YouSaid · the spoken record

Louis Straker

lines on the record: 69
first: 2001-09-24
most recent: 2017-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
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

“As new challenges confront us, let us hew ever closer to the undeniable strengths of our Organization to make this a better world for all of us.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“As we speak in this Hall today, we seek to amplify the echoes of the visionaries of yesteryear who stood at this rostrum to give voice to the system of multilateral cooperation and mutual respect that has defined our post-war existence. New challenges may arise, but the solutions — diplomacy, ambitious action and respect for the sovereign equality of all Member States — are eternal. Multilateral diplomacy may be messy and imperfect; international law may be frustratingly inconsistent; the path of development may be beset on all sides by natural and man-made obstacles; but, united, we have always been greater than the sum of our individual parts, and together there is no challenge too great for the collective wisdom of our great nations and our great institution.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“How can we deny them entrance into the organs of the United Nations? It is unfair and unjust and should be remedied. The travails of the people of Palestine arising from the illegal occupation of their lands continue to haunt us globally. The General Assembly has repeatedly pronounced in favour of the rights of the Palestinian people, but the illegal occupiers, backed internationally by a handful of powerful States, have continued to thwart the will of the international community. Peace in the Middle East will remain a mirage unless the national rights of the Palestinian people are recognized and upheld in practice.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“I repeat yet again the necessity and desirability for the responsible authorities in the Dominican Republic and the United Nations to address properly, and once and for all, the respective issues of the denial of citizenship for persons of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic and the cholera epidemic that some United Nations troops in Haiti initiated. In the quest for deepening multilateralism, international cooperation and peace, the glaring injustice of the continuing denial of Taiwan’s membership in the special agencies of the United Nations demands correction. The ghosts of a divisive past ought to be laid to rest. Taiwan’s legitimate incorporation into the family of nations is long overdue. How can we neglect or deny 23 billion people who have been contributing so much to developing countries in every sector of their economy?”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“The link between development and peace is well established, and the link between peace and the United Nations is immutable. A substantial part of the backdrop or context of the continuing socioeconomic challenges of the nation States of our Caribbean civilization is the awful legacy of underdevelopment that European colonialism has bequeathed to us as a consequence of native genocide and African slavery. The international campaign for reparations from the former colonial Powers in order to assist in repairing this malignant legacy is urgent and timely. It deserves the full support of the Assembly, particularly within this decade which has been declared to be focused on the uplifting of persons of African descent.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is also dedicating special funding to technology-based entrepreneurs, improving wages and occupational health and safety legislation and investing in new modem medical facilities. We have launched an innovative zero-hunger fund with interventions targeting food insecurity and unemployment in vulnerable populations, while simultaneously creating a contingency fund to aid in disaster recovery efforts. We are serious and committed to the achievement of all the SDGs by the year 2030. Nonetheless, as the President and the Secretary-General have recognized, the achievement of the SDGs requires international cooperation and the commitment of new and additional funding. Ours is the only body that can generate and sustain the necessary political will and resources to give life to the ambition of the SDGs.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“It is a threat to development of the highest priority, and it demands a coordinated, political solution. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines applauds the President’s sustained focus on sustainable development. Our Government has located the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the centre of its national development strategies. In the areas of climate change, pollution and biodiversity, we have banned Styrofoam products and turtle-hunting, tightened restrictions on internationally permitted indigenous whaling activity and implemented new coastal protection regulations. We are investing heavily in geothermal and solar energy and expect to generate 80 per cent of our energy needs from renewable sources within the next three years.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Similarly, the lessons of the global economic and financial crisis have yet to be implemented. Our inactivity has produced an extended period of halting and uneven recovery and an iniquitous globalization whose unequal distribution of benefits and burdens is spurring a popular backlash worldwide. The General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council must squarely and frontally address reforms to our international financial architecture, in particular the Bretton Woods institutions. For Caribbean States, the issue of declining correspondent banking relationships is a grave and gathering threat to our continued growth and ongoing connections to the global economy. The United Nations, the Group of 20 and international financial institutions cannot shirk this issue as a private banking matter.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“However, the areas demanding the most immediate and far-reaching reforms are not budgetary allocations or staffing matters but rather the political and organizational underpinnings of the most fossilized structures of the United Nations and the wider international architecture. The litmus test for any serious talk of United Nations reform is reform of the Security Council. Those who pay lip service to reform while ignoring the need for a reformed Council — with expanded permanent membership, a special voice for island States and radically revised working methods — are simply engaging in an exercise where they attempt to reduce their financial responsibilities while maintaining an unjustifiable grip on disproportionate and outmoded power arrangements.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“That principle must be the guiding standard applicable to the small island territories, just as it was the standard for decolonizing other former colonies. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines remains fully seized of this issue and was pleased to play its part in completing the unfinished business of decolonization by hosting the 2017 seminar and previous seminars in 2011 and 2005. It is in that spirit that we have great sympathy for the legitimate aspiration of the people of West Papua to freedom and independence and to govern themselves and guide their own destiny through legitimate political means. The issue of United Nations reform has justifiably gained momentum in recent months. As a large, aging bureaucracy, the United Nations has not demonstrated the nimbleness and responsiveness it needs for our new and fast-paced modern challenges.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is resolutely and implacably opposed to any attempt to foment external interference or interventionist activities against any nation in our hemisphere. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was honoured to host the 2017 Caribbean regional seminar on decolonization, consistent with our responsibilities as one of the many Caribbean and Pacific small island States and former colonies in Africa and Asia whose self-determination was achieved under the watchful eye of the United Nations. The inconvenient truth is that the decolonization process remains incomplete, and it will be essential to intensify our efforts to achieve the goal of full self-government through the attainment of a legitimate political status option providing for absolute political equality.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“But with illegal street violence dwindling and all political parties committed to the upcoming gubernatorial elections, the interventionist option increasingly floated by the United States and an imprudent Secretary General of the Organization of American States have no place in a modern Latin America. Similarly, any threat, expressed or implied, to the sovereignty of the peaceful and noble Cuban people is an anachronistic throwback to Cold War posturing without any logical justification, particularly in the light of the recent détente between the Governments of Cuba and the United States. Let us be clear. Latin America and the Caribbean is a zone of peace. There is no conflict, challenge or disagreement in our region that requires military intervention in any way, shape or form, be it covert, overt or by proxy.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“President Theodore Roosevelt’s realpolitik adage of speaking softly while carrying a big stick — whatever its limitations — cannot be replaced by irresponsible, bellicose sabre-rattling that inches us closer to the types of conflict that the Assembly was created to prevent. In that context. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines views with alarm the continued threats to the sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. To be sure, the people of Venezuela have endured an extended period of political conflict, which has exacerbated other difficulties in the country.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Frustration with the pace of negotiation and mediation cannot give way to the intemperate urge to impose quick military fixes on inherently political problems. Nor can it lead to an illogical interpretation of sovereign self- interest that justifies trampling on the sovereignty of other States. Sovereignty is not a sword but a shield. The United Nations is not a forum for measuring whose sovereignty is bigger, or whose military is better equipped to pursue its narrow, short-term self-interest. We are a community founded instead on the assumption of the sovereign equality of all States, rich and poor, large and small. One nation’s ability to destroy another does not endow it with special rights, but rather profound responsibilities, chief among them restraint.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We also call on the colonial Powers to accept their full responsibility for the recovery and rehabilitation of these territories. The rise of climate change as an existential threat of our era has not replaced the persistent peril of armed conflict across the globe. The human suffering in Syria, Yemen and Myanmar demands greater international attention and action. Similarly, the potential threats to international peace and security posed by tensions on the Korean peninsula, among the Gulf States and in the State of Palestine require persistent and prioritized diplomacy. Diplomacy, though difficult, is always preferable to the alternative. The United Nations was founded and continues to exist on that fundamental premise.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“We therefore join other countries in calling for a donor conference to address the daunting challenges that those countries face. Only together can we recover. Additionally, the Caribbean territories with special relationships to colonial Powers in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands are in desperate need of assistance and have limited options for international cooperation, given their unique political status. Despite our small size and limited means, the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have already sent emergency assistance to these territories, as well as technical expertise. We urge administering Powers and potential donors alike to look past political issues and look instead to the needs of the affected peoples and communities.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Saint Vincent and the Grenadines views any attempt to disavow the freshly minted commitments of the Paris Agreement as an act of hostility, and we draw a direct, causal connection between any such abdication and the future death and destruction that island States face as the result of increasingly frequent and intense weather events. The independent countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Cuba, the Bahamas and Dominica require the special and sustained support of the international community. These countries need immediate and massive assistance with both immediate relief and long-term reconstruction. That assistance should be concessional and free from antiquated notions of per capita gross domestic product.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“But that truism is the foundation of our just, urgent and unavoidable demand that the nations that have contributed most to climate change should also do the most to mitigate its effects and assist others in adapting to our dangerous new realities. Our global community, in the great tradition of the United Nations and in the spirit of the founders of this Organization, came together through hard-fought negotiations to craft the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, an ambitious if imperfect agreement designed to arrest climate change and assist those most affected by it.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“They are manifestations of climate change and the symptoms of the prescient predictions made by the overwhelming majority of scientists. Today almost every year is hotter than the preceding one; almost every hurricane season more intense; and almost every storm, drought and flood more destructive than its predecessors. It is a barefaced insult to the intelligence and experience of the peoples of island States and coastal areas to call climate change a hoax. At this point, it is almost a cliché to reaffirm that small island developing States are the most vulnerable to climate change while contributing the least to the emissions that cause it.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“In a period of five weeks, each of those countries and territories has been struck with a force comparable to that of a weapon of mass destruction. Hundreds of people are dead. The damage to infrastructure, while still being calculated, is already estimated at more than $130 billion. The current Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be the most expensive in history. In terms of development, the countries affected will take years, if not decades, to recover from the devastating battering. Let us make no mistake: the death and destruction wrought by this hurricane season are not merely the result of freak weather events or vengeful acts of God. They are the direct result of the acts and omissions of humankind.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“As I speak before the Assembly today, the island of Dominica has been levelled by a direct hit from Hurricane Maria, even as it was continuing to recover from the widespread devastation wrought by Tropical Storm Erika two years ago. No individual there has been spared. A series of hurricanes — Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Maria — of unprecedented intensity have struck the peoples of our region with unerring accuracy and rapidity. The States and territories affected include the United States, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Dominica, Cuba, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Saint Martin, Puerto Rico and, today, the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Our Organization was founded amid the still glowing embers and simmering tensions of global war. In the shadows of widespread death and destruction, the nations of the world united in recognition of the fact that global challenges can be overcome only through collective action and international law, not misguided unilateralism or short-sighted self-interest. That recognition remains as valid today as it was 72 years ago, even as new threats to life and development have joined armed conflict as challenges demanding a concerted international response. On behalf of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, I would like to express our stand in solidarity with the Government and the people of Mexico as they are suffering the devastating effects of yet another earthquake.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Let us work together so that we can bequeath to our children and to our children’s children an Organization that can be used, in the words of the Secretary-General, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, to establish the basic conditions for justice and the rule of law and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Unless we can collectively find the courage and wisdom to tackle the problems of poverty, disease and despair, all the weapons in the world will not prevent the spread of terrorism. We need to move beyond using the United Nations as a talk shop and come together as responsible nations to tackle the root causes of terrorism. The security which the poorer nations of the world desire is obtained not through the force of arms, but in relief from burdensome debt, employment opportunities, shelter, food, clean water, a healthy environment and access to medical care and life-giving drugs. Despite its imperfections, the United Nations is the forum that gives us hope.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Our requests for special and differential treatment in the WTO are completely justified and, for the most part, largely ignored. My Government is cognizant of the fact that terrorism threatens us all. We are therefore fully engaged in the process of implementing Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) — a process which has stretched our limited resources. The oft-repeated promises of help in this process are proving to be, like so many other promises made within these hallowed halls, just that — promises. Yet we read with grave concern in the New York Times just last week that, between them, two of the giants of this Organization export arms worth nearly $20 billion every year — the majority, of course, to developing nations. What do arms do in developing nations? They are the fuel that feeds the flames of conflict and terrorism.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“How can the developed world, which continues to subsidize its farmers and which touts globalization as the cure for all economic ills, continue defending the indefensible? Cancún, as we all now know, was an abysmal failure. We went there hoping to be led into the Promised Land — only to find ourselves lost and abandoned in the wilderness. We will continue our crusade for economic stability and democratic harmony in our country, but it is self-evident that we need the help of the developed part of the world in order to be viable. It will benefit no one if small countries like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are marginalized and left to flounder. We are a vulnerable country. The reasons why small island developing States are especially vulnerable are too well known to be repeated here.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Without the banana industry, whose doomsday rapidly approaches, our hardworking peasant farmers will become just another casualty of globalization. The European Union mandates that its sugar farmers get paid 50 euros per tonne — or five times the world market price. Their farmers then dump their product on the market, thus depressing prices for farmers elsewhere. So we may shortly have to bid farewell to the sugar industries of developing nations like Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Mozambique and Guatemala. The United States of America spends more than $3 billion dollars of its taxpayers’ money every year to subsidize its cotton growers. This, naturally, signals death to the cotton farmers of Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Chad and other developing nations.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“My small country has made the painful transformation from colonialism to independent democracy in 25 short years. Our people chose not the path leading to war and conflict, but rather opted for the highway of democracy, racial harmony and respect for human rights conducting us to peace, tranquillity and future prosperity. But we are hampered in our quest. My country, like others in the region, is in danger of losing an entire generation to the scourge of HIV/AIDS. We need the help of the international community in the fight against this dreaded disease for the preservation of our society. Our banana industry, which is the engine that drives our economy, is shortly to succumb to the greed 3 of certain multinational companies, with the active assistance of the World Trade Organization.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We believe in the fundamental role that the ICC has to play in our collective quest for peace and the promotion of the rule of law and justice. We are determined to uphold its integrity. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is proud of our contribution to the emerging Caribbean civilization. Let me quote from a recent speech by our Prime Minister, The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves: “The reassembling of the African, Asiatic and European fragments forms the basis of our very Caribbean civilization itself, which is at once shaped and yet evolving. Fundamentally, too, our Caribbean civilization, like all civilizations, has been built on labour — the producers — and the contours of the society fashioned by the social organization of labour”.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“While we seek to make the United Nations more efficient and effective through much-needed reform, we can advance the cause and the call for reform by making the United Nations more inclusive through the admission to membership of Taiwan and its 23 million people, who have no voice in the United Nations. Taiwan is an exemplary global citizen that maintains friendly relations with almost every country in the world. We would wish for this Organization to be the catalyst that promotes constructive dialogue and friendly engagement so that the Taiwan situation can be resolved in a peaceful, just and equitable way to the benefit of the entire global family. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is proud to be a State party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines makes so bold as to say that the solution may also well lie in the removal of the power of veto, to allow for more democracy, greater participation, openness and transparency. Only then, perhaps, will this Organization regain its integrity and respect. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines cherishes the relationships that it enjoys with all countries, both large and small, represented here at the United Nations. The United Nations Charter confers that freedom of representation on all peace-loving and democratic States. Yet my country continues to be deeply troubled that Taiwan is still being excluded from this body.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“It is my Government’s view that the simple enlargement of the representation on the Security Council may not by itself necessarily lead to greater democratization of that body. No matter how many reform theorems are advanced, the will has to come from the permanent members of the Council that wield the veto. My Government has already urged an increase in the membership of the Council, both permanent and non- permanent, but it seems to us that as long as the veto continues to exist, the Council will not be truly representative of the wishes of the States Members of this Organization and multinational diplomacy will be endangered.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The Secretary- General said in his report on the revitalization of the General Assembly: “The proliferation of meetings and official documents places excessive demands on both the Secretariat and Member States. Many smaller Member States now find it practically impossible to play a meaningful role in even the most crucial activities of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council”. (A/57/387, para. 23) If the work of the General Assembly could be redesigned so as to spread the work load more evenly throughout the calendar year, it would enable small missions like that of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to participate fully in the work of the Organization. The debate on the reform of the Security Council is fraught with many difficulties and challenges.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“It is my Government’s contention that the General Assembly needs to retake its place as the central platform of the Organization, because it is the only truly democratic arm of the United Nations. In this regard, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines intends to participate fully in the ongoing debate on reform which will be led by you, Mr. President, and we are hopeful that, with your able guidance, some real progress can 2 be made in this fifty-eighth session. Of particular concern to small missions like my own is the volume and variety of work between September and December every year. The way the work of the General Assembly is designed makes it difficult for us to make the kind of contribution that we would wish for the effective and efficient operation of the Organization.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“My Government acknowledges with appreciation the sterling work being done in difficult conditions all over the developing world by United Nations agencies, from peacekeeping and the restoration of democracy to development cooperation and humanitarian aid. I also wish to single out for particular mention the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the United Nations Population Fund. We urge Member States to continue to give support and assistance to these organizations, which make such a difference, particularly in the lives of women and children, in the poorest sectors of the world. We have heard speaker after speaker, over the course of the past week, suggesting that the United Nations is in crisis. Many have proposed solutions for the rectification of this unhappy state of affairs.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Let me first express, on behalf of the Government and people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, deepest sympathy to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the entire United Nations family on the loss of Sergio Vieira de Mello and other United Nations personnel in the terrorist attack in Baghdad. Those dedicated United Nations workers strived for peace and justice for the people of the world. They lived for that cause, and, tragically, they gave their lives for that cause. We share the pain of this loss and the bewilderment over it, and pay tribute to all those United Nations staff members who put duty before self in the service of mankind.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly affords me the special privilege, honour and pleasure of congratulating you, Sir, on your assumption of the office of President of the General Assembly. As a distinguished son of our neighbouring island, Saint Lucia, you do great honour to your country and to the whole Caribbean Community family. I take great pride in what you, Sir, a fellow Foreign Minister and my dear friend, have accomplished, and trust that, under your astute leadership, this fifty-eighth session will chart the right course, which will enable the Organization to fulfil the expectations of mankind for a secure, peaceful and prosperous world. Who knoweth but that by some divine order you have come to the presidency of this body at such a time as this.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We desire peace, stability, democracy, respect for human lives and economic and social uplifting. We intend to work hard to achieve those goals. Our people have come through slavery, indentureship, colonialism and imperialism, and we have survived. With the support and goodwill of the donor countries, with our hard work and with the help of the Almighty, we intend to succeed.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“The world community must understand just how fragile our ecosystems are. We must reduce the risk by ending that practice, and thus we call on the guilty parties to respect the Caribbean Sea as a special zone for economic development within the context of sustainable development. I have taken this opportunity to focus our efforts towards increasing sensitivity in the international community to the concerns of our small island developing State. Our perspective is informed by our history and our experiences. Many are the challenges that confront us in a world of globalization and trade liberalization. We make our special plea for special consideration, without which we could become totally marginalized. The aspirations of our people are the same as those of other lands.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We fully support the call for an increase in the membership of the Security Council and would work for the more meaningful participation of developing countries in the Security Council to reflect the universal nature of the United Nations. My country is a small island developing State. As such, we are extremely vulnerable to physical and economic shocks. We are pleased with the recognition given to the unique problems of small island developing States in the outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and we look forward to real progress in the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action, leading up to the conference in Mauritius in 2004. We continue to face the threat to our region and our oceans by the passage of hazardous nuclear waste through our waters.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“The risks and the perils would be too great for the whole world if the two major countries involved in that conflict engage in an all-out war, resorting to nuclear weapons. We place our support behind every effort to revitalize the work of the General Assembly so that its collective energy and wisdom can again be brought to bear with great weight to resolve the gravest tensions impacting the world community. The General Assembly needs to be more dynamic in order to reflect the will of all its Member States. We also support the need for a reform of the Security Council to give cognizance to the world situation as it exists today and not as was the norm after the Second World War.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We support the efforts of the Quartet and call upon them to continue their peace-making efforts with urgency. They have our unqualified backing. In the meantime, we urge restraint and the use of common sense in the search for a full solution to the problem. We remind all sides that the greatest use of power is restraint in the use of that power. We urge the world community to make sure that all resolutions of the United Nations are enforced fairly, even-handedly and with equity on all States in conflict in the area and to avoid the appearance of selective, capricious or arbitrary enforcements where it suits the interests of some States. In South Asia, we trust that there will be a de- escalation of tensions in the Kashmiri conflict.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We call on the United States to heed the voices of its citizens, the Congress and the rest of the world and to engage Cuba in a meaningful dialogue for the mutual benefit of both countries. Over the past year, we have watched with growing concern the escalation of tension and violence in the Middle East. We are sensitive to the fact that efforts against international terrorism have made the lessening of tensions and the resolution of the problems in the Middle East all the more difficult. We support the plan for two States — Israel and Palestine — living as neighbours within secure borders that are recognized by each other and the international community. Once again, we call on both sides to abide by the various Security Council resolutions on the dispute.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“The Government and people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines also share friendship with the people and Government of Cuba. We support the worldwide call, as expressed in United Nations resolutions, for ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba 6 some 42 years ago. Indeed, such a call has been made by the Congress of the United States so as to facilitate the freedom of movement of United States citizens to Cuba. We uphold the right of peoples to self- determination — a principle very dear to our people and Government. It is highly improper and unacceptable to the vast majority of the nations of the world that one country impose such suffering on another without any justifiable reason.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We cannot understand how the exclusion of Taiwan, which is a peace-loving, responsible, democratic and progressive country, can sit comfortably on the collective conscience of the Member States of the United Nations. The United Nations has a role to play in relations between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. The United Nations should play a facilitating role by providing a forum for reconciliation and rapprochement between the two sides. But — and I cannot stress this point too strongly — the United Nations cannot play such a role if it continues to exclude Taiwan. We shall continue to support the legitimate aspirations of the 23 million people of Taiwan, who remain voiceless in this Assembly, to membership in this body and its agencies, in accordance with the United Nations principle of universality.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has a very special and beneficial relationship with the Republic of China on Taiwan, which we value. It represents a test of friendship, loyalty, reciprocity and shared values in our relationship. The Republic of China on Taiwan, the 17th largest economy in the world, is a country of 23 million people that has made tremendous strides within a few years to become one of the most economically advanced countries in the Far East. It is a country that practices and promotes human rights. It has a Government that is democratically elected by the free and unfettered expression of its citizens. We strongly support Taiwan's rights to be a Member of this body of nations.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“The effects in the developing countries are more debilitating. Corruption distorts the economies of those countries, since, in effect, resources are taken from the poor and given to the rich. My country, as part of its war against corruption in public life, has recently ratified the Organization of American States (OAS) Convention against Corruption, which requires, among other things, the criminalizing of illicit enrichment by public officials and integrity legislation requiring a declaration of assets by certain public officials. I humbly suggest that the United Nations recognize the pervasiveness of corruption in public life and its consequent damages and take steps to approve and promote a United Nations anti-corruption convention.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Our ability to survive is effectively compromised if there is no flexibility in these negotiations. We welcome the New Partnership for Africa's Development. We commend the African countries that came together to create this bold and imaginative new initiative. Africa needs the help of the United Nations and in particular that of the donor countries. But Africa also needs to help itself by committing itself to peace, democracy and good governance, which requires the eradication of corruption in public life. We welcome the efforts being made to end strife and war and to create a climate of stability and peace in Angola, Sierra Leone, the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As we view the international scene, we are troubled by the widespread and corrosive nature of corruption in public life in many countries.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Six years after the completion of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations and the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), my country has had to endure the ravages of the imbalances of economic power in the world. The constraints imposed by our small size and vulnerability must now be evident to all. As we deploy our limited human resources to engage in negotiations at three distinct and separate levels — the WTO, the European Union and the Free Trade Area of the Americas — we urge that due recognition be given to the need for flexibility in trading arrangements for countries such as mine. We would also like to see a realistic assessment of special and differential treatment in the continued architecture of the global trading and economic arrangements.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Let us remind the international community of its commitment to meeting 5 the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product for official development assistance. My country, like others in the Caribbean and in Africa, is threatened by the scourge of HIV/AIDS. As a matter of fact, my country has the second-highest per capita ratio of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). We are in danger of losing a whole generation of our young people to this dreaded disease. We lack the resources to procure the necessary treatment and proper care for those affected. We must all work together — developed and developing countries — to eradicate this and other diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. We must make sure that the Global Fund to fight these diseases has the necessary resources to do its work effectively.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)