honourable gustan brown prime minister of antigua and barbuda and chair of veiosis heads of state and government distinguished delegates ladies and gentlemen i wish to thank prime minister brown and antigua and barbuda for its strong leadership since taking on the chairmanship of eiosis you have samoa's full support as you leave ayose's during these trying times this meeting is timely and critical the challenges for sids continue to multiply with possible irreversible damage the covet 19 pandemic and the continuous struggle we face due to the worsening impacts of climate change reinforce why sids remain a special case for sustainable development i also extend my sincere condolences to members of our sids family that have suffered loss of loved ones due to the covet 19 pandemic and also for those that were recently devastated by natural catastrophes excellencies the sids priorities and our ongoing challenges highlighted in the samoa pathway remain relevant to date despite our best efforts and those of the un and our partners to respond to our particular and unique vulnerabilities we are still left in a precarious position compared to the rest of the world i am pleased to support the eosis declaration which highlights the most pressing challenges key priorities and suggested solutions tailored to address sid's needs despite the grim realities ahead of us our resilience will help us build pathways critical to our survival let us invest in our home-grown solutions benefit from more sids sids cooperation and ensure simplified access to the needed and promised financial and technical support to sids while our mitigation efforts can have little impact on total global emissions we should continue to show leadership through our more ambitious climate action united as sids we must not tire from demanding urgent and ambitious climate action especially from the biggest emitters this is about our survival as nations and as a people samoa stresses that as sids our priority is to ensure the world meets the promise of the paris agreement to limit warming to 1.5 celsius exceeding this will be catastrophic for us this remains the guiding goal that influences our approach and decisions as we continue to engage in the climate change negotiations covet 19 provides serious barriers to the cop 26 attendance for some of us we need to factor this into our strategy as we prepare to defend our position at the upcoming cop 26 in glasgow excellencies multilateral systems partners and institutions need to heed the continued call for tailored and sid specific solutions to our unique vulnerabilities this is required to support sids in meeting their sustainable development goals and supporting our covet 19 recovery vaccinations are an important part of the build back better equation the readiness of our partners in particular the kobach's facility and our efforts to find early opportunities have ensured we have sufficient vaccines to cover the eligible population tomorrow samoa will go into a two-day lockdown to carry out a mass vaccination in addition to vaccination protection access to concessional finance makes all the difference for sids recovery we therefore welcome the establishment of the multi-dimensional vulnerability index which provides for a wider lens on vulnerability for samoa ocean is core and central to our way of life as sids its conservation and sustainable use remains a high priority implementing sgg 14 is an imperative and we need a coordinated and urgent global response to end marine litter and plastic pollution securing our maritime zones against the threat of climate change related sea level rise is key to preserving our existing rights and entitlements stemming from maritime zones the pacific leaders endorsed an important declaration on preserving maritime zones in the face of climate change related sea level rise to this end as sids we must ensure that our legal entitlements as sovereign nations are not lost nor challenged due to sea level rise samoa reaffirms its commitment to support eiosis and all sids to put our issues under the global spotlight for urgent action i thank you for your attention mr president distinguished delegates ladies and gentlemen samoa extends its congratulations and best wishes to his excellency abdullah shaheed on your assumption of the presidency of the 76th session of the general assembly we are indeed delighted to see maldives a sister small island developing state taking the reins of our organization at this critical and pivotal moment in our history please be assured of samoa's full support in the successful execution of your mandate over the next 12 months we welcome the reappointment of secretary general antonio gutierrez for a second term and have confidence in his continued leadership at this critical time for the united nations it is an honor to address this assembly for the first time as sam was prime minister although it is requestable that this must take place virtually due to covet 19 pandemic in these times of uncertainty the leaders of the world must remain connected in our fight for a just more sustainable and peaceful future for our people and the planet there have been many challenges over the recent past and we need to take urgent action now on a host of them covet 19 and its constant mutations threatening lives the looming existential threat from the climate crisis the accelerated loss of biodiversity the erosion of human rights worsening conflicts rising discrimination and hatred the abuse of information and new technologies are but a few of the mammoth tasks that lie ahead of us as the u.n secretary general highlighted in our common agenda report we are at an inflection point in history we either break down or breakthrough i believe we should not surrender to a future of perpetual crisis but use hope through urgent decisive and united action the theme for this year's captures the essence of samoa's immediate priorities in alignment with our united nations family we need to rebuild sustainability for recovery from the pandemic and to enhance resilience we must revitalize the united nations the experience of the last 18 months has clearly demonstrated that now more than ever we need an effective united nations to mobilize our collective efforts to propel urgent actions in order to effectively address these problems excellencies there is no greater challenge confronting the global community now than that of climate change for the pacific communities the real challenge is not about securing more scientific evidence setting new global targets and more talk shocks it is about action for survival and we all need to shoulder our responsibilities and play our part the big polluters and emitters need to demonstrate more commitment and leadership the increase and frequency of natural disasters continue to devastate countless lives i extend samoa's deep condolences to a sister sits haiti for the lives lost and the immeasurable devastation wrought by the earthquake we fully support the resolution on assistance to haiti in the aftermath of the recent disasters these environmental threats can only worsen the latest report on climate change from the ipcc shows that the global greenhouse gas emissions must be halved in the next decade and reach net zero emissions by mid-century if the promise of the 1.5 degree celsius is to remain within reach if it's to drive down global missions such as investing in clean and affordable energy moving towards green resilient economies tackling deforestation ending coal power and focusing all efforts to protect nature must take precedence such solutions must be complemented by ensuring climate finance for frontline countries and utilizing the advanced scientific knowledge and superior technology available samoa has submitted its second nationally determined contribution with increased ambition nuanced in specific emission reduction targets the upcoming cop in glasgow is our point of no return our commitments from there onwards will determine the future trajectory for our planet can we avoid a climate catastrophe in our children's lifetime excellencies the ocean surrounds protects and provides for us ocean states it is core to our pacific way of life tied explicitly to our need for climate actions in our custodianship of the world's oceans as the blue pacific continent our collective priority is to maintain the health of the ocean as well as the sustainable management of our vast and biodiverse ocean a new 2050 strategy for the blue pacific continent will reinforce the prioritization of ocean and climate change considerations in all policies and plans a shared ocean means shared responsibility and benefits for our environment economies and communities our marine protection goals in our first ocean strategy are aligned to the blue leaders 30 by 30 campaign calling for protecting 30 percent of our global ocean by 2030 we welcome the complementarity of such initiatives the pacific ocean hosts a remarkable array of biodiversity with our blue pacific family samoa continues to prioritize both marine and terrestrial ecosystems restoration despite the challenges we remain engaged in the convention on biological diversity cop 15 process together with the unf triple c cop 26 2021 is a critical year for aligning action to tackle the climate emergency and addressing the threat posed by biodiversity loss securing our maritime zones against the threat of climate change related sea level rise and preserving our existing rights and entitlements standing from maritime zones is a fundamental importance to our pacific region therefore the leaders of the pacific islands forum at their 51st meeting this year endorsed the declaration on preserving maritime zones in the face of climate change-related sea level rise all countries must unite to prevent and reduce marine pollution including plastics oil spills waste discharge and nuclear contaminants un reports claim that every year more than 8 million tons of plastics end up in the ocean if this trend continues by 2050 our ocean will have more plastics than fish pacific sids contribute less than 1.3 percent of the mismanaged plastics in the world's ocean yet are one of the main recipients of plastics pollution and its impacts some will fully supports the ministerial conference on marine and plastic pollution aimed at agreeing on a common global approach to confront the scourge of marine plastics zamor fully supports finalizing the work on the legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction timely robust and effective manner excellencies the global food system is at a critical stage made worse by the covet 19 pandemic and onslaught of climate change the food systems summit held this week was instrumental in mobilizing global citizens to find transformative solutions samoa was pleased to be part of this important event which encouraged shared exploration of potential for collective action through organized dialogues samoa benefited from a comprehensive assessment of the issues involved in building the sustainability of our food systems extreme hunger is not a concern in samoa as food availability is not the issue access to a more balanced and nutritional diet is the main concern and this requires a return to locally produced quality fresh foods and less of processed imported foods this will be key to addressing the rising burden of non-communicable diseases which represent the single largest cause of premature mortality in the pacific unhealthy diets tobacco and alcohol use and lack of physical exercise are the main risk factors samoa has for decades championed the importance of the rule of law and protection of the rights of its peoples many labeled the events that unfolded following our 2021 election a constitutional crisis while these were difficult times for samoa it was also a key part of our journey moving forward as a mature democracy it divided our country and tested all our key pillars of our society our faith our culture and the rule of law however my delivering this statement as the first female prime minister of samoa and bringing about a change in government after decades are testament to the fact that the rule of law has prevailed samoa today still remains peaceful and covet free despite all the challenges we face the new government will continue to ensure safeguarding the rule of law and upholding of the human rights of its people special attention to vulnerable groups and strengthened social protection measures remain a priority will be presenting its third universal periodic review in november 2021 we maintain that our christian values unique culture and traditions complement the human rights and fundamental freedoms we commit to promote respect protect and fulfill excellencies we want a future of peaceful societies free from conflict and the threat of terrorism we condemn all acts of international terrorism and violence extremism which must be dealt with through international cooperation and in accordance with the un charter the elimination of all forms of weapons of mass destruction is a step closer to a world of peace the recent events in afghanistan highlight the plight of thousands of people fleeing their homes in search of refuge and safety we urge the global community to lend all possible humanitarian assistance to those in desperate need samoa continues to contribute to the peace and security agenda through its police peacekeepers we are embracing the many advantages cyberspace offers and our economy and quality of life are the better for it however we also recognize that they also pose as threats in some ways the increasing use of information communications technology has raised issues of security and privacy the exploitation of computers and telecommunications technology for criminal activities has increased incidents of hacking virus attacks access and dissemination and misuse of information and network security can no longer be ignored we look forward to actively engaging in discussions of the ad hoc committee to elaborate a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes for a small developing island nation like samoa we rely on the collective responsibility as a global community to prevent and combat high-tech cyber and electronic crimes including social media abuse and online child sexual exploitation the reality for us is that the criminals are more advanced than our nations in these technologies thus we need to work together to combat and eliminate these destabilizing activities excellencies accelerated action to meet the promise of the 2030 agenda and its sdgs is an imperative covert 19 and climate change have reversed hard-fought development games however we must persist in our efforts to meet the sdgs as they provide the best hope in our fight against the pandemic and the threat of the climate crisis we need to remind ourselves of the commitments and undertakings we made towards the full implementation of the samoa pathway the samoa pathway i thank all sids partners the secretary general and secretariat for their continuous support and commitment to this task the proposed monitoring firm framework for the samoa pathway is a necessary tool for follow-up action and review it will allow domestic and international resources to be better targeted towards greater accountability and transparency we urge that outstanding issues relating to the framework be concluded with urgency considering the fast approaching timeline set out in the secretary general's report on this matter small island developing states face a unique set of vulnerabilities which impede their ability to achieve sustainable development structural factors including their size remoteness and exposure to climate risk and natural disasters impact socioeconomic outcomes and their ability to achieve the sdgs the covet 19 pandemic exacerbated those vulnerabilities with many sids countries being particularly affected by the drop in international tourism and remittances consequently the call for and endorsement of a multi-dimensional vulnerability index will allow for the inclusion of more than just income-based criteria to assess eligibility for concessional finance samoa thanks the resident coordinator in the sids that work diligently towards the development of the mbi under the joint leadership of the un and government of samoa and in partnership with professor jeffrey sucks and the sustainable development solutions network we are appreciative of the fact that the mbis is a tool that provides for a richer lens on vulnerability we look forward to the joint review of the report of the secretary general on the way forward of the mbi and its use excellencies allow me to touch briefly on the system reform of our organization samoa unreservedly believes that the un is uniquely suited to coordinate and advance the cause of our global initiatives with the structural aspects of the reforms now well consolidated we should build on the momentum to continue effective implementation samoa looks forward to continuing an active role in the reform process to ensure that we have a u.n that is fit for purpose and highly tuned to meet the challenges of the future the continued strengthening of the resident coordinator system must include ending the fragmented approach at national level we caution against a heavy regional approach that does not respond to national needs and priorities we also further call for more clarity around the definition of roles against the inevitable constraints imposed by post covert 19 on resource availability in the immediate future we continue to call for starting text-based negotiations for the reform of the security council excellencies the fact that we continue to meet virtually is testament to the many challenges covet 19 has placed on us the pandemic has also directed our attention to the many code red alarms for humanity business as usual is not an option we must take this opportunity for breakthrough as the u.n secretary general puts it
for samoa our borders with the outside world have been closed since the advent of covert pandemic in the in early 2020 we have prioritized the safety and health of our people over economic considerations like other countries it was not an easy decision to take considering the imminent economic challenges that will follow key to our response to covet 19 is the full vaccination of our population we express our deep appreciation to the kovacs facility the un family regional organizations and our development partners especially australia japan and new zealand who were instrumental in samoa accessing sufficient vaccines to cover the eligible population discussions will continue with new zealand to secure relevant vaccines for our population under 17 years our vaccination rollout continues to ensure full population coverage and achieve herd immunity government introduced a whole of country lockdown this week for two days to carry out mass vaccinations excellencies multilateralism and united international cooperation is our best response to the many threats we face building resilience at the national level can only take us so far samoa is confident that despite all the challenges even existential threats for the some of us there is still hope if there is unity amongst our um family this can change our world for the better and leave hope for our future generations so far [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's how i don't feel
2021-09-30