23rd March 2022
Mr. President, Excellencies, Colleagues and Friends,
At the outset, please allow me to express on behalf of the Government and people of Kiribati our heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of the United States over the sad untimely passing of Former Ambassador and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. May she rest in peace.
Mr. President,
Kiribati supports and aligns itself with the Pacific Island Forum statement, as delivered by Ambassador Prasad of Fiji, and would like to add the following points in its national capacity.
We the people of Kiribati cannot help feeling so sad, distressed and having difficulty enjoying normal life for the past four weeks in seeing images of a war being fought in Ukraine in which:-
(1) human beings are torn apart or dying in agony and pain;
(2) human beings’ homes and other vital possessions being destroyed
(3) human beings having no food and drink for days:
(4) human beings living in fear every minute of the day
(5) human beings fleeing from their beloved home villages and towns and turning themselves into refugees in other places;
(6) parents crying over their killed children and children crying over their killed father or mother or both;
(7) wives crying over the body of their killed husbands and vice versa;
(8) too many human beings in uniform falling and going down into graves and leaving behind single mothers and fatherless children.
Because our Kiribati culture, like other island cultures and traditional societies, is deeply rooted in the sacredness and sanctity of every human person, we cannot help feeling sad, distressed and longing for meaningful ways to address the cries of innocent helpless lives in Ukraine at this time.
When Kiribati joined the United Nations 23 years ago, it did so in the belief that as a small sovereign state with no military or defense force, its future safety and security lies in the capable hands of the United Nations where all nations, large or small, rich or poor, powerful or powerless are treated equal under a supreme global law embodied by the United Nations Charter that guides all civilized nations and peoples of the world to follow agreed good and decent human codes of conduct between and among themselves. We placed great faith in the wisdom of the founding fathers of the UN, five of whom were placed at its pinnacle to ensure that humanity suffers no more from wars. We humbly request these five founding nations to faithfully honour the sacred trust and duty that were bestowed upon them so that all wars end and world peace is established for all nations and peoples now and in the future.
Mr. President
The Russia- Ukraine political and military conflict that has played a doom and gloom humanitarian crisis on the world stage for the past four weeks has touched the depth of our humanity and we are therefore compelled to come out and do what we can to lend support for our fellow humans who continue to suffer from the horrors of the terrible war before us.
Our best help and support for this mounting humanitarian crisis is to cosponsor and vote yes for this resolution and to respectfully request all member states of the UN family to jointly play their parts in whatever way they can, materially and spiritually, to restore peace in Ukraine, Russia and the rest of the world.
Thank you.