Like the
other Heads of State and Government who preceded
me at this rostrum, I, too, would like, on behalf of the
delegation of Côte d’Ivoire and on my own behalf, to
extend to you, Sir, our warmest congratulations on
your well-deserved election as President of the General
Assembly at its sixty-ninth session and to assure you of
our full support throughout your mandate. Your election
to this post does honour to your country, Uganda, and,
beyond its borders, to the entire African continent.
My congratulations also go to His Excellency John
Ashe, President of the General Assembly at its sixty-
eighth session, for his outstanding guidance of the work
of the Assembly throughout the past year. I should
like in particular to commend the Secretary-General,
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his dedication to the objectives
and ideals of the Charter of our Organization.
Now that the stage has been set and the ground
prepared, as we were urged to do at the sixty-eighth
session, the time is now ripe to translate into reality our
commitment and our vision of a world free from the
ravages of the poverty and vulnerability that still affect
millions of individuals.
I welcome, therefore, the relevance and the scope
of the theme of this session, “Delivering on and
implementing a transformative post-2015 development
agenda”, which is taking place in the framework of
the continuation of the previous session and reflects
our commitment to meet together the challenge of
development.
Since the adoption of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), in September 2000, and one year before
the deadline for their implementation, it should be
noted, as rightly stressed by the Secretary-General in
his recent report, that the main objectives have been, or
are in the process of being, achieved on a global scale
and that considerable efforts will be needed in order
for regions such as sub-Saharan Africa to in their turn
succeed in doing so.
At the national level, thanks to the efforts of my
Government, the implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals is tirelessly being pursued within
the framework of the implementation of the national
development programme and the strengthening of
cooperation with our partners. We will use the time
between now and the deadline of the end of 2015 to
accelerate efforts to reduce poverty, improve maternal
and child health, consolidate the remarkable progress
made in the fight against HIV/AIDS and concerning
access to primary education, and, finally, ensure access
to clean drinking water for all of our compatriots.
In the past three years, Côte d’Ivoire has
made a significant qualitative leap forward in the
implementation of the MDGs and intends to continue
with that same dynamic process. We entered the
twenty-first century determined to conquer poverty
and inequality, and to build a world of opportunity. The
MDGs have been the vehicle for this great ambition and
the impetus for a solidarity of the kind rarely expressed
in this forum. At a time when the world that we wish to
see post-2015 is taking shape, the MDGs are becoming
clearer. We must finally give the most vulnerable
peoples a decent life; we must also give our planet a
reprieve and the opportunity to exist for centuries to
come.
The post-2015 agenda should pay particular
attention to the priorities of the developing countries,
particularly those of African countries, as set out in the
African Common Position, which my country supports.
The intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015
development agenda should therefore be inclusive and
balanced and achieve specific, measurable objectives
so as to facilitate their ownership by States and regions.
The adoption of the post-2015 development
programme next year will take place in a favourable
economic context for Africa. Indeed, Africa has become
one of the most attractive regions for international
investors and one of the most dynamic in the world,
with the annual growth rate of its gross national product
at 4.5 per cent on average over the past 15 years.
Africa offers unique opportunities in the areas of
infrastructure, energy, agriculture, employment and the
capability of ensuring food security for the continent.
The health sector and that of combating climate change
are also active.
Africa is entering an era of progress and development
that will depend on its security environment. Indeed,
the unprecedented spread of terrorism from the Horn
of Africa to the Sahelo-Saharan area, the explosion of
maritime piracy, various types of criminal trafficking,
and, more recently, the resurgence of pandemics such
as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, which has been ravaging
certain countries in West Africa, are threatening the
African continent and risk making it lose a decade of
human progress and economic growth. Unlike the wars
of yesteryear, these trans-border threats will in the long
term spare no State and no region. That is why we must
face them collectively.
The current international mobilization against
terrorism and extremism is very positive. However, it
would benefit from being extended to Africa in order
to sustainably destroy the terrorist movements that are
now active at the doors of Europe. Africa must not be
the forgotten continent in the fight against terrorism.
I know that Africa is not alone in facing these
threats. I would like to reiterate here my sincere
gratitude to our bilateral and multilateral partners,
including France, the United States of America, the
United Nations, the European Union and the African
Union, which all are by our side. I should like in
particular to thank President François Hollande for the
decisive role played by France in the resolution of the
crises in Mali, Guinea-Bissau and the Central African
Republic, as well as for the convening of the Elysée
Summit for Peace and Security in Africa and the recent
conference of heads of State on the question of Boko
Haram in Nigeria.
I wish to thank President Barack Obama for the
important measures he announced in August at the
United States-Africa Summit, which will help to
strengthen African capacities to combat terrorism. I
also wish to thank him, and, through him, the American
people for the bold, outstanding measures taken by the
Government of the United States of America to help
West Africa to overcome the Ebola epidemic. Those
measures, in addition to those taken by the World
Health Organization, non-governmental organizations,
France, the United Kingdom, the World Bank, Japan,
the European Union and other countries, must serve as
an impetus for an international mobilization.
In the same spirit, I would like to acknowledge
the support provided by the international community
to the brotherly country of Nigeria in its fight against
the terrorist group Boko Haram, and commend the
African Union for its decisive involvement in Somalia.
The fact remains that, with respect to the Sahel and the
fight against Boko Haram, the major Powers and the
United Nations need to go further in their support for
the continent and show the same determination as that
has been demonstrated by France against the terrorists
in northern Mali.
For Africa, security is the primary sustainable
development goal that must be achieved. In the quest
for stability and security, the consolidation of the
continent’s various partnerships is a true lifeline to
the future. Those partnerships also provide solidarity,
openness and development. They must ultimately enable
us to pursue together the fight for the eradication of
poverty, while taking into account the three dimensions
of sustainable development: the economic, social and
environmental dimensions.
Sustainable development is inclusive, and that is
what we want for our people. In that respect, I recall
the need to focus on developing methods for cleaner
production and for reversing the current trend of global
warming. In the light of the pronouncements we made
at the Climate Summit, held on 23 September here in
New York, a final effort will certainly be needed to
reach an ambitious climate agreement in 2015 at the
Paris summit.
I would like now to turn to the situation in Côte
d’Ivoire. My country is at peace and at work. It has
regained its partners’ trust, as shown in particular by
the definitive return of the African Development Bank
to Abidjan. Thanks to the unity of Ivorians, the strength
of our national institutions and the reforms undertaken
by the Government, economic growth continues to be
strong and is close to reaching double digits.
At this stage in my country’s path towards
economic transformation and inclusive development,
the major work that remains is that of strengthening
national reconciliation and caring for and protecting the
most vulnerable of my countrymen. That will involve,
fundamentally, restoring meaning to the concept of
solidarity and the national pact underpinning the Ivorian
nation. Today, Côte d’Ivoire is an ambitious nation that
has set a course towards democratic institutions and
exemplary governance.
Let me conclude by highlighting that a better world
for all is possible. We all need to believe in it and
work with determination to achieve it. The sustainable
development goals will be achieved if national efforts are
supported by the expected level of official development
assistance, the level to which the developed countries
have committed. The post-2015 development agenda
will be an asset that will enable our countries to meet
the challenges our people and especially our youth will
face in a changing world.