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FSM welcomed Republics of Kiribati, Nauru and Kingdom of Tonga as new members of the United Nations family

FSM, on behalf of the South Pacific Forum, welcomed the Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga as new members of the United Nations family at the opening of the 54th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

New York, 14 September 1999 (FSM Permanent Mission to the UN) - At the opening of the 54^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this afternoon, the Assembly, by adopting three resolutions by acclamation, admitted as the 186^th, 187^th and 188^th Member States the Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga respectively.

Speaking in his country's capacity as Chair of the South Pacific Forum at the opening of the 54^th UNGA, FSM Deputy Permanent Representative Tadao P. Sigrah joined the chairs of the five regional groupings at the United Nations and the host country, the United States in welcoming and congratulating Pacific sister states Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga on their admittance to membership in the world organization. Mr. Sigrah also expressed the gratitude of the members of the Forum to the United Nations Security Council for its recommendations to admit the three Pacific countries to membership in the Organization, and also to the many members of the UN co-sponsoring the three resolutions.

The admission of the three Pacific Island countries, Mr. Sigrah said, is a further indication of the importance that the Pacific region places in the United Nations. Though joining the United Nations for small island countries is a great sacrifice of scarce resources, the islands can no longer be mere by-standers but must participate with the rest of the international community in the processes of finding solutions, he noted. He added that though the Pacific islands are far apart from the rest of the world, this remoteness and isolation have not insulated the islands from the impacts of decisions made elsewhere in the world.

With the admittance of the three Pacific island countries, 13 out of 16 members of the South Pacific Forum are now members of the United Nations. The remaining three are the Cook Islands, Niue and Tuvalu.