I would first like to salute you, Ambassador John
Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda, on your election to the
presidency of the General Assembly. Mr. President, we
are sure you will bring all your experience and wisdom
to bear in the conduct of our debates and in carrying out
the General Assembly’s important tasks.
At the outset, I would like to commend the
remarkable work the United Nations has done so that
we have the opportunity to advance the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and to work together today
to set a new post-2015 development agenda. Indeed,
that is a global challenge that, besides inaugurating a
new era in global development, challenges us to meet
the eight Millennium Development Goals. The focus of
this session, as was declared by Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, is fairness and dignity for all, a task that
challenges everyone and requires new attitudes and
behaviours, based on the premise that a better world is
possible.
Cape Verde, a small island developing State that
has been independent for less than 39 years, has already
achieved most of the targets envisioned and will continue
its efforts to meet all the Millennium Development
Goals. Thanks to a transformation agenda that we have
been promoting since 2001, when Cape Verde was on
the list of least developed countries, our nation has
made significant progress in the socioeconomic and
political arenas and has improved the people’s overall
standard of living. Our focus on and investment in
access to education, health care, water and food have
been clear, unambiguous and systematic, as have
our efforts to competitively integrate our economy
into the international market, with the support of our
international partners.
At the same time, the transformation agenda,
which is fully aligned with our MDG commitments
and targets, has created the conditions for Cape Verde’s
historic transition to the realm of middle-income
countries, although, owing to the strong impact of the
international crisis, which has to some extent put the
brakes on the momentum of the country’s ongoing
progress, it still falls within the lower-middle-income
scale. Our indicators show that we have reduced poverty
by half, and it is clearly on a downward trend. Our
current challenge is the close monitoring essential to
preventing any setbacks that might result from the global
economic situation and its impact on Cape Verde. In
fact, despite our graduation to middle-income-country
status, our indicators still show high rates of poverty,
inequality and unemployment, as well as insufficient
access to many goods and services, and we are still
short of our goal of achieving well-being and and a high
standard of living for all our people.
Cape Verdeans are ready to push for the evolution
of the terms of the Millennium Development Goals and
replace “reducing” extreme poverty with “eradicating”
it, leaving none behind. Moreover, we in Cape Verde
are ready to put the issue of economic sustainability
at the centre of the country’s development agenda
and have already begun to do so. We recognize
that “transformation” in Cape Verde is more than
a key word; it is an agenda for work stemming from
inclusive growth. In addition, we have been creating
accountable institutions, open to all, in order to ensure
good governance. Based on that perspective, we have
refocused our internal policy, and are thus mobilizing
our national will while appealing for support from our
international partners, towards the goal of reaching
advanced-development status by 2030. That is what it
means for us to commit to a post-2015 agenda.
We are currently in a transition period. The
instruments we have created on our own are not enough
to respond to the questions of today or to prepare for a
future moving towards advanced development, unless
that is a part of a global agenda led by the United Nations
and involving intensive international cooperation and
partnership at both the multilateral and bilateral levels.
Cape Verde is committed to that joint effort. Cape
Verdeans are deeply focused on global issues, such
as climate change, hunger and malnutrition and the
various forms of inequality, as well as the importance
of ensuring environmental sustainability and national
and international partnerships in support of global
development.
Climate change is a pressing problem of our times
that must be addressed with urgency and a great sense
of responsibility. The world has reached record highs
in terms of emissions and the concentration of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere, which is now at about 400
parts per million. That could mean the destruction of
our development efforts and, even worse, the serious
exacerbation of social tensions, which could potentially
open the door to both national and regional conflicts.
Similarly, the effects of climate change on global food
security should be stressed. Ocean acidification is
increasing at a rate that has not been seen in 55 million
years. Ultimately, the disappearance of numerous
marine species has become inevitable. We must all
confront this issue, which endangers our common
future, and take the necessary decisions, fulfilling
our financial commitments aimed at adaptation,
particularly in the most vulnerable countries.
With respect to the post-2015 agenda, the issue of
employment dominates the concerns of Cape Verdeans.
The subject occupies the top spot among all consulted,
who identify employment as essential to achieving
economic and human development. Another serious
issue has to do with the sustainability of social security.
We need a more universal welfare system, and we must
create and introduce instruments for that purpose. That
is possible only with a more dynamic economy.
There will be no transformation agenda if we do
not create solid, sustainable foundations for social
protection. To do so, we need to grow and expand wealth,
as well as provide a greater number of decent jobs. We
need to create a wave of modernization for society and
for the competitive factors of our economy, so as to
improve the business environment and attract foreign
investment. The larger result will be economic growth
and the creation of wealth to induce the improvement of
indicators that matter. We must recognize that there is
room for improvement, particularly in terms of reducing
State bureaucracy and increasing competitiveness, as
well as in terms of making foreign investment more
streamlined and more efficient for entrepreneurship.
We urge our citizens to be productive, competitive
and prosperous, without losing the vast Cape Verdean
capacity for generosity, solidarity and responsibility.
The continuation of the international crisis and
its impact on all countries creates serious problems
for the entire world community. In the case of Cape
Verde, the situation poses serious challenges that we
must overcome, namely, obstacles to the acceleration
of economic growth, the promotion of employment and
the reduction of poverty. At this sixty-eighth session of
the General Assembly, we reiterate our commitment to
peace and dialogue, within the parameters enshrined in
the Charter of the United Nations.
Our vision of the United Nations is of a more
cohesive and united Organization in which efforts are
undertaken for the prosperity of nations. Our vision of
the General Assembly is of a great forum for dialogue
on the global challenges of our planet and humankind,
and our vision of the Security Council is of a body with
a more balanced representation that is better suited to
the geopolitical developments that the world has known
since 1945.
This is a unique opportunity for Cape Verde,
a Portuguese-speaking country, to reaffirm its
commitment to cultural diversity and, in its quest for
multiculturalism, which is its prerogative, to call for the
Portuguese language — the fifth most widely spoken
language in the world, connecting States and peoples
across five continents — to be recognized as an official
or a working language of international organizations,
particularly the United Nations.
We wish to make one more comment as we
position ourselves, following the report of the United
Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use
of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic on
the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Ghouta area
of Damascus on 21 August (A/67/997), which we have
studied with close attention. We welcome the progress
made towards dialogue, particularly the joint search for
peaceful solutions, especially at the United Nations. We
are against the use of weapons of mass destruction, and
we will continue to align with subsequent initiatives
towards their eradication. As we are against war and
belligerence, we advocate for the implementation of a
global strategy to combat violence.
We wish to express our solidarity with the
Government and the people of Kenya, as well as our
unequivocal condemnation of the reprehensible acts
of barbarism and human savagery that occurred last
Saturday in Nairobi.
We urge all the members of the General Assembly to
reach a historic agreement in favour of the environment.
The main objective is to implement the established
Goals in the outcome document of the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled
“The future we want” (resolution 66/288, annex). We
also reaffirm our resolute willingness to cooperate
with everyone to reduce regional and global tensions,
so as to broaden the understanding of sovereignties,
freedoms and human rights.
Finally, we reiterate our preference for the
joint definition of new goals that will stipulate the
fundamentals for the prosperity of countries and for the
welfare of the world’s people, crafting together a post-
2015 agenda. Cape Verde is committed to making its
contribution to the creation of a new goals scenario to
succeed and complement the Millennium Development
Goals. Our common commitment is meeting the eight
Goals and our shared responsibility is creating a new
post-2015 agenda in favour of sustainable development.
The manner in which we do it will determine our
common destiny. The importance of our decisions
and the responsibility to make them within the
United Nations framework are evident. Let us get to
work to create a new global dynamic that leads to a
joint vision for promoting progress. Cape Verde is
firmly committed to the establishment of a post-2015
development agenda; that is also the future we want.
We assure the Assembly that we will do everything in
our power in the name of a better future, filled with
freedom, equality and prosperity. The international
community can count on us.