I have
the honour to speak before the General Assembly to
convey the warm greetings of the people and
Government of Guinea, and most especially that of His
Excellency General Sékouba Konaté, interim President
of the Republic, President of the Transition. On this
happy occasion, I would first of all like to congratulate
you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the
sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly. I wish you
every success and assure you in advance of my
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delegation’s support. Your undeniable personal
qualities, in conjunction with proven ability, will
certainly inspire our work at a time when our
Organization faces numerous challenges involving the
entire international community. I would also like to
extend our gratitude to your predecessor,
Mr. Abdussalam Treki, for the skill and dedication that
he showed in carrying out his mandate.
Here, we would like to express our gratitude to
our Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his
tireless efforts to promote the noble ideals of the
United Nations and, in particular, for his personal
involvement in settling the crisis in my country.
On assuming power on 23 December 2008
against a background of political and economic crisis,
the new Guinean authorities had to deal with many
difficulties, in particular poor governance, State
crimes, widespread insecurity and the proliferation and
circulation of small arms and light weapons. That
worrying situation led to the adoption of various
measures to restore order and security, build national
unity and establish a regime respectful of human rights
and individual and public freedoms.
In that specific context, the agreement signed in
Ouagadougou on 15 January 2010 enabled the people
of Guinea, of all inclinations, to embark on a path of
peace and dialogue and implement a political plan
ensuring the return to constitutional order based on the
rule of law and good governance. Despite pitfalls, that
process of democratization led to the establishment of
transitional bodies, specifically, a Government of
national unity, led by a Prime Minister, a head of
Government coming from the Forces vives, the
National Transitional Council and the Independent
National Electoral Commission, as well as a timetable
setting the deadline for organizing free and transparent
elections.
In a show of great commitment, following the
adoption of the new Constitution, the people turned out
in force on 27 June 2010 for the most free and
democratic presidential election that the country had
known since its independence in 1958. The second
round of that important election is planned for the
coming weeks.
Here, from this rostrum, I would like to launch an
urgent appeal to the African and international
communities to continue to support Guinea with a view
to strengthening peace, stability and security in the
subregion. I would also like to pay warm tribute to the
Facilitator, His Excellency Mr. Blaise Compaore,
President of Burkina Faso, for his tireless efforts to
promote the democratic process in Guinea. I also
extend that tribute to the International Contact Group
on Guinea and, through it, the member States of the
Economic Community of West African States and of
the African Union, the international community and all
friendly countries that are working with us at this
critical time.
Peace and security continue to be threatened in
some parts of the African continent and the world.
Somalia continues to be subject to a fratricidal and
painful war. In the Sudan, peace remains fragile despite
the huge sacrifices and the investments granted. We
urge the African Union and the international
community to continue their efforts for a prompt and
lasting settlement of those conflicts.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the recent political
developments have made it possible for that friendly
neighbouring country to move towards the presidential
election planned for 31 October. That important step
forward, in conjunction with the positive outcomes of
the peacebuilding process in Sierra Leone and Liberia,
give us real cause for encouragement and hope for the
peoples of the Mano River Union.
With regard to Western Sahara, my Government
supports the efforts of the United Nations and remains
firmly committed to the Moroccan initiative on the
negotiation of a status of autonomy for the Sahara
region. It urges the stakeholders to find a lasting and
mutually beneficial political solution.
The upsurge in threats and terrorist violence in
Africa are a source of serious concern to Guinea. My
country supports the prompt establishment of a
consultative framework for action to eradicate that
scourge.
In the Middle East, my delegation welcomes the
direct talks between the Palestinian authorities and the
Israeli Government under the auspices of the United
States of America. It hopes that those talks will lead to
the establishment of an independent and sovereign
Palestinian State, living side by side in peace with
Israel. The Guinean Government believes that peace in
that region can be achieved only in a climate of mutual
trust and with a will to implement the agreements and
relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the
Security Council. From that viewpoint, Israel must
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withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and
end its settlement policy.
Only a week ago, in this Hall, the international
community reiterated its commitment to the billions of
people who are expecting it to make a reality of the
promise of a better world expressed in the Millennium
Declaration (resolution 55/2). Guinea welcomes the
holding of that summit, which allowed our heads of
State and Government and our partners to reaffirm
their will to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) within the agreed time frame.
My country remains convinced that achieving the
Millennium Development Goals is within reach. That
is borne out by the remarkable progress made in many
areas by countries that are among the poorest on the
planet. Barely five years from the 2015 deadline, we
must step up the pace, particularly in the countries
facing major challenges, in order to consolidate the
achievements and make even more effective progress
than we have to date.
In order to take up the many challenges of the
twenty-first century, development partners and the
international community have no choice but to step up
efforts to work together to lend new impetus to
international cooperation. My country urges all
stakeholders to assume, at the national, regional and
international levels, their share of responsibility in
achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
The Republic of Guinea welcomes the progress
made in recent years with regard to official
development assistance. However, it regrets that long-
standing commitments and those entered into more
recently are far from being met. It is vital to reflect on
all standard and supplementary sources of financing for
development. Innovative financing is becoming an
increasingly important means to mobilize additional,
predictable and stable resources to supplement official
development assistance.
Guinea, which attaches great importance to an
increase in official development assistance, reiterates
its proposal on organizing an African conference on
innovative financing and drawing up a draft African
declaration on transparency of financial governance
and fighting illegal capital flows. The purpose of that
conference would be to promote strategies to mobilize
innovative financing as a complement to traditional aid
and the domestic resources needed to fund the MDGs.
The draft African declaration on transparency of
financial governance and fighting illegal capital flows
would seek to stem the immense capital outflows from
Africa by redirecting them towards development of the
continent.
Those proposals were warmly welcomed by
various African bodies and the Leading Group on
Innovative Financing for Development. They also
received support at the twenty-fifth summit of heads of
State and Government of Africa and France and the
backing of the African Union at its fifteenth summit in
Kampala. My delegation hopes that those initiatives
will feature among the proposals for action on Africa
during this sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly.
Regarding international trade, we hope for a
prompt conclusion of the Doha Round negotiations on
the basis of an agreement that is both far-reaching and
fair to all stakeholders, in particular the least developed
countries. We again call for developed countries to
respect their commitment to remove by 2013 all export
subsidies that significantly distort trade and
agricultural production in developing countries. My
country welcomes the substantial progress made with
respect to debt relief and urges the international
community to continue its endeavours to effectively
implement the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
Initiative.
The subject of climate change quite rightly
occupies a central place on the international agenda,
given that phenomenon’s devastating effects. That
reveals the emergence of a collective awareness and
the real threat that that phenomenon poses to
humankind.
Given that urgency, my country calls for
concerted and courageous international efforts to
alleviate the suffering of victims, particularly the
vulnerable populations of poor countries. The
commitments undertaken with regard to developing
countries in terms of financial resources, technology
transfer and capacity-building must be fulfilled, so that
the appropriate measures can be undertaken to adapt to
climate change and to mitigate its effects in those
countries. In that connection, my delegation hopes that
the climate conference to be held at the end of the year
in Cancún, Mexico, will lead to an ambitious
agreement that will commit States to concrete action.
As it is fully aware of the pressing need to act,
the Guinean Government, for its part, is determined to
assume its share of the responsibility, especially since
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Guinea plays a leading role in implementing all
policies and strategies aimed at achieving sustainable
development and restoring ecological balance in
western African. As the source of over 20 rivers that
irrigate the West African region, including the Niger,
Senegal, Gambia and Makona Rivers, Guinea is a
veritable water tower for Western Africa and the
crucible for an incredibly rich biodiversity.
The main theme of this session, “Reaffirming the
central role of the United Nations in global
governance”, is extremely timely. We acknowledge that
most gratefully. In a highly interdependent world that
is marked by the combined effects of many crises, a
new culture of international solidarity is essential.
Likewise, a profound reform of our Organization
is needed to make it more democratic, more
representative and transparent. Sixty-five years after its
creation, the United Nations does indeed need to be
reformed in order to become more effective and better
placed to meet the aspirations of our peoples. Let us
make it an effective instrument in the service of peace,
security, development and human rights. Only in that
way will current and future generations in all countries
and all regions of the world see their hopes of living in
peace realized in a world that is free and prosperous,
without fear, poverty or need.