It is my great
pleasure, Mr. President, to convey to you warm
congratulations from the delegation of Mali on your
election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-
ninth session. The unanimous vote that you received on
11 June is an honour for your country, Uganda, and is
a source of legitimate pride for all of Africa. I assure
you of our fullest support for success in your new
position. At the same time, I wish to congratulate your
predecessor, Ambassador John William Ashe, who so
ably led the Assembly during his tenure as President at
the sixty-eighth session. I should also like to pay tribute
to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his tireless
commitment to resolving the crisis in Mali and for the
laudable efforts he continues to make to promote peace,
security and development throughout the world.
Mr. President, you have established a useful
agenda and opted for continuity in selecting the central
theme of the sixty-ninth session, “Delivering on and
implementing a transformative post-2015 development
agenda”. I commend your choice. Indeed, since the
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
in 2012, our Organization has been engaged in various
intergovernmental processes to implement the slogan
“The future we want.”
In Rio de Janeiro, States Members of the United
Nations took up the challenge to provide a better
world for current and future generations. To deliver
on that undertaking, we will require noble, ambitious,
legitimate and strong leadership, strong political will,
constant determination and insight so as to ensure a
balanced integration of the three essential pillars of
sustainable development, namely, social, economic and
environmental. What we have heard over the past few
days leads us to believe that it is feasible.
However, as we prepare to embark on the design
phase of the transformative post-2015 programme, we
must first complete a vital task. My delegation wishes
to emphasize the need to ensure the full implementation
of the substantial prior commitments we undertook.
Accordingly, we want to make a heartfelt plea in favour
of expediting the implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). In sum, I would reiterate
that Mali subscribes to the core theme of this session,
which is relevant, thanks to its inclusive, universal,
ambitious and transformative aspects. The theme
not only includes all the essential components of the
outstanding MDGs, but it also focuses on the sustainable
development goals (SDGs), which will be based on a
transparent intergovernmental process.
Like other delegations, African and non-African
alike, that have spoken before me, I remain convinced
that the eradication of poverty by 2030 should be a
priority target of commitments relating to the post-2015
development agenda that we are to adopt. Fortunately,
the contribution of Africa to the current process is
already formalized in the Common African Position on
Post-2015 Development, adopted at the African Union
Summit in Malabo in June. That joint position makes
social, economic and environmental sustainability the
keystone of our continent’s development policy.
But the policy is also built on essential pillars, such
as the transformation of economic structures, inclusive
growth, science, technology, innovation, human-centred
development, environmental sustainability, and natural
resource and natural disaster risk management, as well
as peace and security. Naturally, we strongly support
the African position, the relevance and rightness of
which goes without saying. I also urge the international
community to diligently review the Common African
Position. The concerns of the continent listed in that
position statement were identified through a process
conducted with care and precision.
As we approach the 2015 deadline, Africa is again
faced with a terrible epidemic of the Ebola virus,
which has run rampant, this time in Guinea, Sierra
Leone, Liberia and other countries of West Africa. The
rapid onset and the scale of that new challenge have
sorely tested all the public-health systems already in
place. The individual capacities of our States, which
are fragile and in the process of being strengthened,
will not be sufficient to cope with the crisis. We must
pool our resources and redouble our efforts. We must
attack the new epicentres. Today more than ever, it is
important to adopt a common strategy to deal with this
epidemic, which brings grief to numerous homes every
day.
I want to express our appreciation to Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon for his efforts, and, in these
times of hardship, to assure our brother countries
of our support and active solidarity. I also wish to
commend and thank various nations, including France,
the United States of America, China and Cuba, which
immediately responded with short-, medium- and long-
term assistance, provided swiftly and in a balanced
manner. The pledges made have laid a foundation that
will be instrumental, if not in completely overcoming
the challenge immediately, at least in mitigating the
panic that has begun to spread in the affected countries.
A year ago from this rostrum (see A/68/PV.15),
I announced that my country, Mali, had rejoined the
community of free and democratic nations, with the
firm determination to write a new page in its history.
I also announced the commencement of the dialogue
process for peace and national reconciliation, which
we initiated in accordance with relevant Security
Council resolutions and the Ouagadougou Preliminary
Agreement, signed on 18 June 2013, between the
Government and armed groups in northern Mali.
Since that date, there have been significant
developments of a political and security nature
relating to the restoration of the authority of the State,
the protection of human rights, the development of
humanitarian action, the execution of the mandate
of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated
Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), and the
coordination of development activities and partnership
with the international community. In that context, the
Government of Mali has undertaken a wide range of
actions, covering decentralization — that is to say, an
even more radical devolution of powers previously held
by the central Government — the promotion of national
reconciliation and peaceful coexistence, development
effectiveness in northern Mali, good governance and
combating corruption and impunity.
The momentum was strengthened by the
Government’s organization of a series of meetings and
opportunities for dialogue, including the Open Forum
on Decentralization and the National Conference
on Northern Mali. Those meetings enabled all the
national stakeholders to come together, in an inclusive
and participatory manner, and to identify structural
weaknesses in our political and institutional systems,
as well as to lay the foundations for new democratic
governance. That will take into account the profound
realities of our society, such as its ethnic and cultural
diversity and the strengths that have enabled the
people of Mali to ensure and maintain, throughout
the centuries and despite all the vagaries of nature
and recurring political uncertainties, their social
cohesion, customary resilience and basic aspiration to
a continuous improvement of their economic and social
conditions.
Today, in Algiers, with the support of the
international community, Algeria is facilitating
a process that weaves the threads of an inclusive
inter-Malian dialogue into a comprehensive and
permanent peace. We thank Algeria for all its efforts
to help Mali. We hope that peace will be sustainable
and lasting and thus respond to the deepest aspirations
of our people. A first round of talks, held in Algiers
from 16 to 24 July, has led to the joint signing of a road
map on the basis of consensus and a declaration of
cessation of hostilities in the northern regions of Mali.
The Government and the armed groups in northern
Mali have since then continued their discussions on
what is called the second phase. Those discussions
should lead to deeper negotiations on a common vision
for the future, to gradually provide lasting solutions to
all the points of disagreement and start the final phase,
before ending with a peace agreement that will finally
be reached by the Malians themselves.
I would like to once again thank the African Union,
the Economic Community of West African States, the
United Nations, the European Union, the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation, Algeria, Burkina Faso,
Mauritania, the Niger, Nigeria, France, Switzerland
and others, which I will not name but which deserve to
be thanked for their tireless efforts for peace in Mali.
There are also other challenges to which we, as the
international community, must collectively respond,
especially in the Sahel region, which includes Mali.
The terrorist attacks carried out in Libya, Nigeria,
Kenya, Uganda, Tunisia and the Middle East, although
geographically spread out, in fact represent the same
serious threat to international peace and security. Here
I would like to pay a special tribute to the memory of
the French hostage, Hervé Gourdel, who was recently
murdered in such a cowardly and brutal manner in
Algeria. The very same day, that same barbarity was
illustrated in Mali, with the discovery of a decapitated
head hung up in a village marketplace. It belonged to a
former Malian soldier whose only crime was loyalty to
Mali and its Government.
We condemn terrorism, particularly when it is
carried out under the banner of religion. Islam has
been present in Mali since the eleventh century, and
it has been a tolerant and moderate Islam that is based
on humanism, the acceptance of others and the right to
differences. That has nothing to do with the Islam we
are seeing today.
We reiterate our profound gratitude to all those
who have worked for a return to peace and stability
in our country. On behalf of the grateful nation of
Mali, we honour the memory of all the brave soldiers
and civilians, from Mali and other friendly countries,
who have sacrificed their lives fighting against
obscurantism, terrorism and violent extremism.
The 2012 political and security crises in Mali
highlighted the complex and multiple challenges
facing all countries of the Sahel in terms of security,
governance, the protection of human rights and
development. Those challenges require concerted and
diligent efforts by the international community. They
should be met with a comprehensive approach and
targeted mechanisms. In that regard, I welcome the
adoption of the United Nations integrated strategy for
the Sahel, which offers a comprehensive and coherent
approach to finding lasting solutions to the threats and
challenges that beset the Sahel.
The first ministerial meeting to establish a platform
for coordinating the United Nations integrated strategy
for the Sahel, held in Bamako on 5 November 2013, is
part of that approach. After the meeting, the Ministers
for Foreign Affairs charged with coordinating the Sahel
countries agreed to hold meetings every six months with
a rotating chairmanship, which has been entrusted, for
the first two years, to my country, Mali. The second
meeting, also held in Bamako, on 16 May 2014, resulted
in the adoption of the Malian chair’s road map, which
focused in particular on coordinating the efforts of
partners and the national and regional ownership of the
various initiatives and strategies for the Sahel.
As a final note on this subject, I thank the bilateral
and multilateral partners and the financial institutions
committed to supporting the implementation of the
targeted projects and programmes within the United
Nations integrated strategy for the Sahel. We also thank
the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the
Sahel, Ms. Hiroute Guebre Selassie, and Mr. Romano
Prodi for his efforts to reconcile the various points of
view and to support Mali at the international level.
Mali remains firmly committed to the ideals of
peace and stability, both within and outside its borders.
I therefore welcome the progress achieved in terms
of reconstruction and national reconciliation in the
brotherly country of Guinea-Bissau. The successful
holding of presidential and parliamentary elections
bolsters the restoration of constitutional order in that
brotherly country.
Regarding the Central African Republic, Mali is
deeply concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian
situation there, and expresses its support for the United
Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization
Mission in the Central African Republic. We hope
its rapid deployment will put an end to the escalating
violence and thus protect civilian populations in that
brotherly country.
With respect to the Middle East, we are following
with great concern the developments in Syria, Lebanon
and Iraq, where the offensives of the terrorist group
called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant threaten
the sovereignty of that country and the stability of the
entire region. To the Palestinian people, we express
our solidarity in action and continue to work for
the implementation of the relevant United Nations
resolutions.
Mali remains firmly committed to the fight against
the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and
the eradication of the illicit trade in such weapons. To
be effective, that fight must be make use of the relevant
synergies. The consultation and cooperation framework
at the regional and international levels offers such
an opportunity. Similarly, the Government of Mali
deplores the erosion of multilateralism in the area of
disarmament, in particular the prolonged paralysis
in the United Nations Disarmament Commission.
However, we welcome the adoption by the General
Assembly, on 2 April 2013, of the Arms Trade Treaty
(resolution 67/234), as it represents true progress in that
area.
We note that the intergovernmental negotiations on
the reform of the Security Council have been ongoing
for two decades already. The main issues seem to
be the categories of membership, the question of the
veto, regional representation, enlargement of the
membership, the Council’s working methods and its
relations with the General Assembly. It seems to us that
all Member States are now convinced of the need for
a reform of the institutional framework of the United
Nations in order to strengthen its legitimacy and ensure
its effectiveness.
However, no significant progress has been made
in the specific case of the Security Council, despite
repeated calls from this same rostrum and multiple
meetings on the issue. Africa, despite the fact that it
represents 53 of the 193 States Members of the United
Nations today, remains the only continent that does
not have a permanent seat on the Security Council.
This situation is at odds with the values of equality and
justice that are the ideals espoused by our Organization.
Africa came up with and submitted a Common
Position that was agreed on at Ezulwini, reaffirmed in
Sirte and subsequently confirmed during several other
summits. This proposal, a fair and realistic solution,
calls for granting the African continent two permanent
seats with the right of veto and five other non-permanent
seats. It seems to us that the Council, thus reformed,
would better reflect the geopolitical realities of today’s
world, and the historic injustice done to Africa would
be repaired.
In conclusion, I would like recall that we are all
gathered here at the United Nations for the sake of
an ideal and because of a universal desire for peace,
justice and freedom. Millions of people around the
globe expect the United Nations to deliver peace,
security, development and international solidarity. We
have no right to disappoint them. As a community of
nations, we have the duty and the means to succeed
through collective awareness and the preservation of
our common values. That is the price of guaranteeing
future generations a sustainable development that would
protect them from the scourge of war and deprivation.