First of all, on behalf of the people of
Equatorial Guinea and the delegation with me today, I
should like to congratulate Mr. D’Escoto Brockmann
on his fitting election as President of the General
Assembly at its sixty-third session. His election bears
17 08-51845
witness to the trust and credibility with which all States
Members of the United Nations view the sister
Republic of Nicaragua. We wish him every success and
assure him of our full cooperation during his time in
office.
I would also like to pay tribute to the outgoing
President, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for the excellent work he
carried out at a crucial time in the history of the United
Nations.
The sixty-third session allows us a new
opportunity to share our views on the common
concerns of all peoples in the world. We would like to
say how pleased we are to see that the agenda of this
annual debate includes subjects such as the
democratization of the United Nations system,
including the necessary reforms in the functioning of
the Security Council and the Bretton Woods
institutions; funding for the development of Africa; the
food crisis and world hunger; climate change; human
security as part of international peace and security; and
the fight against terrorism.
The world harboured the hope that after the cold
war mankind would achieve peace and live more
harmoniously together in greater solidarity. However,
we are extremely saddened to note the differences
separating the rich from the poor countries, causing
hunger, poverty, war and destabilization. In other
words, today we are facing new challenges that
jeopardize the budding institutions of developing
countries in many ways.
For that reason, it is necessary to adopt
mechanisms and strategies that enable us to ensure that
our experiences can provide a bridge to a new form of
cooperation among peoples. Indeed, in the six decades
of the existence of the United Nations, we have seen
that only the establishment of a new, more open and
respectful global framework for cooperation will lead
to the stability, peace and progress of all nations.
We have seen that the use of force by the strong
has not only failed to solve the problems affecting the
people of the world today, but has made them worse.
We know from experience that conflicts and threats to
world peace arise from a patent lack of dialogue among
the countries making up the international community.
Not only do many peoples and nations continue to face
old conflicts, but every day new tensions and threats to
world peace emerge.
In addition to those challenges are the issues that
are the focus of our debate, such as injustice, poverty,
the energy and food crises, climate change, inequality
and poor access to the education, health care and new
technologies needed for poor countries to develop.
Thus, Equatorial Guinea believes it appropriate
that the new strategy the world needs today must start
not only with the reform of our multilateral
cooperation institutions, but also with a change in the
mentality and behaviour of those who today hold
economic power, so as to achieve a manifestation of
democracy that fosters dialogue and cooperation
among peoples.
In the recent past, our efforts to bring about a
better world have been based on the Millennium
Development Goals, which were intended to strengthen
international cooperation towards universal and
sustainable development. Achieving those Goals
requires, inter alia, the reform of the world economic
system, based on respect for different development
models, so that each may choose what is most
historically, politically, socially and culturally fitting.
Clearly, that troubled global situation affects all
countries to different degrees and with varying impact.
In that regard, the African continent is the most
vulnerable in terms of economic and social
development, and it is not surprising that its peoples
are more affected by the widespread crisis threatening
the world.
That which is presented to us today as a world
food crisis is not merely temporary but is one of the
many paradoxes of our time. For it seems
inconceivable that in an era of abundance the
underdeveloped countries of the South are confronted
by a deficit in a right so crucial to human beings,
namely, the right to food. Statistics published by the
Food and Agriculture Organization indicate that nearly
900 million men, women and children suffer from
hunger, with almost 80 per cent of them living in
developing countries.
The supposed food crisis and other current
phenomena in our globalized world are the result of the
impact of the neoliberal policies that have been applied
on a global scale for more than four decades. I am
speaking in particular about the prescriptions advanced
by institutions of the international commercial and
financial system, namely, the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund and the World Trade
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Organization. In fact, they act as the voice of their
masters in erecting discriminatory barriers that impede
our ability to produce and trade.
One of the consequences of the food crisis has
been the no-holds-barred liberalization of trade
imposed by those institutions. That has permitted the
flooding of African markets with highly subsidized
food products, which is destroying agriculture in our
countries. In that regard, Africa today is a continent
that produces and exports things that it itself does not
consume, while at the same time it imports from the
countries of the North things that it could produce for
its own use but does not.
If there is any good in the food crisis it is the fact
that none of the countries of the South, and especially
those in Africa, has any interest in continuing to
depend upon food imports in order to ensure the
survival of its citizens, either as food aid or through an
unfair trading system. In that connection, what Africa
needs today is development based on solidarity and the
strengthening of its socio-economic fabric. A large part
of Africa’s fertile land is still not cultivated, but
statistics on Africa’s productivity are among the lowest
in the world. That is due to the exodus from the
countryside and the few incentives available to farmers
because of the high cost of agricultural inputs and the
relative prices of agricultural products on the
international market.
With regard to the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development and the delay in its implementation,
Equatorial Guinea would like to propose the
establishment of an international steering committee
made up of experts from both donor and African
countries. The purpose of the committee would be to
identify mechanisms and projects that could contribute
to the economic integration of African countries. The
committee would also be in charge of implementing
projects and programmes at the continental, regional
and subregional levels, including the programme to
combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other
diseases endemic in Africa; identifying and financing
of energy resources in order to electrify countries in
landlocked regions; building a trans-African network
of roads and railways so that countries that are
enclaves and without access to the sea can transport
their goods; launching a satellite that ensures
communications for Africa; establishing an African
university to train our human resources; establishing
industries in countries experiencing emigration to
developed countries in order to create jobs for their
workforce; and granting low-interest loans in order to
promote development in Africa’s least favoured
countries.
I should like to conclude my statement by
recalling the commitment of the international
community to preserve the environment and protect
ecosystems that have an impact on climate change,
which today poses a threat to humankind. Equatorial
Guinea is among the countries of equatorial Africa
making great efforts to preserve the forest ecosystems
of the Congo River basin, which, along with the
Amazon, serves as the lungs of humankind.
Moreover, Equatorial Guinea would like to
reiterate its commitment to combating international
terrorism and organized crime in all their forms and
manifestations.
With regard to national policy, Equatorial Guinea
is experiencing an unprecedented period of freedom
and development. Our people are flourishing and
developing in an atmosphere of peace, democracy and
stability. We look forward to a future of well-being and
justice for all our citizens.
From this podium, I would like to reiterate the
commitment of my Government to promote and protect
human rights. We do not need anyone to give us
lessons about elections, or to attempt to usurp the
sovereign will of the people of Equatorial Guinea.
Equatorial Guinea is proud to be part of the
United Nations. We believe this universal Organization
is today, and will continue to be, the sole option for
strengthening peace and stability and for achieving
development, to which we all aspire.