Allow me to begin by
congratulating you, Mr. President, on your election to
the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-
second session. I would like to assure you of my
country’s fullest cooperation in the discharge of the
responsibilities bestowed upon you. I have no doubt
that this Assembly will benefit from both your personal
and professional experience. May I take this
opportunity to commend your predecessor, Ambassador
Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for her invaluable
contributions and wise leadership during the
Assembly’s previous session.
I would also like to extend my sincere
appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He is
already fully engaged and has made an excellent
beginning in the efforts to address global challenges
since he took office a year ago. I would therefore, on
this occasion, like to underline Ethiopia’s firm
commitment to cooperate in every way in assisting him
in his demanding endeavours.
Just three weeks ago, Ethiopia began its third
Millennium. This Assembly has recognized the
Ethiopian Millennium as a world event. On 15 June
2007, it adopted resolution 61/270, designating the
year from 12 September 2007 to 11 September 2008 as
the year of the Ethiopian Millennium. The Assembly of
the African Union also declared the Ethiopian
Millennium as a part of African heritage and a unique
occasion. We thank you all for that honour and for that
expression of solidarity.
Those who have witnessed how Ethiopians of all
walks of life have received the new Ethiopian
Millennium could not have missed the new spirit that
has been on display in the country. This is a spirit of
renewal and commitment to stand in unity for a better
future for the country. The new Millennium was
greeted by all Ethiopians with a pledge to do more for
national harmony and for durable peace and stability
and to prevail against the poverty that has been the
hallmark of the country in recent decades.
Two thousand years ago, Ethiopia was the home
of one of the great civilizations of the world, at Aksum.
A thousand years ago, we could still produce two of the
world’s greatest heritage sites. One is the city of Harar,
the fourth holiest city of Islam, which by happy
coincidence also celebrates its own millennium this
year. The other is the city of churches built by Lalibela,
a saint, priest and emperor in the town that still bears
his name today.
But Ethiopia’s fortune began to change,
commencing in the second half of the last Millennium.
Though a survivor of colonialism and a representative
of the greatness of Africa’s past, Ethiopia also
unfortunately came to represent and symbolize the
poverty, dearth and destitution of Africa’s more recent
history.
Despite the formidable challenges we have faced,
all of this has begun to change in the last decade.
Hopelessness and frustration growing out of a lack of
confidence in the future is no longer an image
reflecting the reality of Ethiopia. That is perhaps the
explanation for the exuberance displayed by all sectors
of Ethiopian society in welcoming the new
Millennium. A new and strong national consensus is
being created in Ethiopia today. It is a consensus
around conviction and the resolve to make the opening
of our third Millennium a symbol of Ethiopian
renaissance.
That overwhelming optimism displayed by all
Ethiopians at the opening of the new Millennium rests
on a tangible foundation. The political, social and
economic realities in Ethiopia have been changing over
the past decade. We are making meaningful progress.
Indeed, we have no shortage of detractors. These are
non-Ethiopians determined to scuttle the progress we
are making in all areas. Their attempts include efforts
to undermine national unity and to micromanage
Ethiopia’s internal affairs. We have seen this, including
over the past few days.
Despite all this, however, we continue to make
progress. For five consecutive years now, our real
gross domestic product growth rate has averaged over
10 per cent. Our per capita income growth has
averaged nearly 8 per cent for the last seven years.
More tangible perhaps, in terms of the progress
we have been making to change the life situation of our
people, is the advance we have registered towards
achieving the Millennium Development Goals. We are
set to attain universal primary health care by 2010. We
are well on the way to achieving the goals set for
reducing child and maternal mortality well prior to
2015. We have made much progress in combating
HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. We have
managed to halt and stabilize the spread of HIV/AIDS
and reduce the incidence of malaria.
What we have been able to achieve in the area of
education has been quite remarkable as well. There is
now little doubt that we are on our way to achieving
universal primary education by 2015. Primary school
enrolment at present is 91.6 per cent. Sixteen years
ago, it stood at 19 per cent. We have also begun to
ensure that the education available will, in fact, be
quality education.
We have also committed ourselves to
environmental sustainability in a tangible manner. Our
New Ethiopian Millennium celebrations and the
preparations leading to them have underlined practical
expressions to this commitment. The slogan “Two
Trees for 2000” has been enthusiastically taken up
throughout the country. Popular enthusiasm has led to
the acceleration of the process that began earlier,
culminating, after just three or four months, in the
opening of the New Millennium and the planting of
close to a billion trees. This is a process that will
continue throughout the year and beyond.
Nor are we oblivious to the spectre of global
warming and the threat of climate change. Africa is
exceptionally vulnerable to the effects of climate
change: so many of us live on the margins that the
smallest difference in climate can mean the difference
between sufficient food and famine, survival and death.
It is a global challenge that requires a global response.
However, the need for speedy economic
development in countries such as Ethiopia, and in
Africa as a whole, should not be compromised simply
in order to reverse dangerous climatic situations for
whose creation we have no responsibility. It should,
nonetheless, be possible, through effective
international collaboration, to ensure that the
developmental process in countries such as Ethiopia is
environmentally friendly.
In this regard, we welcome the proposal of Brazil
for a new United Nations conference on the
environment and development to be held in 2012. We
are also appreciative of the European Union's (EU)
commitment to further cut its greenhouse gas
emissions and to introduce more responsible and
sustainable energy policies. We endorse the EU's
support for reforming the institutional framework of
United Nations environmental activities.
The economic and social progress Ethiopia has
made over the past decade has, no doubt, been
underpinned by the real and concrete advances we have
made in building democratic institutions and fostering
the rule of law. In this regard as well, we are entering
our New Millennium with even greater and renewed
commitment to deepening the democratic process in
Ethiopia and strengthening a culture of tolerance and
mutual understanding among our people. There is a
new spirit of tolerance, dialogue and inclusiveness and
of commitment to peace among our people.
The further democratization of the country and
the nurturing of the rule of law is a pledge that every
Ethiopian is making as we enter our New Millennium.
This commitment is rooted in the conviction that
durable peace in our country and the successful
achievement of our objectives in the economic and
social spheres can only be viable if we succeed in
advancing towards achieving the democratic
aspirations of our people. We urge those who wish to
meddle in our affairs to remember that they will be
held accountable for their action and that they should
desist from seeking to place a trojan horse in our
society.
It is that same spirit of the New Ethiopian
Millennium that must guide our foreign policy. We
have, over the last decade and a half, worked in good
faith for peace in our region. We are more prepared
now than ever and, in the spirit of the New
Millennium, to contribute our share to achieving peace
and understanding among peoples and countries, most
particularly in our own subregion.
We are indeed fully aware that the basis for the
renaissance of Ethiopia, to which we are committed in
our New Millennium, cannot be limited to what we do
in Ethiopia alone. To be true to the new spirit and to
succeed in the rejuvenation of Ethiopia, we feel we
have the obligation to stretch a hand of friendship to all
of those, near and far, who see wisdom in a positive
response to this gesture. We are well aware of the need
for a regional atmosphere conducive to the
rejuvenation of our region and of ourselves. It is not
just the absence of conflict and dispute, but the reality
of peace and cooperation, which is, we know, an
absolute necessity. Without this we cannot achieve our
aims, whether in Ethiopia, our region, or in Africa.
Allow me to express our profound appreciation to
all those who have helped us make the progress we
have made over the past decade. There are those who
have been steadfast in their support for our endeavours
and who have stood with us through thick and thin. We
are indebted to them. Our obligation is to be true to the
principles that underpin those expressions of solidarity.
Ethiopia, a founding Member of the United
Nations, will continue to be devoted to multilateralism
and the fullest cooperation with the United Nations.
Therefore, as I conclude, I wish to reiterate, once
again, our readiness to cooperate fully, and without
reserve, with our Secretary-General in all areas where
our contribution is needed and to seek friendship with
all nations in the spirit of our New Millennium.