Reception in Honour of the Delegations of the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles to the United Nations

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this reception, hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat in honour of the joint delegation of the Governments of the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles, as they prepare to present to the United Nations their Joint Submission concerning the continental shelf.

This reception has been organised in celebration of this accomplishment by Seychelles and Mauritius and also in recognition of the international significance of this particular submission.

In this regard, I note that this submission is groundbreaking. It not only represents the first submission to be lodged by any country in either the African or Indian Ocean regions, but perhaps more importantly, it is also the first submission to be developed collaboratively by two Small island States.

Through the making of this submission lodged on 2 December 2008, the two countries are seeking to re‑affirm their rights to, and to define the limits of, an area of seabed—the extended continental shelf—which, I am advised, extends over 387,000 square kilometres. To put this in perspective, the area being claimed is larger in size than the land area of Germany.

The foundation for the making of the Submission was first laid in 1982, when the international community adopted the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea—a multilateral treaty that is now in force for some 157 nations including 47 Commonwealth Member Countries. It is generally heralded as one of the great international law making achievements of our time.

The impact of the adoption of this Convention has been particularly significant for developing coastal States and Small Islands States, as it has empowered them to exercise rights over, manage and conserve the valuable and exhaustible resources of their oceans and seas—resources have, and will remain, vitally important to the economic development, culture and way of life of many Small Island States, developing countries and their peoples.

It should not be overlooked that in completing the submission, the Governments of Seychelles and Mauritius have had to overcome many obstacles, having first commenced work some 15 years ago.

It should at this point be emphasised that the development of a submission on the continental shelf is a legally demanding and technically challenging exercise. Developing and Small Island States in particular face many obstacles embarking upon such a task, due often to geographic isolation and a lack of technical capacity and financial and human resource constraints.

One may ask why two Small Island States would embark upon a process that has demanded a sustained effort over so many years. Indeed, there is often a tendency to downplay the importance of work of this kind—to dismiss it as little more than an exercise in placing lines on a map, or perhaps more controversially, the placement of flags on the seabed.

Well, that may be to a limited degree correct, but the real motivation is far more resonant and far-reaching, as it involves issues that are fundamental to the sustainable development of many small island nations and developing countries.

At its core is a desire by Governments to position a nation to access, manage and conserve the resources of the oceans and seabed, and thereby provide for the economic, social and cultural well-being of present and future generations.

As such, the making of a continental shelf submission is an investment in the future. Understood in this way, the justification is clear. And the potential benefits to a nation enormous.

One of the most pleasing aspects of the submission made by Seychelles and Mauritius has been the wisdom that has underpinned its development. In this regard, I refer to the fact that both countries have successfully addressed some difficult issues, including overlapping entitlements to the continental shelf in the area covered by the submission.

The existence of overlapping maritime entitlements has been a repeated source of uncertainty, and a hindrance to development for many countries throughout the world. And had the existence of unresolved boundaries between Mauritius and Seychelles been permitted to overshadow work by the two countries, it could have derailed their efforts.

However, the Governments of Mauritius and Seychelles have succeeded in transforming a potential source of disagreement into a bond of cooperation, and to their great credit, have viewed the existence of overlapping claims as providing a unique opportunity for collaboration and the mutual exchange of ideas.

And this course of action has proven to be a great success, not only in terms of the preparation of the submission, but also in laying the groundwork for joint management and greater cooperation between the two countries on issues of oceans governance generally. The experience serves as an example to other nations as to what may be achieved through cooperation and consensus.

Of course, I am very pleased that the Commonwealth Secretariat has been able to contribute to the success of this endeavour through the provision of legal, strategic and technical assistance to both Governments by the Economic and Legal Section (ELS) of the Secretariat’s Special Advisory Services Division.

And I note that the Commonwealth Secretariat has played an important and unique role in advising Commonwealth Member Countries on maritime boundary issues for many years. Indeed, some 25 Member Countries have benefited from this advice over the years, with many continuing to do so, particularly in terms of the preparation of extended continental shelf submissions.

Happily, the submission that we are celebrating today represents but the first of a series of continental shelf submissions—some joint, others individual—that will soon be made by Member countries that have been the recipients of assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Economic and Legal Section, through the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation.

And I believe that this experience bears testament to the value of the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation as a critical source of expertise, advice and assistance to those Commonwealth Member States that need it most.

Finally, I note that the role of the Commonwealth Secretariat in this field highlights the Commonwealth’s commitment to Small Island States and to developing countries by assisting them to address those issues that most directly affect their wellbeing and continued sustainable economic development.