NIUE - NIOUÉ

His Excellency Frank Fakaotimanava Lui, Premier of the Republic of Niue

Kindly lend me your ears. It is my pleasure to be here in this lovely country. May I take this opportunity to thank my hosts for the warm welcome and hospitality and the opportunity to participate in this conference. Despite the size of my country and this being our first attendance at this forum, it is my intention to give a brief presentation and to share some observations towards the theme of this conference.

Before doing that, however, I think it is important that I share with you brief details of where I come from, which may explain our perspective on this issue. I come from a very small and isolated island in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean where our nearest neighbour is 200 miles away. It is good to see some of our Pacific friends represented here today. Of a total population of 16 000 people, only 2 500 have remained on Niue with the majority living in New Zealand. Needless to say, we have close ties with New Zealand and we enjoy rights of citizenship with that country.

Our total land area is 259 kms² but only 20 percent of that is suitable for agricultural production. We are very fortunate in that, surrounded by the clean, clear waters of the Pacific Ocean, offering an abundance of marine food resources, a favourable tropical climate and fertile pockets of soil, food is in plentiful supply all year round. This does not mean we are problem-free, of course, for we are also aid-dependent in order to meet some of our development needs. There is a tendency for those like ourselves, who enjoy some of nature's abundant bounty and live at a great distance from starving populations, to dismiss the suffering plight of those people as something that is happening on another planet and a different world away. In our case, although we are seen to be isolated, at a great distance from all major continents and international business communities, our very modern communications systems fortunately keeps reminding us that, small and isolated as we are, we are still very much part of this planet.

Television, in particular, every evening brings to our homes the vivid realities of belonging to a human race. The scale of the problem caused by food poverty presents a huge challenge to the international community. Given the scale of the problem and its international dimension, it is indeed timely that the FAO Conference last year sought endorsement of the United Nations General Assembly to focus international opinion on the problem by inviting the participation of world leaders.

Niue supports the initiatives taken by FAO in bringing this issue to the attention of world leaders and would lend its support to any Plan of Action that is considered appropriate by the Summit. Because of the size of our economy and the smallness of our population, there is not a great deal that Niue can offer in terms of practical or even financial assistance, but through regional organizations of which Niue is a member, it may be possible to coordinate a cooperative approach in carrying out any proposed plans. For example, Niue is a member of the South Pacific Forum of Regional Heads of Government which meets annually to discuss economic and political issues that affect the region, through the FAO Sub-Regional Office in Western Samoa; that may be the appropriate body to facilitate any Plan of Action.

I note with some interest Resolution 2/95 of this Conference that lists factors such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, industry, commerce, transport, labour, timber issues, health and finance, as all having an impact on national food security. These are also concerns shared by the South Pacific Forum in relation to our own region. Global warming, freshwater management and over-population are issues that are close to our hearts. Low-lying island nations in our region would be devastated by any changes of sea levels as a result of global warming. I must therefore urge this Summit that any Plan of Action dealing with food insecurity must be comprehensive and include the banning of all substances that contribute to global warming and include responsible mechanisms to deal with natural disasters and the unexpected.

As a further suggestion, there may be some merits in dealing with these issues on a regional basis for there will be geographical and cultural considerations, such as those in the South Pacific Region, that affect a uniform international approach. Niue is looking to those with proven skills and nations which are well developed and resource-rich to provide the leadership that is required for such a complex and challenging task.

I would like to finish off by reassuring those countries who are spending billions of dollars in trying to find out whether there is life on the red planet, Mars, that there is life on Earth. We believe the earthlings need nourishment much more than any Martians on the red planet.

We wish the Director and Conference well and thank the United Nations for its tireless efforts in resolving all manner of crises worldwide and pray for the commitment of all and the success of the Rome Declaration on World Food Security.