Prime Minister Samoa UNGA 75th Anniversary High Level Meeting

Statement by Honourable Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of the Independent State of Samoa at the High Level Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the UN

21 September 2020 : UN Headquarters New York Virtual meeting 'The Future We Want, the UN We Need: Reaffirming our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism'.

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

75 years of existence means resilience, adaptability, relevance and sustainability.

Our world has enjoyed peace and security throughout this time, a tribute to our members for respecting the Charter of our organization.

But much more needs to be done if we are to maintain the status quo. Samoa reaffirms its faith and commitment to our organization for the protection, equality and empowerment that multilateralism provides to small island nations like Samoa. With no defence force and an unarmed police service, our UN membership is grounded on the promise of peace, rule of law, equality and justice that it offers every member state.

The UN is uniquely suited to respond effectively to the greatest challenges of our time including climate change, poverty, armed conflicts, inequality and pandemics.

The United Nations played a vital role in Samoa’s journey as a nation. It began when we graduated from the UN trust territory status to become the first Pacific island nation to gain independence 58 years ago, and the UN has been a trusted partner since. Samoa joined the UN in 1976 because we wanted to contribute to our organization’s goals as a dependable and committed member. We opened the UN multi-country office three years after becoming a UN member state and we now have fifteen (15) offices or representatives of the UN system based in Samoa. We have graduated from LDC status, contributed to peacekeeping efforts, served on boards of UN funds and programmes, and contributed judges and experts to the ICC, UN and the Human Rights treaty bodies.

Samoa has joined around 50 UN Conventions with active participation and engagement in the Human Rights, Oceans, Environmental and Disarmament Conventions. We take pride in contributing to the continued recognition of SIDS as a ‘special case’ for sustainable development, the hosting of the 2014 UN SIDS Conference and the resultant blue print for SIDS sustainable development – the SAMOA Pathway.

We have also proactively participated in the many UN reforms that have taken place and continue to provide Pacific and SIDS specific solutions and experiences to multilateral joint effort to guarantee human rights, achieve peace and security, and effectively pursue sustainable development. This is the promised future we want.

Excellencies, Samoa is a Christian, Pacific small island developing state with a vision for all Samoans to live quality lives. This vision is underpinned by our unique communal faa-Samoa culture and traditions that are key to our order, stability and security and the pursuit of our sustainable growth, social progress, and environmental sustainability. Our UN is a multilateral forum where all contributions count, and Samoa proudly cherishes having a seat at the UN table to contribute to our global challenges, being heard and being part of the solution.

To all our members, let’s capitalize on our “unity in diversity” and work as nations united for the common good of mankind.

Soifua.