STATEMENT BY THE DELEGATION OF THE FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA
INTRODUCING PROPOSED RESOLUTION A/46/L,69 ON RECONSTRUCTION AND
REHABILITATION OF CYCLONE-AFFECTED SOUTH PACIFIC COUNTRIES
Delivered by
Mr. James T. Stovall, III
Deputy Permanent Representative,
Charge d' Affaires a. i.
UNGA 46, 13 April 1992
Check Against Delivery
Mr. President,
The Delegation of the Federated States of Micronesia has the high
honor to address this body today in its capacity as Chair of the
fifteen-member coalition of Pacific Island countries known as the
South Pacific Forum. Most particularly I speak here in support of
those of our number that are Members of the United Nations and have
recently experienced devastation caused by a weather phenomenon
increasingly prevalent in our Region, namely cyclones, or, "typhoons.
" The countries affected, named in the proposed Resolution, are the
Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands,
Samoa, The Solomon Islands aid the Republic of Vanuatu.
I wish to introduce and commend to your favorable attention
proposed Resolution A/46/L.69, which pertains to the reconstruction
and rehabilitation of these storm-ravaged islands. The text of the
proposed Resolution notes with appreciation the truly sympathetic
response and effective assistance already extended to the victims of
these recent disasters by this Body, by the United Nations
Development Programme, by other organs of the United Nations system,
as well as by individual governments and non-governmental
organizations. I wish, Mr. President, to lay particular emphasis on
that expression of appreciation.
We also extend heartfelt thanks to each of the many Members who
have joined as cosponsors of the proposed Resolution. Natural
disasters and their accompanying destruction and loss of life are
unfortunately a frequent subject of response by this Body. The
response is driven in part by a realization of our common exposure to
the many uncontrollable, and often unpredictable mechanisms of the
planet. As human beings, the impulse to help one another deal with
adverse consequences that are beyond our control lies close to the
bedrock upon which the principle of multilateral cooperation, and
hence, this organization, is founded.
So, Mr. President, I am not in unfamiliar territory in speaking
here today, to propose a resolution which calls for continuing
attention to the serious plight of these Pacific Island countries
brought on by some of the most destructive storms ever recorded.
Recent experience has shown us that the weather, to put it
plainly, is getting worse. In former times, serious cyclones were
occasional but relatively infrequent occurrences throughout most of
the Pacific islands. Now, even in the opening years of this decade,
we have seen Samoa, damaged by cyclone "Ofa" in 1990 and still
struggling to recover, hammered for four long days and nights by an
even stronger storm in 1991 which went on to cause havoc also in
Niue, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna. I will not here
reiterate details of that tragic experience, which are already a
matter of record.
Another case in point is the Republic of the Marshall Islands,
lying just north of the Equator and subject to different trade winds,
and so far East as, until recently, to have been thought invulnerable
to typhoons. Nevertheless, these low-lying atolls were washed over by
a sudden typhoon in 1990, and no sooner had a very expensive
reconstruction gotten underway with significant assistance from the
United States than came another storm which took away the
reconstruction and deepened the problems even further. I could also
describe similar and equally serious cyclonic events which recently
have occurred in the other countries that are main sponsors of the
proposed Resolution.
Mr. President, Preparedness and Mitigation, as referred to in the
draft, are not easily achieved by remote island countries whose
people cannot watch television every night to review their weather
for the next week. Both early warning capabilities and resources for
effective protection against damage are woefully inadequate. And if
livable weather patterns that have supported Island life for
centuries are already giving way to a climatological "new world
order" which spells environmental catastrophe for islanders in terms
of intensified storm activity, sea level rise and other destructive
consequences, then immediate actions must be taken to relieve the
inadequacies in weather prediction and protection.
Thus, Mr. President, we humbly approach this Body with full
awareness of the historic challenges faced today by all Members of
the United Nations on many, costly fronts. We ask, nevertheless, that
the assistance envisioned by the proposed Resolution be targeted to
achieve more than simple repair. The expressed goals of Preparedness
and Mitigation are aimed in this case at the survival of a group of
Pacific Island nations, but the same goals are also central to the
ability of the entire World to cope with the longer term adverse
effects of human-induced climate change. We, then, along with small
Island States and low-lying coastal regions everywhere are harbingers
of the all-encompassing problem - frontline countries, if you will,
against an onslaught of apocalyptic proportions. In that sense the
proposed Resolution is a timely one, and its adoption by this body
would be not only an act deeply appreciated as a humanitarian
gesture, but also an encouraging sign of the broader resolve of this
Body and its Members.
For these reasons, Mr. President, my delegation calls for the
adoption of proposed Resolution A/46/L.69, and if it is your will, we
ask that the Assembly do so by acclamation, without a vote.
Thank you.
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