I would first like to congratulate Ambassador Nassir
Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his election to the presidency
of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, and
to express our most sincere wishes for his success in
fulfilling his mandate. Similarly, I would like to
convey to Mr. Joseph Deiss Guinea-Bissau’s
appreciation for the spirit of engagement and
dedication he brought to his successful conduct of the
work of the sixty-fifth session.
Let me also reiterate my congratulations to the
Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-Moon,
on his recent reappointment, the fruit of the excellent
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work he has done to help consolidate peace and
development around the world.
And I would like to take this happy occasion to
salute the Republic of South Sudan on having joined
the United Nations, becoming the Organization’s most
recent full Member.
Today, 24 September, Guinea-Bissau celebrates
the thirty-eighth anniversary of its independence. That
historic achievement was the Guinean people’s first
major victory, and from this rostrum I pay the homage
that is owed to our country’s freedom fighters, whose
courage and determination enabled us to attain the
status of a free and independent State.
As our national authorities have stated and has
been unanimously recognized by the international
community, defence and security sector reforms are
urgent priorities for us, since their implementation can
strengthen peace and stability in our country and thus
create the conditions needed for sustainable
development. With the signing of the Tripartite
Agreement Protocol or Memorandum of Understanding
between the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS), the Community of Portuguese-
speaking Countries and the Government of Guinea-
Bissau, which will take place at the margins of this
session of the Assembly, we will be able to make a
major qualitative leap in the implementation of defence
and security forces reform, as well as in effectively
implementing the programmes contained in the
ECOWAS road map.
In that regard, Guinea-Bissau’s commitment to
mobilizing resources to sustain the reforms has led to a
decision to create a special pension fund, into which
we will have deposited $200,000 of the $500,000 we
pledged to the fund by December 2011, as proof of our
firm commitment to contributing 10 per cent of the
total resources required. We therefore expect to hold a
high-level meeting with our development partners this
year, in order to obtain the financial and technical
resources required to implement the reforms, and we
appeal to all our partners to participate in and commit
to the meeting.
Drug trafficking and organized crime are a
current subject of discussion in the Organization, and,
as is well known, the West African region to which we
belong cited as a hub and Guinea-Bissau is also often
singled out as a transit point for illicit drugs. In full
awareness of this reality and recognizing our known
problems, we are proud to say that we were one of the
first countries to request the good offices of the United
Nations, through the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC), to help us deal with the issue
with determination and effectiveness.
In order to combat drug trafficking and organized
crime, the Government, through its Council of
Ministers, has adopted two important instruments, a
political declaration and a plan of action, which
include large-scale actions in the following three areas:
strengthening the legal system, strengthening the
criminal justice system, and combating drug use and
HIV/AIDS. Alongside such measures at the national
level, the Government is seeking to sign bilateral
agreements to strengthen the fight against drug
trafficking, keeping in mind that, without strategic
cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and
consumption of drugs, there can be no effective fight
against drug trafficking.
Therefore, from this rostrum, we reiterate our
appeal, as we have many times before, for help in
controlling our maritime borders. We address this
appeal to countries that are better prepared than we are
to do so. We are making a formal request for the
support of the United States and the European Union
and its member States, since we cannot single-
handedly fight drug trafficking, which, as we all know,
is increasingly powerful and sophisticated.
We are approaching the deadline for achieving
the Millennium Development Goals, but despite
ongoing efforts, Guinea-Bissau continues to face
challenges with regard to basic sanitation, supplies of
drinking water and energy, and the provision of
primary health services, to cite only the most pressing
issues. The high rate of poverty that still prevails in our
country has forced the Government to adopt an
ambitious agenda for the future, embodied in our
national poverty reduction strategy document and
based on the pillars of stability, peace, economic
growth and poverty reduction. That document defines
the main challenges and recommends priorities for the
next five years. As a result of serious and rigorous
implementation of this strategy, the Government that I
have the honour to lead has already successfully
reversed this negative trend.
The current economic situation is clearly
improving, the result of progress made in the last two
and a half years in strengthening public policy and
13 11-51360
improving macroeconomic performance, as our
partners, especially the International Monetary Fund
and the World Bank, will testify. As a result of our
excellent macroeconomic performance, the country
reached the completion point of the Heavily Indebted
Poor Countries Initiative, thus achieving forgiveness of
about 90 per cent of its external debt and the recent
re-evaluation of the growth rate of its gross domestic
product, which is now fixed at 5.3 per cent, which is
higher than originally predicted. We have all the
conditions needed to maintain and accelerate this trend
during the next year.
To that end, in addition to relying on our own
resources, which can now be devoted to poverty
reduction programmes, the Government will organize a
round table of donors in the first quarter of 2012 to
mobilize the necessary financial resources for the
implementation of those programmes. In that context,
we appeal once more for the participation of and
contributions by all traditional donors that are
interested in our country and that wish to support
national efforts aimed at overcoming our current
weaknesses.
Let me once again welcome the establishment of
UN-Women, an entity that reflects the firm
commitment of our Organization to the struggle for
gender equality and to ensuring that women have the
conditions necessary for a more representative and
active participation in the process of transformation
that is under way in our societies.
In the same context, my country is taking
measures to uphold the dignity of women, including
measures to promote their empowerment and the
affirmation of their autonomy. I welcome the steps
taken recently by the Guinean Parliament, which
approved the criminalization of female genital
mutilation and increased penalties for trafficking in
minors.
Guinea-Bissau’s status and credibility in the
international arena depends largely on its ability to
define and implement a foreign policy that takes into
account the great universal values of democracy,
freedom and human rights, which are our values as
well.
In our diplomatic efforts, we have to be
consistent with our historical commitments and, above
all, faithful to all who selflessly helped us in the
struggle for the affirmation of our dignity.
From that perspective, we welcome the decision
of the Palestinian Authority to submit a request for the
recognition of the State of Palestine as a full Member
of the United Nations. We encourage a constructive
dialogue on the basis of the possibility of peaceful
coexistence and mutually advantageous cooperation
between countries and peoples.
This session of the Assembly is taking place at a
time when major changes are occurring in the Arab
world. These changes call for greater political and
social rights, as well as values such as freedom and
democracy, and, for that very reason, the Arabs have
our sympathy and solidarity. We regret, however, the
cases where transition incurs high costs in terms of
human lives.
With regard to Libya, Guinea-Bissau fully
supports the position of the African Union and
expresses its full readiness to cooperate and to
strengthen the increasingly friendly relations and
cooperation with the legitimate representatives of the
Libyan people.
We urge the United States Government to draw
on the values that define that great nation and to
resume its relationship with Cuba, ending the embargo
that has lasted for more than five decades and freeing
the Cubans still being held in its prisons.
The responsibilities of the United Nations are
increasing, and the globalization of the decisions that it
is called upon to take is becoming increasingly urgent.
The historical reasons that led to the
establishment of the Security Council are no longer
current. The demographic representation of the
different regions of the world, the emergence of new
countries and new geopolitical configurations oblige us
to accept as natural the reform of the Security Council.
We deem it legitimate to want the decisions of the
Security Council to be made more inclusive and
participatory through giving our continent both
permanent and non-permanent seats, as is the wish of
the African Union, because of the large representation
of the African continent.
Under the auspices of the President of the
Republic, Mr. Malam Bacai Sanhá, the National
Assembly launched a process of national reconciliation
involving all the forces of the nation. That important
initiative has contributed to the establishment of the
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climate of peace and understanding that now prevails
in the country.
To conclude, I take this opportunity to thank all
friends and partners of Guinea-Bissau for their support
and solidarity and to assure them that we will spare no
effort in consolidating peace and building a more just
society to create better living conditions for the
Guinean people.