Allow me,
at the outset, to congratulate the new President of the
General Assembly, Mr. John Ashe, his predecessor,
Mr. Vuk Jeremi., and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
for the work they have carried out since the previous
session.
The theme of this session, “The post-2015
development agenda: setting the stage”, is very much at
the heart of our concerns. The 2015 deadline we have
set for ourselves will soon be upon us. The general
impression is that a number of countries continue
to fall short in terms of funding the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), official development
assistance and debt relief. It is unfortunate to note that
all of the commitments made to boost economies and
development efforts have not achieved the expected
results, despite major international mobilization.
There is a strong possibility that the 2015 deadline
will fall well short of many countries’ expectations,
especially in Africa — since poverty persists, despite
the development and implementation of national
poverty eradication strategies. That is why — drawing
on lessons learned from the shortfalls in setting and
implementing the MDGs — the African continent
intends to establish a post-2015 development agenda
that is capable of meeting its expectations and it calls
upon the international community to support it.
On top of the development challenges come
other security challenges. New hotspots and wars are
emerging all over the continent. Coupled with that, the
terrorism phenomenon has taken a heavy toll, as was
the case earlier in Mali and now in Kenya.
Terrorism is a scourge that knows no borders.
It feeds off of the blood of the poor, spreading its
recruitment tools of ignorance, poverty and fanaticism.
No good can ever come from violence carried out
against peaceful populations while using supposed
religious considerations or doctrines as a pretext.
Such violence is totally contrary to the principles of
international law, in terms of human rights and the right
to freedom of religion and opinion. Our profound belief
is that the fight against terrorism must continue to the
last breath, in order to curb proliferation and eradicate
it definitively.
Chad, for its part, has made its strategic choice.
It has decided to make its modest contribution to
the establishment of peace, security and stability
wherever necessary. That fundamental position is the
key motivation of its candidature for non-permanent
membership in the Security Council for the period
2014-2015. To that end, my country expects friendly,
active and enthusiastic support from the Assembly, to
encourage its valiant people to continue to provide their
utmost effort in supporting the cause of international
peace and security, which are indispensible to
establishing a world based on stability, development
and democracy.
Since restoring its stability, Chad has remained
mindful of all crisis situations in Africa and in the
world. It intends to fully cooperate with the United
Nations on all positive initiatives aimed at peace and
security, wherever the need may arise.
My country provided a clear indication of its
unshakeable resolve through efforts with the United
Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and
Chad (MINURCAT) in the eastern part of Chad, from
2008 to 2010 protecting Sudanese refugees from Darfur
and Chadian internally displaced persons and ensuring
the security of humanitarian personnel and associated
United Nations personnel.
True to its philosophy, Chad sent the largest armed
contingent to Mali, with more than 2,000 men, and 900
to the Central African Republic. Some 1,800 Chadian
soldiers will join the new United Nations force in Mali.
Chadian peacekeepers are now present in Côte d’Ivoire,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti as part
of United Nations peacekeeping missions.
We take this solemn opportunity to formally
commend the successful completion of the transition
process in Mali, with the holding of free, regular
democratic elections unanimously hailed by the
entire international community. Our wish is for that
fraternal country to restore peace, unity and stability
so that its sons and daughters can focus their energies
and intelligence on progress and the well-being of the
population.
However, the situation in the Central African
Republic remains alarming. The insecurity and the
political, economic and financial difficulties that
continue to face the transitional Government represent
major challenges of concern to everyone. The countries
of the region, through the Economic Community of
Central African States, have made their utmost effort
to mobilize military, financial and human resources to
support peace and security in that country.
I wish to welcome the establishment of the
Mission internationale de soutien à la Centrafrique
sous conduite africaine, of which the Central Africa
Multinational Force comprises the core. Its troop
level will increase from 2,000 to 3,600, thanks to
the participation of Central African States and other
friendly countries that have shown an interest in joining
that noble cause. In spite of all those efforts, we must
recognize that the needs on the ground clearly highlight
the need for swift intervention, admittedly in the spirit
of regional solidarity but also with the vital support of
the international community. To that end, we expect
the Security Council to adopt a firm resolution that
provides for logistical and financial support modalities
for the mission.
Turning to the Sudan, as the Assembly knows,
we signed a peace accord on 15 January 2010 and
established a joint force that has allowed us to stabilize
our common borders. As a result, my country will
continue to actively strive for peace in the Sudan, as
a member of the follow-up committee for the Darfur
Peace Agreement.
Nevertheless, I think it would be timely to draw the
attention of the Assembly to the humanitarian situation
in Darfur as a result of the new hotbeds of tension that
are emerging and which lead to a constant flow of other
refugees and internally displaced persons towards
eastern Chad. Currently, there are more than 400,000
refugees and 200,000 internally displaced persons,
compared to 290,000 and 180,000 in past years. All
efforts made since the outbreak of that crisis to foster
the return of refugees and internally displaced persons
to their regions of origin have been in vain thus far. It is
our duty to advocate from this rostrum for the energetic
pursuit of assistance from the international community
to all those people as political and ethnic tensions
continue to divert them from their path to return.
Chad condemns the rampant instability in the
eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
We urge the Government and the members of the
rebellion to reach a negotiated solution to their dispute
to allow that great African country to focus on its
development.
Our profound belief is that the solution to all
the crises I have just listed cannot be military. A
lasting, definitive solution to the ills that are hobbling
the development of Africa requires a constant
struggle against poverty, marginalization and youth
unemployment. It also requires the establishment of
constructive dialogue among the various sectors of
a country, on the one hand, and permanent dialogue
among different cultures and religions, on the other.
Addressing the situation outside Africa, I must first
mention the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which persists
and for which the international community has not yet
found the appropriate solutions. We urge and encourage
the efforts made by the Organization and the United
States Government to conclude a peace agreement that
allows for the peaceful coexistence of two sovereign
States.
The situation in Syria troubles us all since it has
reached a particularly grave stage. We have no right
to allow a whole people to be cast adrift. The use of
chemical weapons, which marks a dramatic escalation
of the civil war in that country, is an affront to the
human conscience and to the ideals present at the birth
of the Organization. While welcoming the agreement
between the United States and the Russian Federation
on the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons, my
country wants to see the perpetrators of those crimes
identified and brought to an international tribunal.
However, we are greatly saddened to see Syria tear itself
apart and Syrians killing each other. The international
community must do its utmost to stop that tragedy.
Allow me to turn to Cuba. The embargo against
Cuba, which has been in place for decades, unjustly
penalizes that country. We call for the lifting of the
embargo in order to allow the country to resume the
place it deserves in the comity of nations.
At the national level, Chad, which has definitively
turned the painful page of wars and divisions, is now
fully devoted to its development by exploiting its
mineral and energy resources through daring strategies.
To do that, it has just adopted a national development
plan that will soon be the subject of a round table
on its funding and implementation. At the political
level, we give pride of place to dialogue. We have
established a permanent political dialogue framework
that brings together the majority and the opposition and
has the power, inter alia, to create structures for the
organization of future elections. With the assistance of
Chad’s partners, in particular the United Nations, we
have taken all the necessary steps to prevent and put
an end to the recruitment and use of children in armed
conflict.
In conclusion, allow me to reiterate a major concern
for my country. It is our ardent wish to finally see the
long-awaited reform in the United Nations, particularly
the Security Council. That reform, which has become
an issue of justice and equity, is a top priority for
Africa. Keeping Africa, as well as other key actors on
the international scene, outside that universal forum
appears shocking today to hundreds of millions of
human beings throughout the world. The awakening of
the peoples of Africa, the role of the continent in the
world and its indispensable contribution to preventing
and settling conflict means that our continent can no
longer be sidelined from the prestigious institution that
is the Security Council.