On behalf of
the Government of the Republic of Angola, allow me
to congratulate you, Mr. Sam Kutesa, on your election
as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth
session, and to assure you of my country’s support as
you fulfil your mission. I would also like to congratulate
Ambassador John William Ashe for the competent
manner in which he led the work of the previous
session. We extend our greetings to Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon and commend him for his commitment to
finding solutions to the issues facing the international
community.
This session of the General Assembly is taking
place in an environment that gives rise to concern
due to the aggravation of international tensions, the
intensification of conflicts and the deepening of global
crises that require effective and sustainable solutions.
It is a matter of consensus that the solutions to common
challenges are to be found in multilateral negotiations
and should take into account the specificities of each
country and each people. The United Nations has
always been and will continue to be the mainstay of
Member States’ participation in decision-making on
issues of concern to the international community and
in upholding the global values of tolerance and peaceful
and harmonious coexistence of countries and peoples,
in accordance with the principles set forth in the Charter
of the United Nations and international law.
Angola would once again like to reiterate the
importance of all Member States joining in efforts
to make the United Nations a strong and effective
organization, and one that serves as the basis for a more
balanced, fair and inclusive international legal order
and global security system, while promoting confidence
among States and strengthening relations of friendship
and international cooperation. Our Organization should
pay special attention to the resurgence of armed conflicts
and their negative effects on populations, as well as to
arms flows, trafficking in drugs and human beings,
transnational organized crime, international terrorism
and piracy — all phenomena that have an adverse
impact on economic development and consequently
impede the improvement of living conditions.
Religious fundamentalism in some African
countries is taking on such violent proportions that
it poses a threat to regional security, with serious
consequences for peace, stability and development.
Angola strongly condemns the acts committed by
terrorist groups and expresses its support for efforts to
ensure the full neutralization of those groups. Angola
supports efforts to strengthen the crisis-management
capacity of the United Nations and considers dialogue
and negotiation to be the best means of resolving
conflicts.
We will continue to meet our international
obligations, with special emphasis on the African
continent and the regional groupings in which we
operate, including the Southern African Development
Community, the Economic Community of Central
African States, the African countries that use Portuguese
as an official language, the Gulf of Guinea Commission
and the International Conference on the Great Lakes
Region, with a view to defining mechanisms and forms
of cooperation with the United Nations, the African
Union, the Community of Portuguese-speaking
Countries and other international partners.
Angola assumed the rotating presidency of the
International Conference on the Great Lakes Region
in January, and in that forum continues to promote the
resolution of conflicts on the African continent with a
view to attaining stability, political and institutional
development, internal and border security, good
governance and human rights. It is in that context
that Angola is engaged in the peace processes in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African
Republic and the Great Lakes region.
The Ebola epidemic is an issue of great concern.
The position of the Security Council, which declared
the epidemic to be a threat to international peace and
security, fully reflects the seriousness of the situation.
A decisive commitment on the part of the international
community is required if the scourge is to be combated
and eradicated.
We reiterate the need to reform and revitalize the
United Nations system, in particular the need to reform
the Security Council, which should be brought into
line with the current international context and whose
membership should reflect an equitable geographical
representation through an increase in the number of
permanent members. Angola reiterates the right of the
African continent to sit among the permanent members
of the Council.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the lack of
progress in finding a lasting solution are a major cause
of widespread instability in the Middle East, and
also the root cause of the resurgence of terrorism in
the region. That situation worries the Government of
Angola. We call for political will and flexibility from
both parties, and we encourage the Secretary-General
and the United States Secretary of State to continue
their mediation efforts with a view to establishing a
sovereign and independent Palestinian State, as well as
a modus vivendi to ensure that the two States coexist
in peace and security within internationally recognized
borders.
The impasse in resolving the question of Western
Sahara continues to delay the exercise of the right
to self-determination of the people of that territory.
Angola calls on the parties to continue negotiations
under the auspices of the United Nations and the
African Union in order to find a solution in accordance
with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations
and resolution 1514 (XV) of December 1960.
With regard to the situation in the Ukraine, Angola
deplores the loss of human lives caused by instability
in the region and calls for dialogue between the parties
involved to find a political solution to the conflict.
The situations in Somalia and South Sudan
remain cause for concern. However, there has been
some encouraging progress, which is why we urge
the authorities in those countries and the international
community to continue their efforts for stabilization.
Angola welcomes the constitutional normalization in
some African countries. We welcome the holding of
democratic elections in Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar
and Egypt, and we express our solidarity with the
national reconciliation and reconstruction processes
and the economic and social development in those
countries.
The Government of Angola expresses its
appreciation for the choice of the central theme of
this session, “Delivering on and implementing a
transformative post-2015 development agenda”. It is
greatly relevance, especially for the least developed
countries. The progress made in some of those
countries is far behind the targets of the Millennium
Development Goals, due to structural issues, and is
insufficient to mitigate the persistent effects of the
economic problems.
With one year remaining until the final assessment
of the achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals, our economies continue to suffer the effects of
the international economic and financial crisis, which
create barriers to economic growth and hinder the
implementation of programmes to combat poverty and
improve the living conditions of our peoples. However,
we note with satisfaction that the African continent
has ceased to present the image of desolation it did at
the beginning of the millennium. A new reality has
emerged in which African countries boast an average
growth of 5 per cent per year and improvements in
several human development indicators. We believe that
the trend of progress will prevail in the near future,
and we will do everything to make it so by investing in
future generations on the basis of the objectives of the
New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the post-
2015 road map and the African Agenda 2063.
Angola is implementing its National Development
Plan 2013-2017, which aims to increase the supply of
social services to the population, diversify the economy
and consolidate macroeconomic stability, thus laying
the foundation for the process of graduation to a
middle-income country.
Angola reiterates the need to end the economic and
financial embargo imposed on Cuba, which limits the
right of the Cuban people to development and is a clear
violation of the principles and rules of international law.
Finally, we appreciate and have been touched by
the support that Angola has received from numerous
countries for its candidature to be a non-permanent
member of the Security Council for the 2015-2016
biennium, elections for which will place during the
Assembly’s present session. Once elected to that
important organ, we will work with partners in the
Council to seek solutions to the serious problems
facing the international community and to make a real
contribution to peace and security in the world.