognition of the unfinished task relating to colonialism, the General Assembly has adopted a resolution proclaiming the International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. This carries great hope for those who are still under the yoke of colonialism. 5 The end of apartheid in South Africa brought a great sense of relief and enlightenment, not just there but throughout the world. In that vein, colonialism — another blight on humanity — should be done away with and consigned to the pages of history as a degrading phenomenon of a bygone age.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“In that connection, I wish to draw the attention of the Assembly to a report to be prepared by the Secretary-General on the United Nations initiative on opportunity and participation, which I hope will receive the serious consideration it deserves. One of the hallmarks of United Nations achievement has been the decolonization of peoples under colonial domination. As we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, we can proudly testify that the United Nations has generally fulfilled its duties and responsibilities with respect to the decolonization process. My country and many others represented in this Hall are testimony to the honourable achievements of this Organization in decolonization. Less than three weeks ago my people joyfully celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the independence of Papua New Guinea.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“For us and for other developing nations, the focus of social issues falls squarely on the question of empowering people to eradicate poverty, get an education and live healthy lives. When that is achieved, the people are then in a position to expand their participation in the social and economic development of their nation. Without those basics, theirs is simply a battle for survival. Increasing marginalization of the poor and of minorities remains a major problem within every country, regardless of economic or political status. We support the view that a new paradigm of development has to redefine the needs of people in terms of securing the basics of life such as housing, food and water. This can be achieved only by empowering people through decision-making and through direct participation in the development process.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“We also wish to assure the international community of our absolute commitment to human rights in dealing with this situation, as guaranteed in our Constitution. Indeed, it is a fundamental regard for the right of all our people to live free and peaceful lives that has driven me and my Government to search tirelessly for a resolution to this crisis. There is no such thing as a minority group in Papua New Guinea because we come from numerous and diverse linguistic, cultural and social backgrounds. We have over 800 tribes and languages among 4 million people, in a country the size of Malaysia. In effect, we are all minorities in our land. As such, every group has a legitimate place in Papua New Guinea.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Please allow me to express the appreciation of the people and the Government of Papua New Guinea to the United Nations, and to the Secretary-General’s office in particular, for the cooperation and understanding extended to us throughout this process. I am thinking particularly of the support the United Nations offered to the Bougainville Peace Conference of October last year, which, I am pleased to say, with the coming together of the South Pacific peace-keeping force, put flesh on the words of the Secretary-General on the value of regional approaches to conflict resolution. I believe that today the benefits of that wise policy are there for all to see in the situation on Bougainville, which has vastly improved over the past 12 months.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Geo-economic considerations have largely replaced the geo-political considerations of the past, with new webs of alignment replacing the old and familiar ones. This has forced regionalistic tendencies upon nations, which in some respects has crippled moves towards a true global partnership. Member nations will be aware of the internal crisis that Papua New Guinea has faced on Bougainville, one that has demanded enormous energy, time, patience and resources from the Government of my country. I am pleased to inform the Assembly that my Government, since taking office in August of last year, has wholeheartedly sought a successful resolution to the Bougainville situation, so far with notable success.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“In considering Pacific issues, the Forum was conscious that small island States are very vulnerable and have unusual needs. Their economies are constantly under 4 threat from natural disasters such as cyclones, volcanoes and the looming danger of rising sea levels. When such States are hit by cyclones, it is akin to the ravages of war, and their economies and infrastructures face severe strains that seriously hamper and set back their development. Papua New Guinea therefore appeals to the international community to render support consistent with the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States to assist their efforts to achieve greater self-reliance. Small nations, including many in the Pacific, have suffered from declining international concern since the end of the cold war.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“I am pleased to report that the twenty-sixth South Pacific Forum paid close attention to the changed regional and world security situation. The Forum’s concept paper “Securing Development Beyond 2000” looked at security issues well beyond the scope of military threats and military solutions. We focused on increasing security on a sustainable basis by promoting trade, transport and tourism in and for our region. We addressed the need for regional arrangements on environmental damage, natural disasters and other emergencies; as a result, we are working to have a comprehensive and detailed plan of action for the region. That is a Forum document to which we are party; but for Papua New Guinea’s part, we have our own national guiding document, “The Pacific Plan”, for our relations with our Pacific neighbours.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Together with our fellow members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, we have become party to the Lakatoro Declaration on Oceania Cooperation on Denuclearization. Papua New Guinea and the other 15 members of the South Pacific Forum recently expressed extreme outrage at the French Government’s resumption of nuclear testing at Mururoa and resolved to review the status of their dialogue with France. In total disregard of our stand, France detonated its second nuclear test, at Fangataufa Atoll, at 9.30 a.m., Papua New Guinea time, on Monday, 2 October 1995. Consistent with the resolution of the South Pacific Forum nations, I now, regrettably, in my capacity as Chairman of the Forum, announce the suspension forthwith of all post-Forum dialogue with France.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“We should consider a moratorium on such gatherings until we begin to see practical benefits coming through. The talking has been done; it is now time for action. Environmental issues have become an all- encompassing international agenda. In the context of an interdependent world, we have a collective responsibility guided by the framework of international conventions to manage and develop our resources sustainably. The goals of sustainable development can be realized only through effective intergovernmental cooperation and through regional and international efforts. For its part, the South Pacific Forum, made up of 16 nations, including Palau, which joined at the most recent Forum, has adopted both national and regional strategies to develop and implement environmentally sound programmes.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“We all pledged and acknowledged at the Rio Summit that something had to be done, because humanity was endangered by environmental degradation and climate change, and we adopted “Agenda 21” as the framework document. All Governments took the document firmly in hand, but sadly their grip today appears to have slackened. This experience and others call into question the usefulness of further global conferences, when the results of the ones already held are so generally disappointing. We have had all the special world conferences, such as the ones in Barbados on small island developing States, in Cairo on population, in Copenhagen on social issues, in Berlin on climate change and the recent Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing — although in fairness to the latter, we should give it more time to produce results.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“The reforms that will bring about increased political will and a more humanitarian view must occur within each and every Member nation. As the United Nations celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, we would like to stress that if it wants to be a true world forum, then it should exclude no country, large or small. At a time when reconciliation is superseding confrontation the United Nations, in accordance with the spirit of preventive diplomacy, should do its best to ease the tensions between both sides of the Taiwan Straits. Peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region are at stake. On a global scale, we thought there was a hope for peace and prosperity on the horizon when the international community gathered in Rio for the Earth Summit on Environment and Sustainable Development.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Some of these trouble-spots have highlighted the United Nations problems and been a source of acute embarrassment to the United Nations, which has too often been reduced to shameful impotence. The tragedy — the overwhelming tragedy — of this is that lives have been lost; people have died in huge numbers. The simple fact is that so many of them would still be alive today if the 3 United Nations had more effectively fulfilled its role once it had decided to intervene. When we lay this accusation at the door of the United Nations, let us make no mistake about it: we do not and cannot distance ourselves from these failings. We, the members, are the United Nations. We are responsible for what it does, or fails to do. We must lay much blame at the door of the Member States which, collectively, have so lacked political will and moral courage.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“We do not believe there is a single recipe for all problems, particularly as they relate to structural adjustment programmes of the type which we in Papua New Guinea have only recently ploughed through and adopted, after refinements to meet our own particular circumstances. We live in a rapidly changing world, and it is a world dogged by confusion and distortion as it struggles to set new bounds of acceptability and compatibility. With the decline of the cold war, our optimistic hearts thought we might at long last enter a period of peace, security and prosperity. Much of that optimism has today given way to doubt and concern. The challenge to the resolve and the resources of the United Nations is arguably as great as it has ever been — in Bosnia, the former Soviet Union, Rwanda, Somalia and elsewhere.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“We feel confident that we will play a substantive role, under the Lome Convention, in addressing these inequities. We are also hopeful that the international trade and economic situation will improve with the advent of the World Trade Organization, with protections to ensure that the weak are not manipulated by the strong. The problems of debt management and servicing continue to plague many developing countries. In trying to address them, we do not believe there are universal solutions. Every case must be dealt with individually and on its own merits. To do otherwise will simply cause serious social and political dislocation. In this regard, international lending institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should demonstrate the requisite sensitivity and tact.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“No one should rest satisfied while we are faced with the perpetuation of social and economic disparities between and within nations — largely the result of parochial interests being pursued at the expense of genuine human concerns. It is precisely this short-sightedness that has resulted in United Nations failure in some areas in the past. Decency and justice must prevail in fact, and not just in words. Papua New Guinea, as an active participant in and beneficiary of the Lome Convention between the European Union (EU) and the African Caribbean Pacific Group of States (ACP), is greatly honoured to currently hold the presidency and the chairmanship of all Lome Convention institutions, including the ACP-EU Joint Assembly, the ACP Council of Ministers and the ACP Committee of Ambassadors.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“On the question of the expansion of the Security Council membership, we urge the five permanent members of the Council to join us in looking critically at the continuing relevance of their privileged positions and to consider how the Security Council might operate more effectively. Papua New Guinea fully supports the permanent membership of Japan and Germany on the Security Council. We are also aware of the need to support shared objectives and decisions with adequate resources. We are especially concerned that the ongoing financial difficulties should be resolved promptly, so that the United Nations can function to its full capacity.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“That task must be placed at the door of the United Nations because, quite simply, no other group, no nation, can take them on alone. Victory in the battle against the drug barons will require the same qualities needed in every other serious endeavour of the United Nations — political will and collective determination. Without these factors, we risk losing generations to destructive substance abuse. The price is too high. We must fight as one against this evil. It is battles such as this that collectively we must take up. If we do not commit ourselves to fights for decency such as this one, we will never find the courage required to attain true life and peace in this world.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“One of the challenges that I believe is eating away at the health and lives of all nations is the abuse of drugs — and it truly is a world problem. The drug trade preys upon the youth of the world, shattering the lives of individuals and the peace and prosperity of communities. It has truly established its own foul “united nations”. The criminals — and they are criminals of the lowest order — have broken down barriers of nationality, politics, race, religion and culture far more successfully than has this Assembly, as they ply their evil trade. The networks they have established make multinational corporate giants look like small players, and 2 have become so entrenched that they can be met only with an equally determined and broad-based international response.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“I speak of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They did not just change our world forever — these events changed the very way we think. Effectively the closing acts of the Second World War, they forced upon the world an urgency in the search for peace. It is an urgency that has never been lost, as morality and the heart of man battle to keep pace with technology in all its forms. It is a race that the United Nations is running. It is a race that it cannot afford to lose. If peace is in the hearts of men, and men in turn are the heart of nations, and nations the heart of the world, then we must fully realize just how profound a change we must undergo to find true peace. The extent to which the world discovers and embraces peace will be reflected in the way it faces up to other threats to humanity.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)