I am
particularly honoured to address the General Assembly
on behalf of His Excellency Mr. José Eduardo dos
Santos, President of the Republic of Angola.
First, I should like, on behalf of my Government,
to warmly congratulate Mr. Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann on his election to preside over this organ.
We wish him all success during his mandate and assure
him of the support of my country.
The present session of the General Assembly is
taking place at a time of serious challenges for the
international community. They include the food crisis,
the rise in fuel prices, unexpected climate change, the
financial crisis, the escalation of cold-war rhetoric and
terrorism. The global scale of those challenges and
their negative effects on the lives of millions of human
beings on all continents indicate that we are at a
critical moment. We must overcome those challenges
through a collective response, with the central role
played by the United Nations. Above all, however,
each State must also act individually.
With regard to the financial crisis, we must take
measures that help to prevent serious effects on the
global economy, especially the economies of the more
vulnerable countries. Such measures must be effective
and must help to reduce the negative impact on the
progress that African countries have already made by
implementing reforms that have enabled them to have
an annual growth rate of 5 per cent.
We are also concerned at the rise in food prices.
That has dealt a hard blow to the efforts to fight
poverty, which affects more than 1 billion people. The
rise in food prices is closely linked to climate change,
which is not only causing the destruction of
infrastructure and basic means of subsistence in many
countries, but is also forcing millions of people into
poverty.
The elimination of distorting elements in
international trade is also fundamental if we are to
resolve the world food crisis. The agricultural subsidies
provided by the wealthiest countries to their farmers
are ruining the farming production in poor countries,
rendering difficult their farmers’ access to international
markets. The failure of the World Trade Organization
negotiations during the Doha Round last July further
aggravated that scenario. The collapse of those talks
eliminated the chances of concluding, in the short term,
a general trade agreement that would remove such
subsidies and other obstacles to international trade
exchanges. The Republic of Angola hopes that
negotiations will resume as soon as possible and that
the main actors will show the necessary flexibility to
allow countries that are underprivileged as a result of
the lack of a global trade agreement to avoid remaining
eternally marginalized from the global economy.
Turning this extremely dangerous situation
around, particularly for the countries of the South,
requires that the General Assembly intensify its efforts.
Our hope is that the President will steer the debate
towards addressing these concerns. The Republic of
Angola commits itself to contributing, within the limits
of its capacity, to finding solutions to these problems
that affect all States.
South-South cooperation, including triangular
cooperation, has the potential to contribute to the
eradication of poverty through the establishment of
partnerships for sustainable development, trade,
55 08-52265
investment, tourism, prevention and combating of drug
trafficking, illicit trade in small arms and light
weapons, and transnational organized crime. In that
connection, Angola is honoured to chair the Zone of
Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic, an
effective interregional mechanism for cooperation in
the areas of development, peace and security among its
24 member States in Africa and South America.
I would like to avail myself of the opportunity to
assure our international partners that the Republic of
Angola is motivated more than ever to assume the
responsibilities that arise from membership in the
institutions of the international community, those of the
African continent and those of the United Nations. Our
engagement and commitment will, in the meantime,
continue to lie primarily in the maintenance of peace
and security, the consolidation of democracy, respect
for human rights and sustainable economic
development, on the basis of the social laws of a
market economy that will safeguard the interests and
the satisfaction of the majority of the population.
Those are the principles that have guided our
trajectory as a country, in particular since the end of
the cold war. A coherent application of those principles
is the basis for the progress that Angola is building in
the political, social and economic domains. As a result,
since 2002, a climate of peace prevails in the entire
country, with the eradication of conflict factors and
important advances in national reconciliation,
emergence of a highly entrepreneurial private sector, a
dynamic civil society and a free, vibrant and active
press.
In the last five years, Angola has been registering
high economic growth rates. During this period, the
gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an estimated
rate of 14.7 per cent in real terms. The non-oil sector
grew at a rate of 17.4 per cent, faster than the oil
sector, which reached an annual growth rate of 12.7 per
cent. This growth allowed the unemployment rate,
which in the mid-1990s was estimated to be at 45 per
cent, to decrease to an estimated level of 22.5 per cent
in 2007.
The relative weight of the extractive industry,
dominated by the oil and diamond subsectors, grew at a
significant rate of 61.6 per cent. Moreover, Angola saw
a reduction in inflation levels from 105.6 per cent in
December 2003 to 11.78 per cent in December 2007, as
well as a transformation in public accounts from a
deficit of 7 per cent of the GDP in 2003 to a surplus of
11.4 per cent of the GDP in 2007. These figures
encourage us to be optimistic in relation to the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.
On 5 September of this year, Angola added one
more pillar to its democratic structure by holding
legislative elections in a transparent and totally free
environment. Despite the criticism and the pressure on
the Angolan Government to hold the elections earlier,
independently of the objective and subjective
conditions prevailing at the time, the discernment of its
leader, His Excellency Mr. José Eduardo dos Santos,
demonstrated that the elections were held at the most
appropriate moment.
With the gradual yet significant improvement in
the quality of life of the people, and with fully
reconciled and peaceful spirits, a climate of tolerance
and political coexistence emerged into its optimal
space. The elections were indeed an expression of the
reaffirmation of our dignity.
All the efforts involved in the complex electoral
process that led to the success of this historic feat were
made with the human and material resources of the
Angolan Government. We are proud to once more have
given a good example of political maturity, civic
discipline and full popular participation. It gives us joy
to state before this Assembly that, like other peoples of
the world, Africans have the capability and the ability
to build their own destiny and develop participatory
democracy.
Armed conflicts continue to absorb resources
from both the international community and the parties
involved, resources that could be better utilized for the
well-being of the population in affected territories.
However, for the first time in many years, Africa is
experiencing a significant reduction in conflict,
allowing for improved economic indicators. The
progress in the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire and the
consolidation of peace under way in Sierra Leone and
in Liberia have brought about a new aura of hope.
Furthermore, the progress made in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, despite some tension in the eastern
areas, is manifestly encouraging.
We hope that the efforts currently being made by
the United Nations and the African Union, as well as
by regional organizations, will help resolve the
conflicts in Somalia and Darfur in a peaceful manner.
08-52265 56
As Chair of the Organ on Politics, Defence and
Security Co-operation of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC), the Republic of
Angola has given its all, together with the other
countries of that region and the facilitator, to support
the negotiation process with a view ending the political
crisis in Zimbabwe. Angola welcomes the inter-party
agreement reached in Zimbabwe and will continue to
make efforts to help the parties put national interests
before all personal quarrels so as to ease the return to
political stability and to reverse the grim economic
situation that prevails in the country. We appeal to the
international community, particularly to the European
Union, to support the programme aimed at overcoming
the crisis, which will be drawn up by the inclusive
Government resulting from the inter-party agreement.
We also call for the subsequent lifting of the sanctions
imposed on that country.
However, we must remain vigilant to the
possibility of the eruption of new conflicts due to the
political instability that exists in other countries of the
continent. We must invest in preventive diplomacy and
in the strengthening of rapid alert mechanisms.
In the Middle East, the latest developments seem
to introduce a light at the end of the tunnel, with regard
to a definitive resolution of the Palestinian and the
Israeli-Arab issues. Angola encourages the parties
involved to engage in a dialogue that will lead to the
de facto and de jure establishment of a Palestinian
State, with recognized borders, coexisting side by side
with Israel.
My Government maintains its solidarity with the
Common African Position and with all those who
advocate the need to democratize the United Nations
and to reform its system, including the expansion of
the Security Council so that it reflects a fair and
equitable regional representation, with all the rights
inherent in membership.
I would not like to end my statement without
once again conveying my regret to the General
Assembly over the continuation of the embargo that the
Republic of Cuba is subjected to by the United States
of America. It constitutes a situation that does not
comply with the rules that govern relations between
States. We are in an age of peaceful coexistence among
peoples and nations, and that embargo wounds the
universal collective conscience of our time.