It is a great
honour for me to take the floor at the sixty-eighth
session of the General Assembly, which is being held in
the context of some rather disturbing developments in
terms of peace and security — developments that, very
appropriately, we have an opportunity to consider and
to deal with under the provisions of the United Nations
Charter.
As I begin my statement I should like to congratulate
Mr. John Ashe on his election to the presidency, without
forgetting the team that is helping him. I should also
like to thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his
tireless efforts in areas such as sustainable development,
peace, security and counter-terrorism, particularly in
our region of the Sahel.
The theme of the sixty-eighth session, “The post-
2015 development agenda: setting the stage”, leads us
to ask what measures to take, in the spirit of solidarity,
once we have established that many countries will not
achieve the Millennium Development Goals within the
time frame, as is the case with my country, the Niger.
This session of the General Assembly gives me an
opportunity to review the ongoing efforts in our country
in that area. The renaissance programme established
since President Mahamadou Issoufou was elected to head
our country makes agriculture, health and education
absolute priorities, so that we can substantially improve
our human development index performance. Resources
expended for that purpose have enabled our country
to make significant progress. We have, in particular,
reduced the proportion of the population living in
extreme poverty and chronic undernourishment. I
should like to welcome the significant assistance from
bilateral partners and from international organizations,
including non-governmental organizations, which are
assisting the Government of the Niger in its policies
and programmes for a harmonious socioeconomic
development. It is for that purpose that the Government
launched an ambitious socioeconomic development
programme. A round table of donors was held last
November in Paris, at which pledges totalling more than
$4.8 billion were announced. That amount exceeded
the expectations of my Government.
We call for the effective mobilization of those
commitments, so that we can take action in five
strategic areas:, namely, building the credibility
and effectiveness of public institutions; establishing
conditions for sustainable, balanced and inclusive
development; food security and sustainable agricultural
development; a competitive and diversified economy
designed to promote accelerated and inclusive growth;
and the promotion of social development.
Given the particular interest accorded to rural
populations by our President, we have developed
and launched the “three N’s” initiative — Nigeriens
feeding Nigeriens — with the goal of promoting
food security and food sovereignty, in order to end
the food shortages caused by recurring droughts.
The programme is intended to improve agricultural
productivity by promoting irrigation through the
judicious development of the substantial water potential
of our country, by improving production techniques
through the substantial use of inputs and machinery,
by reorganizing the farming sector, by rationalizing
distribution channels for agricultural products and by
building roads in rural areas.
Always bearing in mind the Millennium
Development Goals, our Government is paying
particular attention to the vital question of education,
including the construction of schools, the delivery of
school supplies, the extensive recruitment of teachers
and the improvement of teachers’ working conditions.
It is determined, too, to pursue a bold, consciousness-
raising policy aimed at controlling population growth,
which is currently negating the impact of the remarkable
economic growth that we have experienced in the past
two years.
As I said at the beginning of my statement, this
session is taking place at a time when the purpose and
role of the Organization are being sorely tested, owing
to an international situation characterized by persisting
or new crises and conflicts. Now more than ever, we
need to rise to the challenge, bearing in mind the
purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations.
We call upon the General Assembly, and in
particular the Security Council, to continue to work
resolutely to arrive at negotiated and lasting solutions
to situations where lethal crises have the potential to
cause desolation and displacement and compromise
socioeconomic development.
For us in the Sahel the major concern in 2012 and
2013 has been Mali. The Niger is pleased with the
positive outcome in that country and the follow-up
machinery put in place by the Organization through
the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated
Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), whose
establishment was possible thanks to a considerable
mobilization of the international community. That
mobilization was driven by the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS), which dedicated a
number of very high-level meetings to the subject of
Mali, and was effectively relayed by the African Union
through its Peace and Security Council. It was followed
up on a regular basis by the United Nations, whose
Security Council has adopted many resolutions on the
subject.
But today, as we take stock of that joint action, we
are duty-bound to recognize that we owe the health
of Mali more especially to the far-sighted decision of
President Hollande to launch Operation Serval, which
was able to put an end to the terrorist coalition in early
January 2013, thanks to the sizeable means put at its
disposal, making it equal to the task.We must recognize
also that, while ECOWAS rightly and promptly opted
for a military intervention, most of the States that were
supposed to mobilize troop contingents were slow
to make them available and operational. The United
Nations, for its part, sought to differentiate between
terrorist organizations, so that, against all the evidence,
it could promote a dialogue with some of them. We
who were facing the threat were made very anxious by
some of the debates at the United Nations, which could
have been avoided if only the facts had been faced and
the straightforwardness of the evidence noted. The
unjustified stalling by the international community
encouraged the terrorists to press their advantage by
adopting a new agenda and new goals, enabling them to
envisage total victory over Malian territory, and even
beyond.
If I dwell on this it is, first, because I know how
close we came to disaster, and, secondly, because it is
my deep conviction that just because our enterprise
is complex it does not necessarily mean that we are
doomed to inaction at best and to mistakes at worst.
In spite of what I have just said, the action of the
international community in Mali yielded very positive
results, thanks to the support of all. Mali, in addition
to being free, on 11 August chose its President in
an election that was in every respect remarkable. I
should like to extend once again my congratulations to
President Keita.
The international community should continue
to support Mali, adding to the troops and capacity of
MINUSMA, so that it can complete the job of eradicating
the terrorist groups. These are now in difficult straits,
but are far from having, as it were, uttered their final
word.
It is also urgent to put in place regional and
international coordination, the job of which would be
to provide security for all of the Sahelo-Saharan area.
Vigorous measures of a general nature need to be taken
against drug trafficking and cross-border organized
crime. In that regard, I wish to express my sympathy
for the plight of the hostages held by terrorists in the
Sahelo-Saharan area. I convey my condolences to
their families and call for more efforts to achieve their
prompt release.
The problems of the Sahel are not just security
problems. That part of the world is among the most
afflicted. It is subject to the effects of climate change,
desertification and recurring droughts, as well as
the resulting food shortages and malnutrition. It
needs significant investment as part of a sustained
global strategy, supported by the entire international
community, to ensure the economic progress that is
vital for its stabilization and its deliverance from the
clutches of violence.
Terrorism in Africa affects not only the Sahel, but
also the Horn of Africa. It struck the Kenyan people on
23 September in the form of the bloody and murderous
attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. I should like to
take this opportunity to express my condolences to the
Government of Kenya.
The populations in the Central African Republic
are, tragically, experiencing an unprecedented level
of violence. The Niger calls for an international
intervention, as in Mali in January 2013, to put an end
to the martyrdom of the people of the Central African
Republic.
With respect to Palestine, it is heartbreaking to
think that in today’s world, so characterized by highly
sophisticated technology and so imbued with modern
values, a people could be deprived of its most elementary
rights. The Niger is hopeful that the current initiative of
the United States Government will be successful and
will lead to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian
State beside and in harmonious coexistence with Israel.
What is happening in Syria is a veritable tragedy,
even in this topsy-turvy world. A millennial civilization
is crumbling before our eyes. We condemn the use of
chemical weapons, as occurred on 21 August, and call
upon the United Nations to reach a political solution at
the upcoming “Geneva II” conference.
For a number of decades now, the Cuban population
has endured a trade, economic and financial embargo.
We call for the lifting of that embargo.
In conclusion, I express my fervent hope that our
deliberations will help advance the cause of peace,
security and progress throughout the world.