At the beginning of my statement, I would like to convey my
sincere congratulations to you, Sir, on your election to
the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-
second session. Your election, Mr. President,
constitutes undoubtedly significant recognition of your
country for its prioritized and resolute actions with
respect to implementation of the goals of the United
Nations. But it is also, in personal terms, the successful
outcome of a long and fruitful career as a diplomat and
professor of international relations. In addition, in
warmly congratulating you, I would like to assure you
of the support my country, and of my own support, as
you carry out your challenging and noble mission.
Allow me also to pay a well-deserved tribute to
the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-first
session, Her Excellency Ms. Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa,
for the dedication, wisdom and skill with which she
steered our deliberations, and particularly for her
having led the necessary negotiations with respect to
consideration and implementation of the important
recommendations of the 2005 World Summit, which
included reform of the Economic and Social Council
and the Security Council.
To the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, I
would like to express my full encouragement as he
carries out his functions at the head of the United
Nations. The major reform that he has initiated in order
to adapt the Organization to the needs of a world in
constant change deserves everyone’s support.
The theme for the general debate, climate change,
which you have proposed for this year, is one of the
primary concerns of the international community. The
selection of this very theme by the Secretary-General
as the framework for the discussion during the high-
level debate that was just held is additional evidence of
this. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force in 2005 and
was a major historical milestone in the process of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
With respect to trends in this phenomenon, every
one can note that the goals set forth in the Protocol
have yet to be fully achieved. We, therefore, need to do
our utmost so that the Bali meeting in Indonesia, slated
for December 2007, will be an opportunity to reach
agreement on a common, global strategy in order to
carry out more robust, collective action to mitigate
significantly the negative effects of global warming.
Africa, which contributes least of all to the
worsening of this phenomenon, is unfairly undergoing
the serious consequences of it. Therefore, the principle
of common but differentiated responsibilities needs to
be applied. For its part, Gabon, whose forest is one of
the essential components of the major Congo Basin,
the second ecological lung of the planet after the
Amazon, has unreservedly acceded to the Convention
on Biological Diversity and has joined up in the fight
against climate change.
Moreover, it has decided to devote 11 per cent of
its territory to humankind, particularly by establishing
13 national parks. Recently, Lopé park was named as a
new UNESCO world heritage site, and Gabon is
prepared to go much further, because protection of the
environment is an important pillar in the fight against
poverty and an essential condition to achieving the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
As is evident, then, Gabon has undertaken
considerable efforts in order to bring about greater
protection of nature and of ecosystems. As a result,
Gabon, together with other African countries, deserves
to benefit from compensatory measures from
industrialized countries, the main emitters of carbon
dioxide.
From this standpoint, we urge the establishment
of a stabilization fund to compensate for existing forest
carbon stocks. We also would like to ensure that our
forests are included in the carbon market mechanisms.
The General Assembly is the appropriate forum
to discuss the major challenges that our world is
facing. That was the strong message reaffirmed by the
world’s leaders when they assembled here for the
September 2005 world summit. I welcome the fact that
the major decisions taken at that time continue to drive
the reform of our Organization.
The report of the High-level Panel on United
Nations System-wide Coherence indicates the scope of
the changes to be made to ensure greater effectiveness
in implementation of the Organization’s programmes.
Here, I would like to pay a well-deserved tribute to the
President of the Assembly at its sixty-first session for
having launched intergovernmental consultations on
this important issue.
The intensive activities of the General Assembly
in recent years clearly attests to its central role as the
principal representative organ and deliberative body
responsible for setting the policies of the Organization.
I have no doubt that you, Sir, will continue your efforts
to strengthen the authority and primary role of the
General Assembly. Similarly, one of the key measures
that our Organization needs to bring about to improve
the implementation and ensure the legitimacy of its
decisions is reform of the Security Council. We will
need to reach agreement in order to carry out this
reform that is so important for the future of the United
Nations.
This session is beginning in a complex and
unstable international context that is marked by deep
crises and many kinds of threats. The geography of the
conflicts puts the spotlight on Africa and the Middle
East.
In Africa, the situation in Darfur continues to be
of concern. However, I would like to praise the efforts
of the Sudanese Government, which has undertaken to
participate in comprehensive peace talks on 27 October
2007 in Tripoli and to accept the principle of a
ceasefire. Gabon, for its part, will continue to firmly
support the national peace and reconciliation process in
the Sudan. To this end, it welcomes the adoption by the
Security Council of resolution 1769 (2007),
authorizing the deployment of an Africa Union-United
Nations hybrid force in the Sudan.
Furthermore, Gabon, which has for many years
played a major role in the many negotiations on
national reconciliation in Africa, supports the efforts
undertaken by the European Union, particularly in
protecting civilians and providing humanitarian
assistance in Chad and the Central African Republic.
Specifically with regard to Chad, Gabon is
currently facilitating peace and reconciliation talks
among factions in that country.
The instability in Somalia for the past 15 years
has negated any possibility of development. However,
we need to mention the praiseworthy decision of the
Peace and Security Council of the African Union in
authorizing the deployment of a peacekeeping mission
in that country.
With respect to the situation in the Middle East,
more specifically, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, only
concerted and sustained efforts based on the principle
of two States, Israel and Palestine, coexisting in peace
and security within secure and internationally
recognized borders, can bring about a lasting and just
settlement of this conflict.
My country endorses the idea of holding an
international conference under the auspices of the
Quartet, in order to relaunch the process of direct and
constructive negotiations.
With respect to Lebanon, Gabon reaffirms its
support for implementation of Security Council
resolution 1701 (2006).
With respect to the issue of international
terrorism, I would like to commend the General
Assembly’s adoption on 8 September 2006 of the
Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. While politically
that is praiseworthy progress, nevertheless in legal
terms we need to accelerate current negotiations in
order to adopt a general counter-terrorism convention.
In the twenty-first century, threats to international
peace and security are not limited solely to terrorism,
war and international conflicts. Organized crime, civil
violence, poverty, infectious diseases, natural disasters
and weapons of mass destruction are also phenomena
that can undermine the survival and foundations of the
State as the basic element of the international system.
With respect to weapons of mass destruction, we
need urgently to end the stalemate in the multilateral
talks and to again place disarmament and non-
proliferation issues at the forefront of the concerns of
the international community. Our collective security
depends on it.
On the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which severely
affects many African countries, we need to act
proportionately to the seriousness of this scourge.
Furthermore, as was underscored in the political
declaration on HIV/AIDS adopted in New York on
2 June 2006 as the outcome of the high-level meeting
on that pandemic, the African countries are already
allocating considerable financial resources to counter
this scourge. Despite these efforts, our countries
continue to face a shortfall of the resources necessary
to achieving universal access to prevention, care and
treatment by 2010. From this standpoint, Gabon
welcomes the commitment taken by Group of Eight
(G-8) in Germany, granting to Africa under
development assistance the amount of $60 billion to
fight malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
More than a year ago, our Organization gave
itself a peacebuilding mechanism. Here, I would like to
reiterate my appreciation of the work already done by
the Peacebuilding Commission under the presidency of
Angola, as well as by all of the members of the
Commission for their efforts to devise an effective
strategy bringing together all the national and
international players involved in the processes of
reconstruction in Burundi and Sierra Leone.
These countries, like all developing countries,
need ongoing support from the international
community, in accordance with the decisions taken
under the Monterrey Consensus and reaffirmed at the
2005 World Summit. From this standpoint, the donor
countries need to meet their pledges for assistance to
developing countries, particularly in the areas of debt
relief and opening their markets. To that end, the
implementation of the Doha programme is an
imperative for developing countries and will
particularly enable countries in Africa to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
Similarly, we need to continue our brainstorming
in order to identify and launch innovative sources for
development financing. That is a priority objective for
our countries, particularly since our resources are
limited because of debt reimbursement, and this
prevents us from responding effectively to
development needs.
Here, I would like to pay tribute to the Paris
Club, which has agreed to the principle of Gabon’s
buying back its debt. This agreement is key for Gabon
in its legitimate quest for economic prosperity and
social well-being.
It is in this spirit of renewed international
solidarity and in effective partnership that we will be
able to build a better world that respects the rights and
dignity of the individual. This vision of the founding
fathers of our Organization is also shared by my
country and its President, El Hadj Omar Bongo
Ondimba, who has always been able to work for the
protection and promote human rights.
In keeping with these values, the Government of
Gabon recently decided to abolish the death penalty
and was a sponsor of the draft resolution on
establishing a moratorium on the death penalty.
The United Nations has existed now for sixty-two
years. From the cold war to the collapse of the Berlin
Wall, it has been able to stand, together with the
society of nations, the test of time. Unfortunately,
however, and despite its long history, it has not been
able to fully bring about the profound aspirations of
liberty, equality and peace and justice, as expressed by
the peoples of the world. The ongoing reforms need to
be continued in order to enable the United Nations to
be the mirror of diversity and human values.