YouSaid · the spoken record

Samiuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva

lines on the record: 35
first: 2015-09-24
most recent: 2016-09-24
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 also take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Secretary-General for his tireless work on behalf of all countries and peoples, and more especially for his sensitivity to the interests of small island developing States like my own, for which he has promoted specific initiatives. His presence here will surely be missed. We hope that his successor will carry forward his work on behalf of small island developing States. We wish him well in his future endeavours.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“As called for by a decision taken at a meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum earlier this month in the Federated States of Micronesia, Tonga supports the goal for an open and constructive dialogue with Indonesia with regard to the status and welfare of the people of West Papua. Tonga therefore calls on Indonesia, as a dialogue partner of the Pacific Islands Forum, to work with it and other Forum countries to facilitate this decision of our fellow leaders, either bilaterally or through United Nations mechanisms. Finally, we reiterate our support for the President and his presidency.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“During much of my life I have struggled,, against great odds for justice and democracy in my land. In the Christian faith, a universal truism is espoused through the story of the Good Samaritan. A badly injured man lay in the sun by the roadside. He had been stripped of his clothing and was evidently the victim of a robbery. Without any reservation or hesitation, free from religious and cultural restrictions or bias, the Good Samaritan went to help the man, relieve his suffering, clothe him and nurse him back to health. The man was placed by the Good Samaritan in local accommodation where he could recover. The Tongolese probably have the same neighbourly concern for the welfare of the indigenous people of West Papua.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We will again join the majority of States represented here this year in calling on the United States for a timely lifting of its embargo on Cuba. We want to address the welfare of the Pacific people who are residents and citizens of West Papua province, Indonesia. Last year, standing on this same rostrum (see A/70/PV.18), I spoke about the human rights abuses taking place in Indonesian-ruled West Papua. Nothing appears to have changed there in the year that has elapsed. I use the word “appears” intentionally, because we still have no way of knowing exactly what is going on there. It seems that something is definitely wrong. Nearly half a century ago, when I was still young, I learned, as had many others in the region, that a wrong had been done to the West Papuans. I am not a young man now.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“This matter bears directly on the right to development, an issue that we discussed last Thursday morning at the high-level segment to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development. The unfair application of such dominance results in the suffering of innocent people and, in the light of political reasoning, should not be tolerated in this day and age. We therefore join many others in congratulating the Government of the United State on incrementally easing its restrictions on economic activity in Cuba. Tonga has an interest in that, given our concern for the welfare of our nationals currently living and studying in Cuba, and also for the millions of people who merely want an opportunity to enjoy the right to development.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Our Pacific islands and region having experienced the negative effects of nuclear testing, Tonga believes in the need for international standards to control and manage the use of nuclear capabilities and nuclear power for peaceful purposes. For its part, Tonga is at the final stage of its acceptance process of the statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which will formalize its membership of the organization. We hope to deposit our instrument of acceptance with the Agency by the end of this month. Part of the challenge of ensuring the credible development of all States lies in preventing one country from dominating another country economically.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“Such finances could be better used for international sustainable development initiatives, which would logically contribute to international peace and security and the betterment of lives. The spending of trillions of dollars in defence budgets to develop weapons, including nuclear weapons, at the expense of the welfare of one’s people, is offensive and repugnant to the conscience of humankind. In keeping with that sentiment, we wish to express our concern about the recent nuclear testing by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in breach of decisions made by the United Nations to promote international peace and security.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“As a signatory party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its subsequent Protocol, Tonga affirms its ongoing commitment to implementing the objectives of this core international framework on climate change. The seriousness of the negative impacts of climate change cannot be underestimated. Its impacts threaten our territorial integrity, land, water, health, infrastructure, food security, biological diversity, livelihoods and ecosystems. The maintenance of international peace and security is determined not solely, but in a major way, by the issue of disarmament. The proliferation of weapons in all their forms not only threatens international peace and security, it also demonstrates the sheer waste of financial resources when Governments invest in the manufacture and trade in arms.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“To ensure that the issue of negative impacts of climate change is high on the United Nations agenda, we reiterate our call for a Special Representative on climate and security and for the issue to be raised by our friends in the Security Council, due to its clear and unambiguous links to additional threats to international peace and security. Be it in terms of sea-level rise, loss of territory, mass migration or as an instigator of violence and the suffering of peoples as a result of the scarcity of resources, the causal link is clear. Tonga is the third-most-vulnerable country in the world to the adverse impacts of climate change.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We commend the leadership of the Chairperson of the Preparatory Committee, Ambassador Eden Charles of Trinidad and Tobago, and look forward to his continued stewardship and skilful guidance of the process towards its completion through the final two Preparatory Committee meetings next year. The draft agreement recognizes the value and importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including oceans, and the protection of biodiversity. By partnering with friends, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Tonga is able to face the challenges of climate change, while remaining fully aware that as a Government it cannot face such challenges alone. One of those challenges is the existential threat posed by climate change to international peace and security.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We also congratulate the ISA Secretary-General-elect, Mr. Michael Lodge, and look forward to his stewardship of the Authority in the coming years. The regulation of the exportation of biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdictions has yet to be realized. In line with the decision of the leaders of the Pacific Island Forum in 2014, we strongly support the ongoing Preparatory Committee meetings process established under the resolution 69/292, of 19 June 2015, which will make substantive recommendations at the seventy-second session of the General Assembly for a legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We look forward to engaging with and supporting the work of the Steering Committee in that regard, under the able guidance of the co-Chairs, Italy and Maldives. Tonga continues to recognize the importance of the work of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Tonga engages in the Authority’s processes to ensure that the appropriate conservation and environmental-management practices are sufficiently robust in terms of seabed mining. We thank the Member States that supported Tonga in its election to the Council of the Authority in 2014 and, earlier this year, to the Council’s Legal and Technical Commission. In reiterating our support for the good work of the ISA Assembly, we look forward to assisting the Authority in managing the upcoming challenges as the onset of seabed mining in the Area comes to the fore.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We are now greatly committed to ensuring that SDG 14, together with its set targets and indicators, is achieved by 2030. We therefore very much look forward to the first United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14, to be held in June 2017, as the first global meeting to take stock of where we stand in terms of the conservation and sustainable use of our oceans and its resources and where we need to go to ensure that all targets are achieved. We thank our friends Fiji and Sweden for paving the way for the holding of that international conference. The Assembly can rest assured that Tonga will be highly engaged in that process. We also commend Italy for its 10x20 Initiative in line with SDG target 14.5, which seeks to set aside 10 per cent of our coastal waters as marine protected areas by 2020.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We support the regional initiatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to combat the trafficking in drugs and precursors, among other things, and organized crime in the Pacific. As a small island developing State — in other words, a sea-locked developing country — our traditional and modern relationship with the ocean places the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its natural resources at the forefront of our interests. Tonga joined the ranks of Member States that argued for the importance of the ocean and seas to global sustainable development and gradually steered the negotiations on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to the inclusion of SDG 14, on the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources in the Agenda.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“As one of the leading countries highlighted by the NCDs Joint Programming Missions programme and the United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCDs, at a side event this week, Tonga was recognized at the international level for its integrated national efforts to address NCDs. Related to the important issue of health is the onslaught of transnational crime in our country. With porous borders, drugs have managed to enter Tonga through the illicit movement of people and goods. Although our country is very small in terms of capital in comparison with our neighbouring countries, Tonga has seen the effect of the drugs trade on the health and well-being of our people, particularly our young people, which is putting the future of our country at risk.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“In recognition thereof, and in partnership with the Pacific Community and the World Health Organization, Tonga hosted the first regional summit on non-commuicable diseases in June of this year in order to highlight the rampant spread of these diseases throughout the Kingdom and the Pacific island region and to consider action to address the regional NCD crisis. We were privileged to have as a guest of honour UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, whose attendance at the summit was a first for her in her current role, and which indicated the importance that the UNDP, in partnership with Tonga and the region, attaches to that health topic.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“In November 2015, with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Tonga began incorporating the SDGs in its domestic legislation by aligning its national strategic development framework with them. The SDGs are now an integral part of the Government’s corporate-planning and budgeting clauses. The health of our people is a top priority for Tonga. Indeed, we risk losing the most important natural resource that Tonga has to develop our country if the people fall prey to the dangers of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“The focus of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — and of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development itself — is, as the theme aptly states, to transform our world and to ensure that no one is left behind. As we delve deeper into the implementation of the Agenda over the next years towards 2030, the transformation of our world, in line with the SDGs, can be accomplished, as the theme states, only through a universal push. That means that all countries and all actors must work together at national, regional and international levels in order to successfully implement the Agenda and achieve our targets. An important gauge of that success is the extent of a country’s internalization of the lofty Goals and targets that have been set.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“At the outset, allow me to echo the sentiments of the many Heads of State, Government and delegation before me in congratulating Mr. Thomson on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-first session. We are particularly humbled, yet proud, that a son of Fiji, indeed a son of our Pacific islands, has reached the historic milestone of being chosen by the Member States of this institution to be their President. He can expect the full cooperation and support of the delegation of the Kingdom of Tonga. May I also add my voice to the cause of previous speakers in thanking his immediate predecessor, Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, for his outstanding leadership of the General Assembly at its seventieth session. We welcome the President’s timely and relevant choice of theme for this session.”
2016-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 71 (2016)
“We must meet this moral obligation internationally, regionally and nationally, or else we will be left behind.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“I re-emphasize that this call speaks to us as leaders to work together against injustice and cruel violations of human rights and dignity, as in the case of West Papuan Melanesia in the Pacific; this is within our power. It is a choice that those with power and privilege can make. The United Nations has a duty to closely follow up this West Papua case and take the necessary action to stop these brutal and inhuman activities. We leaders must rise to a higher moral order beyond interests and be guided by what is fair and justiciable to all. I am concerned that the message delivered by His Holiness Pope Francis and other world leaders we have heard in the past few days may not have been well and truly heard. We have an obligation, a duty, and I echo the challenge.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“As we work to translate our new Agenda into action, we recognize that the development system of the United Nations must adapt to suit our new priorities. We are supportive of efforts to ensure that the United Nations is fit for purpose to implement the 2030 Agenda. We look forward to continued dialogue on longer-term positioning of the United Nations development system. In the same vein, Tonga is supportive of continued efforts to reform the Security Council through an intergovernmental process in the pursuit of a more representative and inclusive body, reflective of and in line with today’s realities. Finally, most of us have come a long way looking with hope for solutions. Our political priorities must not distract us from the call so well embodied in the 2030 Agenda to leave no one behind.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We therefore welcomed the first meeting of the Pacific Ocean Alliance in May, under the auspices of the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner of the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji, to discuss the positions of Governments, the private sector and civil society on the new UNCLOS implementing 15-29595 15/23 A/70/PV.18 29/09/2015 agreement on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Within our exclusive economic zone, we continue to combat the problem of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. In welcoming the adoption of Sustainable Development Goal 14 on the oceans and seas, we support the proposed triennial United Nations ocean and seas conference to drive progress on the goal.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We remain thoroughly committed to the management and conservation of our ocean and seas. This year, Tonga commenced its term on the Council of the International Seabed Authority. At home, we have enacted legislation related to seabed mining activities within our national jurisdiction under the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We remain committed to the conservation and sustainable use of resources in areas beyond the national jurisdiction and fully support ongoing efforts towards an instrument regarding the same.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Tonga’s vulnerability to natural disasters re-emphasizes the SIDS special case for sustainable development, and such vulnerabilities should therefore be factored into development finance calculations designed to assist SIDS. Currently, the use of gross domestic product per capita as the basis for determining the access of SIDS to development finance should be replaced by a comprehensive approach that recognizes our vulnerability to natural disaster. That move will save Tonga from increasing its indebtedness in obtaining funds from multilateral institutions for reconstruction in the wake of a cyclone. Currently, Tonga accesses these funds under the condition of a 50 per cent grant and a 50 per cent credit. We therefore support the proposal for adopting a new index reflective of our specific and unique national development characteristics.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Climate change continues to pose an irreversible threat to our people, our society, our livelihoods and our natural environment. In this regard, we welcome the dialogue that has taken place in the Security Council and that to be held at a side event to be hosted by the Foreign Ministers of France and Germany tomorrow afternoon, touching upon the security implications of climate change, and support recognition of the links between our climate and international peace and security. We reaffirm our support for the call on the Secretary-General to appoint a special representative on climate and security to thoroughly research and report on those links.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“This message was reaffirmed in the discussion on the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda, it having been advanced, as can be clearly seen, in the outcome document of the third International Conference on Financing for Development, which makes mention of SIDS in 25 paragraphs. A key piece of the development agenda remains outstanding as we look forward to the successful conclusion of negotiations on a climate agreement in Paris at the end of this year. That agreement must reaffirm the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to stabilize greenhouse-gas emissions in the atmosphere. Tonga remains highly vulnerable to natural disasters, which continue to increase in frequency and destructiveness.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“That was advanced by this year’s SIDS partnership dialogue, the creation of a SIDS Partnership Framework, and in the report of the Joint Inspection Unit assessment of United Nations system support for SIDS. The relationship between the Samoa Pathway and the 2030 Agenda is now well established, and we must maintain the links between these documents as we review our progress. The Samoa Pathway is also significant for its central recognition that the challenges that islands such as Tonga face are different and therefore qualify our country as a special sustainable development case in need of targeted and tailored support.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“It was an incredible learning experience for my country and we will adopt these best practices towards our implementation of the new Development Goals and the Agenda as a whole. Tonga, as a Pacific small island developing State (SIDS), must meet the goals on oceans and seas and climate change, to ensure access to affordable and sustainable energy for all, and the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development. Tonga is also aided by the priorities and commitments set out in the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway, which represents an international commitment to genuine and durable partnerships.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We are pleased to note that the 14 new priorities for Tonga for the next 15 years, as set out in our final MDGs report, 14/23 15-29595 29/09/2015 A/70/PV.18 are all included in the 17 Goals of the 2030 Agenda for 2030: Goal 1, no poverty; Goal 3, good health and well-being; Goal 4, quality education; Goal 5, gender equality; Goal 8, decent work and economic growth; Goal 9, industry, innovation and infrastructure; Goal 10, reduce inequalities; Goal 15, life on land; and Goal 17, partnership for the Goals. Therefore, I confirm here again my Government’s full support for the Agenda and, with the assistance of development partners, we will do our utmost to achieve them by 2030. We in Tonga had followed the best practice of the MDGs journey.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“With the Agenda adopted, the central challenge for us at this seventieth session of the General Assembly is to translate these aspirations into concrete actions. Our final Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) report 2015 revealed that the achievement in the areas of health and education has helped to maintain Tonga’s position in the Human Development Index. Our people now enjoy an acceptable standard of quality health service, and children and young people are able to go to school and advance to higher education.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“As such, my Government is committing time and resources to strengthening governing institutions through measures such as the establishment of an anti-corruption commission, and considering approaches to removing other challenges and constraints on the sustainable development of the country, such as cultural perceptions and religious dogmas. The objectives of good governance, effective accountable and inclusive institutions are impossible to meet without full support for the human rights of all peoples living in areas of conflict throughout the world, including in the Pacific islands. Tonga reiterates its call for the root causes of such conflicts to be resolved by peaceful means, and in full recognition of the principle of the sovereignty of States.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“As the first democratically elected representative of the people to the rank of Prime Minister in my country, I am particularly pleased with the inclusion of Sustainable Development Goal 16 related to building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. That Goal relates to the notion of good governance — the guiding principle of my Government under our democracy, fit for purpose, and a principle that I have always demanded of any Government of the day in Tonga throughout my almost 30-year career in politics. Indeed, it is my Government’s mantra that good governance, transparency, accountability and law and order will drive all other development goals of a country.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“In this Hall, we are often guilty of an abstraction we call “political will”, the political will to address climate change, to be careful stewards of our environment, and to address devastating global inequalities in development. This abstraction distracts us. It distracts us from our need for moral commitment and for moral courage. It is this language of morality that speaks to the privileged with the imperative “you must leave no one behind”. It is in this spirit of moral commitment that I speak to the work my Government has undertaken to serve the underserved and to meet our aspirations as they are presently embodied in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1).”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“I congratulate Mr. Mogens Lykketoft on his assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventieth session and assure him of our full support. I should also thank his predecessor, Mr. Sam Kutesa, for his excellent work, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his leadership. I stand before the Assembly humbled by the words of His Holiness Pope Francis as he addressed this body mere days ago (see A/70/PV.3). I am humbled because in his address His Holiness the Pope spoke directly to those political issues that occupy us all — those issues that we might easily resolve if only we had more political commitment and more political will. But His Holiness the Pope spoke in a language higher than that of politics — one of morality and of moral imperative. These are principles and ideals that have guided me throughout my life.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)