Angola

First, I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate the President on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session and to assure him that he can count on the support of Angola so that at the end of this session we will all be better prepared to respond to the multiple and complex challenges facing the international community. I also take this opportunity to convey, though the President, our most sincere gratitude to the outgoing President for the selfless manner in which he conducted the sixty- fourth session. In the last decade several events have profoundly marked the world community, including natural calamities and man-made disasters, which should lead us to consider the need to work towards a more cooperative and increasingly integrated world, for no one is immune to those phenomena. The terrorist attack of 2001 on the Twin Towers of New York that killed more than 3,000 people, the tsunami of December 2004 in which more than 200,000 people perished, the recent earthquake in Haiti that caused more than 200,000 deaths, and the series of natural disasters that have occurred on every continent, added to the global financial and economic crisis, should awaken us to the fact that we live in a different world that requires broader cooperation among nations, given that those phenomena are unforeseeable. Therefore, in today’s world, the consequences of the irresponsibility of a few can have repercussions on the lives of us all. It is thus imperative that we pursue relationships that have greater balance and equality between large and small and rich and poor, because the new reality is that we are increasingly interdependent in a global world. Angola, has always been convinced of the important role of the United Nations and of multilateral diplomacy in general, because no country can progress and develop unilaterally, isolated from the community of nations and alienated from the common problems affecting humanity as a whole. 25 10-55276 In the President’s speech to the General Assembly on the occasion of his election (see A/64/PV.93), among other things he set the following topics as priorities for the sixty-fifth session: climate change, the Millennium Development Goals, food security, sustainable development, rebuilding and strengthening fragile post-conflict States, and humanitarian aid and disarmament. Angola is of the opinion that the environment and other issues he mentioned must remain priorities on the national and international agendas. They are crucial for sustainable development, for the growth of our economies, for the implementation of national strategies for combating poverty, and for the attainment of the Millennium Goals. At the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Regional Conference for Africa, held recently in Luanda, the participants expressed their concern about the impact of climate change on the world food crisis in some regions and recommended that States make an extra effort to reduce its impact on agriculture. Angola believes in the importance of multilateralism as the best form of treatment and resolution of the multifaceted challenges that humanity faces today. In that context Angola advocates a shared commitment to find solutions to our problems at all levels. My country gives priority to political and diplomatic coordination and to strengthening institutional relations with the organizations of the United Nations system, as well as with the regional and subregional organizations to which it belongs, namely, the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the Commission on the Gulf of Guinea, the latter having its headquarters in Angola. In the Commission on the Gulf of Guinea, member States cooperate with a view to managing potential conflicts linked to maritime borders and managing shared maritime resources, as well as coordinating policies for the prevention of maritime trafficking and piracy, thus providing security to a region that produces more than 15 per cent of the world’s oil. With that motivation, Angola and its armed forces bravely participated in the liberation of southern Africa, having contributed to the independence of Namibia and to the end of apartheid in South Africa. With that same motivation we contributed to the stabilization of the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With other international partners of the United Nations, we are participating in the training of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Today the Angolan armed forces are a factor for stability not only for Angola, but also for the southern and central regions of Africa, where we are part of the early warning mechanisms of SADC and ECCAS. At present we are committed to finding solutions to the crisis in Guinea-Bissau, in close cooperation with other partners in West Africa, namely, the Economic Community of West African States, and in partnership with the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries. It was therefore with great amazement that we learned of the mention of involvement by the Angolan armed forces in alleged acts of human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a report intended to be circulated as a document of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. We stress that that document was produced at the initiative of an organ of the United Nations Secretariat with no specific mandate from the Secretary-General or from Member States. It is important to emphasize before the Assembly that Angola intervened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the basis of a SADC mandate, at the request of the Government of the Democratic Republic. That intervention made it possible to stop the bloodbath and to save the lives of millions of people and lay the basis for the negotiations that culminated in the establishment of the transitional Government, the installation of the United Nations peacekeeping mission and the successful holding of the first democratic elections. It thus contributed to the pacification of the Great Lakes region. Angola vehemently rejects the insinuation and considers abnormal the manner in which that so-called mapping exercise was conducted. We question the motivations behind that venture. We would like to reiterate that Angola and the Angolan armed forces will continue to act responsibly and on the basis of international standards and scrupulous respect for human rights. The report of the Secretary-General to the sixty- fifth session contains references to peace and security, considering them essential for development and for the 10-55276 26 promotion of and respect for human rights. Angola shares the concerns of the Secretary-General. Our experience shows that only peace, the democratic rule of law and respect for human rights can guarantee the stability necessary for sustainable development and improvement of the living conditions of our people. Angola encourages the efforts by regional organizations and the United Nations in conflict resolution and peacekeeping to ensure global security and stability. A situation that is certainly of concern to all of us is the conflict in the Middle East. Angola recognizes that it has lasted a long time, with serious consequences for the population. Therefore we support the resumption of peace talks by President Barack Obama with a view to creating a Palestinian State that coexists peacefully with the State of Israel. Angola is also concerned at the persistence of the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba, despite successive General Assembly resolutions demanding its immediate removal. That unilateral measure, particularly its extraterritorial effects, is contrary to the principles and norms of international law and contributes to the precarious humanitarian and social situation of the Cuban population. From this rostrum we reiterate our vehement appeal for the lifting of a measure whose anachronistic nature has been restated here on numerous occasions. Regarding the question of Western Sahara, Angola notes with concern that despite various United Nations resolutions and initiatives, there has not been the type of progress that would lead to meeting the aspirations of the Saharan people. We urge the Secretary-General to continue his efforts to attain those objectives. Mutually beneficial cooperation, the promotion of peace and respect for human rights remain the major drivers of Angolan foreign policy, based on the observance of the principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Internally, and as a result of experiences during different periods in our history, marked by three decades of war and political instability, Angola is now entering a new cycle, of which we are very proud. It is characterized by the adoption of a new constitution that marks the end of the transition period and definitively establishes democratic rule of law, given that elections will be held in June 2012. We are aware that we still have a long way to go, especially in view of all the time lost and the delays accumulated in several areas. But it seems important to us to emphasize that the progress already achieved did not happen by chance. Rather, it resulted from the leadership efforts of the Angolan executive organs, the pragmatism of its policies and its commitment to better the human development indexes, which are reflected today in the improved welfare of the people. After eight years of peace, Angola has implemented economic and social reform policies that have allowed for the revitalization of its economy and the rehabilitation of key infrastructure. Such policies have enabled the country’s annual growth rates to average double digits, with a direct impact on the improvement of basic indicators of the Millennium Development Goals. Since 2002 more than 2 million children have been enrolled in primary education. The percentage of children attending school has risen sharply, to 76 per cent. The rate of infant and maternal mortality fell considerably, from 1,400 per 100,000 live births in 2001 to 660 per 100,000 live births in 2010. Moreover, in order to eradicate hunger and poverty, Angola has adopted its National Food Security Strategy (2009- 2014) as a mechanism to increase agricultural production in a sustainable manner. We are convinced that the international community is also aware of how much still has to be done, particularly in the areas of financing for development and the materialization of the commitments made at major international conferences on financing for development. Finally, the reform of the Security Council, given its importance in the democratization of international relations, must remain a topic on the agenda of the Organization. In that connection, Angola reiterates its support for the African common position embodied in the Ezulwini Consensus.