I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the
President on his election to preside over the General
Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. At the same time,
I would like to welcome the wise choice that he has
made to view his mandate as an extension of the work
of Ambassador John William Ashe, his predecessor, to
whom I pay a well-deserved tribute. I also commend the
President on having chosen a theme for the sixty-ninth
session that invites us to engage in a comprehensive
consideration of the post-2015 agenda. I would also like
to pay tribute to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and
reiterate to him the unwavering support of the Republic
of the Congo for the efforts he expends with devotion
and selflessness at the head of our Organization.
The world is in turmoil. Humankind lives in
fear of tensions and conflicts, which exist virtually
everywhere; of terrorism, which has become the
bogeyman of States; of old and new epidemics that
plague societies, especially the poorest among them;
of the persistent disparities among and within States;
and of climate change, which threatens our planet.
Those are the challenges that arouse a feeling of great
apprehension throughout the world.
In turn, they make us put our faith in the United
Nations, the only instrument available to the world in
its search for solutions to those many problems. In that
universal quest, the priority action of States must be
directed above all to peace, security and the conservation
of nature. For the world needs peace and security,
especially wherever senseless conflicts have developed,
such as in Syria, Ukraine, Iraq and between the Israelis
and the Palestinians. The world needs peace and security
in Africa, especially in Libya and throughout the entire
Sahel-Saharan region, in South Sudan, Central Africa
and the Great Lakes region. Africa needs the increased
support of the international community so that Somalia
can, once and for all, emerge from the abyss and so that
Mali can recover its integrity and unity. It needs such
support so that the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
which has now experienced a degree of calm, will not
again be plunged into the violence that afflicted it for
so many long years. Finally, it also needs that support
so that the positive developments seen in the Central
African Republic in recent weeks with the cessation
of hostilities agreement, signed in Brazzaville on
23 July, and the transfer of authority, on 15 September,
from the African-led International Support Mission
in the Central African Republic to the United Nations
Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in
the Central African Republic can be strengthened to
allow the Central African people to emerge from the
crisis that has lasted too long.
Africa needs the ongoing support of the
international community to curb maritime piracy,
which increasingly threatens the Gulf of Guinea, and
to combat terrorism, which extends from the Sahel
to the south of the continent, with the involvement of
many local networks. That also applies to Boko Haram,
which rages in Nigeria and seeks to spread its activities
towards Cameroon, and perhaps soon to other countries
if nothing is done to prevent it. The same goes for
the rebel movement known as Joseph Kony’s Lord’s
Resistance Army, which is still active in the Central
African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and Uganda.
In Central Africa, as elsewhere on the continent,
insecurity is often the result of a number of factors. There
are not only war and armed violence but also poverty
and endemic diseases, such as malaria, HIV/AIDS,
non-communicable diseases and Ebola haemorrhagic
fever. We commend the great spirit of solidarity shown
by the international community in assisting the African
countries affected by the Ebola epidemic to eradicate
that terrible scourge. In that regard, we welcome the
establishment of the United Nations Mission for Ebola
Emergency Response by the Secretary-General.
I would like to briefly address the issue of climate
change, which, as everyone knows, remains a major
threat to our planet. The Republic of the Congo, which
fully shares the Common African Position, supports the
conclusions of the Elysée Summit for Peace and Security
in Africa of 6 and 7 December 2013. The Climate
Summit held here in New York on 23 September saw
the announcement of firm commitments with a view
to the adoption of a universal, important and binding
agreement on both mitigation and adaptation at the
Paris summit in 2015.
In that regard, I would like to underscore the
importance for my country and for Africa of the
establishment of technology transfer and innovative
financing mechanisms and of ensuring the maximum
benefit and real implementation of the Green Climate
Fund, as well as the promotion of a substantive
programme to counter climate imbalance so as to
maximize the opportunities provided by combating
climate change.
Illicit logging and the illegal trade in fauna and
flora are another serious threat to the environment
and to biodiversity. In response to that international
environmental crime against biodiversity, during the
first half of 2015, my country will host in Brazzaville,
under the auspices of the African Union and in
partnership with the United Nations Environment
Programme, an international conference on the illegal
exploitation of and the illicit trade in the wild fauna and
flora of Africa.
The sixty-ninth session of the Assembly of our
Organization takes place on the eve of 2015, the
deadline for the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals. The review undertaken by
stakeholders at all levels has shown that we have not
reached those Goals owing to, inter alia, shortcomings
in their initial preparation and drafting. Africa is the
continent with the largest number of countries that will
not have achieved some MDGs by the 2015 deadline.
African leaders have adopted a Common Position on
the post-2015 development agenda in order to meet
those challenges. We call for the joint commitment
of all members to ensure that the Common African
Position is placed at the centre of our concerns in the
negotiations that should lead to the adoption of an
inclusive post-2015 development agenda.
Before I conclude, I would like to solemnly
reaffirm my country’s commitment to the promotion
and protection of fundamental human rights and
freedoms, the various mechanisms for the protection
of human rights and the universal periodic review
process, in which we have actively participated. In that
spirit, Congo seeks to enrich its legal and institutional
framework by strengthening its national system for the
promotion and protection of human rights, with the
full participation of civil society. In that context, the
Republic of the Congo has decided to present, in the
upcoming November elections to be held in New York,
its candidature for a second term on the United Nations
Human Rights Council for the period 2015-2017.
Sports, as a contributor to peace and development,
unites peoples. In that spirit, in September 2015
Brazzaville will host the eleventh All-African Games
on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of that
African youth festival.
In conclusion, I reaffirm my country’s commitment
to the ideals of our universal Organization and reiterate
our commitment to supporting the efforts of the
entire international community for peace, security
and development, on which depend the well-being of
humankind and the advent of the better world to which
we fervently aspire.