On behalf of the Government and people of Belize, with great pleasure I congratulate His Excellency, Sam Kutesa in his capacity as President of the 69th Session of the General Assembly.
Mr. President, I also take this opportunity to register our thanks to his predecessor, our own son of the Caribbean soil, H.E. Mr. John Ashe who performed his role with commendable excellence and leaves a legacy of lasting value to this organization.
Mr. President, your chosen theme, “Delivering on and implementing a transformative post 2015 development agenda” is ambitious, hopeful, and challenging.
Belize commends you on its selection. We will in the succeeding twelve months closely monitor and contribute its crafting and evolution. You posit that this newagenda should and I quote “Promote, sustained and inclusive economic growth, safeguard the future of our planet, and lead to the achievement of sustainabledevelopment.” And that “the eradication of poverty and hunger will be at its core.” Belize views these outcomes as more than aspirational. They are imperatives for us. Failure to attain them will result in dire consequences for our nation and people. They call for a transformative mobilization in our societies at the organic level. For that to happen we must inspire and equip all actors in our societies with the requisite tools to shoulder their responsibilities and partake in the dividends of sustainable economic growth with equity and social justice.
The experiences we have had in seeking to achieve the Millennium Development Goals make us less than sanguine that we will be more successful in achieving the post 2015 development agenda than we were in pursuit of the millennium development goals.
We are mindful that the support which some developed member states had pledged to provide for the pursuit of the MDGs did not materialize in the quantum that was pledged and needed.
Small countries like my own, in the main, are disadvantaged by the lack of resources and human, financial, scientific and technological capacities that are prerequisites for the successful undertaking of such ambitious and complex initiatives. Without cooperation and support to address these needs from the developed member states of this United Nations, other multi-lateral agencies, and very importantly, a reform of the policies of international financial institutions, Belize's attainment of the post 2015 development agenda will be severely stymied.
