Senegal

Senegal welcomes Mr. Kerim’s election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-second session. We congratulate him and will support him as he carries out his important responsibilities. His predecessor, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of the Kingdom of Bahrain, a country which is a friend to Senegal, deserves our tribute and appreciation for her outstanding contribution, throughout her term of office, to the revitalization of the General Assembly. I also would like to take a moment to acknowledge my brothers and sisters in the diaspora, who this year commemorated the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery. That shameful and repugnant trade constituted the worst of attacks on the dignity of the human person, as did its continuation, colonization. That is why I would now solemnly warn against horrendous revisionist arguments that attempt in vain to falsify history. Colonialism in its design and exclusive logic of domination, exploitation and enslavement cannot boast of any civilizing mission or any positive fallout, because by its very nature it is a negation of the human condition. We must remain vigilant and mobilized. In Senegal we say yes, we will forgive, but we will not forget or agree to manipulation. The high-level discussion we held on 24 September on the serious issue of climate change confirms once again the terrible threat that is hanging over our planet. I therefore welcome the initiative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, to put this crucial issue at the very heart of our agenda. We have all seen the damage done. Mankind has not been wise. We have, with greater or lesser awareness, destroyed this Earth which God has lent to us. We must beseech his forgiveness. Combating climate change demands innovative solutions, which must take into account the special situation of countries that are not significant polluters but which nevertheless suffer from the serious consequences of this phenomenon of the modern age. Senegal is aware of its responsibility to join the struggle against pollution. Therefore, in exploiting our mineral resources, we take particular care to restore the ecosystem and to use non-polluting practices and technologies. We have also prohibited the importation of used cars more than five years old and of household appliances that pollute. As we have already mentioned, we do not want Africa to be a dumping ground for outdated technology from Europe or elsewhere. We are also gradually establishing a policy of combating coastal erosion. On the Atlantic coast, at the high-tide line, we are building a reinforced concrete wall on the granite or clayey base of the continental shelf, 2.5 to 3 metres deep by 40 centimetres thick, to slow the advance of the sea. Experts say that the wall will stop the sea’s advance for 50 to 100 years. We have done this on an experimental basis, since it is very expensive. The wall costs $2,000 per metre. We have constructed 2 kilometres as an example, to show that it is possible, because we consider it the ultimate weapon. We are also launching a project for ports leading into free zones, alternating with tourist complexes, along the Atlantic coast; that is also a way of stopping the advance of the sea. Coastal erosion, from Morocco to Mauritania to Senegal, is a threat which the international community must take very seriously. In the Sahel region, we Africans are also planting what we call the great green wall, 7,000 kilometres long by 150 kilometres wide from Dakar to Djibouti. We have not waited; each of us in our own country has begun to create the “wall”. The European Union and France, as Mr. Sarkozy has said, are ready to provide us with loans to help with the wall in order to stop the encroaching Sahel and the process of desertification. We have also tried to take advantage of the billions of tons of water that, each year during the rainy season, fall on the Sahel and are absorbed by the earth or flow into the sea. In Senegal we have therefore built holding basins in the most low-lying areas, where runoff water accumulates. We have built 250 of these basins; we are walking the walk. The African countries meeting in Bamako have decided to implement this programme, from Dakar to Djibouti, to create such a “wall” to stop the encroaching desert. At Senegal’s initiative, non-oil-producing countries have now established an association that we call the Green OPEC, with the aim of protecting our interests. We call on the international community to take on the excess costs with which we have been burdened owing to increases in the price of oil. We also want to turn Africa towards producing biofuels. For this reason, I welcome the launch, here in New York on 2 March 2007, of the International Biofuels Forum. As President of the African Non-Petroleum Producers Association, I solemnly request that all of the Forum’s initiatives and participants pursue our common goal of promoting alternative energy sources. As we pursue economic and social development in the South, African countries in particular continue to face insurmountable obstacles, such as agricultural subsidies in developed countries. We have already talked about that subject enough. Paradoxically, at the same time that our countries are being forced to open their markets in the name of free trade, developed countries are subsidizing their own products, so we are no longer able to export our products to the developed world. As I said at the Group of Eight summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, Africa is not poor. It has been impoverished by unjust trade practices and by the exploitation of its resources, which are not bought at their true price. I wish to add that trade measures are not in themselves enough to wipe out the injustice that has been done. We also need genuine economic measures. If we want to fend off the advance of poverty, we must be creative. But first, what is poverty? It is certainly not an income of less than a dollar a day, the definition advocated by the United Nations. Poverty, in my view, is a set of unmet needs. Poverty is a leaky roof, or not having a roof over one’s head at all. It is poor-quality food, no drinking water, no clothing, no health care, no education or training. Lastly, being poor is not having a clean environment. That is what I call the cluster of needs, which is an entire set of needs and, as we can see, not just a monetary assessment. What are we in Senegal doing? We have launched a programme to build housing, called the Jaxxay plan, under the slogan of “one family, one roof”. We build nice, affordable homes. For less than $70 a month, people can become homeowners in Senegal. The development in which we are building those houses provides health, education and other services. That is how we are trying to combat poverty. Allow me to turn to the digital revolution. We believe that Africa has a great opportunity, because the digital revolution is happening now. The Internet contains all the knowledge in the world. Africans must therefore have access to the Internet for their training, information and educational needs and in their universities and schools. For that reason, as Africa’s representative to the World Summit on the Information Society, organized by the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva in 2003, I proposed a Global Digital Solidarity Fund to bridge the digital gap that separates us from the developed world. After many ups and downs, the Fund is now supported by all of the Members of the United Nations. Unfortunately, the majority have not yet formalized their acceptance of this Fund or have begun paying into it. However, all countries in principle are members of this Fund, which seeks to provide computers to Africa and to be involved in various programmes, like healthcare telematics. In Geneva we launched what is called the Geneva Principle, which asks countries and producers of information and communication technology to voluntarily donate one per cent of the amount of each transaction to the Digital Solidarity Fund. Let us now discuss the Security Council and the need for Africa to have a seat therein, irrespective of any question of reform. It is the only continent which is not represented in the Security Council, even though it has been said that 70 per cent of the Council’s business involves Africa. Today, Senegal is at peace I shall not dwell on this and we are trying to provide the materials and the personnel needed for Darfur. Senegal is increasing its contingent from 150 to 1,600 and is also providing all the police for the operation conducted by the African Union and the United Nations. The Middle East situation still gives serious concern and I wish to reconfirm Senegal’s unwavering support for the just cause of the Palestinian people in their legitimate quest for a viable State. We support all efforts to that end. Remembering the last two wars, we must really try to achieve peace. Peace is not just the absence of war as somebody said this morning. We must combat war in the minds of men, particularly young people. In March 2008, Senegal will have the honour of hosting the eleventh Islamic Summit Conference. It is, therefore, my deepest hope that we will make progress towards achieving peace in accordance with our religion and the Qur’an. I have already proposed an Islamic-Christian dialogue, which would be a first step towards dialogue among peoples. We believe that if the leaders of the world meet together and make a real appeal for tolerance as a legacy from this generation to future generations, then we will have taken a step forwards towards understanding among the various religions. This is absolutely essential to the establishment of peace. We know that Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oligopoly increases the price of oil as it wishes by manipulating supply I know this because I am an economist. I realize that it is the law of the market, but the rest of us suffer from it. I propose that whenever OPEC increases the price of oil, it voluntarily add 2 per cent, but not as a tax: 1 per cent to combat poverty and 1 per cent to combat environmental degradation. Out of the $200 million of profits from Africa, this would be at least $40 million and you won’t feel it more than you do just now, because a barrel which cost $29 in December 2003 now costs over $81.