May I begin by congratulating Mr. Treki on
his unanimous election to preside over the work of the
General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. His
election to that position is an honour to the entire
African continent and a worthy tribute to the Great
Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, whose
devotion to the African cause goes without saying.
Furthermore and on behalf of His Excellency
General François Bozizé, President of the Republic,
who wishes him every success in his work, I assure
him of the support of the Central African delegation in
achieving the full success of his lofty task this year.
His demonstrated knowledge of the United Nations and
of world problems will ensure the success of the
present session. I also wish to congratulate Mr. Miguel
d’Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua on his excellent
contribution to the previous session in his capacity as
President.
However, before delivering my assessment the
state of the world in the face of the new challenges of
the twenty-first century and my country’s perspective
on the main issues to be addressed at this session, I
should also like to commend the tireless work of the
Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, who spares no
effort in promoting the principles and purposes of the
United Nations. To him, I once again express the deep
gratitude of the people of the Central African Republic
for his notable contributions with regard to the
situation in the Central African Republic and his
support within the framework of the Peacebuilding
Commission.
In fact, in March this year, pursuant to my
Government’s request, a country configuration of the
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Peacebuilding Commission was established under the
Belgian presidency. The Commission is working
together with Central African authorities to strengthen
the achievements of peace and make it possible to
implement the recommendations resulting from the
inclusive political dialogue held from 8 to
20 December 2008, regarding in particular the
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
programme, security sector reform and the process
leading up to the 2010 general elections.
My country welcomes this session because of the
items on our agenda, which are true matters of global
concern. Indeed, it should be recalled that we have
several challenges to meet: development, peace and
security, climate change and its effects, terrorism and
necessary United Nations reform. The choice of theme
for this debate — “Effective responses to global crises,
strengthening multilateralism and dialogue among
civilizations for international peace, security and
development” — is inspired. In fact, the changes in the
world’s configuration have given rise to new
challenges that can be addressed only through
international cooperation. Thus, multilateralism now
appears to be the only way to resolve the world’s
problems.
In this era of globalization and technological
advances, forums for cooperation — even the most
firmly established ones — must address new demands
calling for appropriate and united responses.
I am grateful for the honour shown to the Central
African Republic, and I should like to stress the
correlation among some of the issues raised since the
beginning of this general debate. With regard to the
world situation, this session is being held in a
particularly worrisome context. This is a critical time
for addressing global political issues at all levels — a
time that requires us, as nations, to seek solutions in a
spirit of dialogue, cooperation and openness. The
current world scene poses major challenges in the areas
of peace and security, economic development and
social progress, and human rights and the rule of law.
As far as crucial development issues are
concerned, the world economic and financial crisis
remains an unprecedented event in terms of its impact
and the upheavals in the world’s economic and
financial systems. It requires a reorganization leading
to a new world order in this area. Besides that option,
however, other ways to emerge from the present crisis
could be to develop production capacity, to strengthen
trade capacity for the benefit of developing countries
and to implement strategic partnerships among the
various regions to which the Organization’s Members
belong.
The food crisis, which was caused by rising
prices and whose harmful effects continue to keep a
large part of the world in conditions of famine and
abject poverty, requires that we promote the
agricultural sector, industry and the utilization of
mining resources. The rise in food prices has caused a
significant deterioration in the terms of trade among
countries in the most affected regions, including the
African continent generally and, in particular, the
Central African Republic. That situation could lead to
greater inflationary pressure and a deteriorating
balance of payments. The impact is being felt both at
the macroeconomic level and in terms of household
income and food security.
The contributions of regional economic
communities and United Nations agencies such as the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, the World Food Programme, the International
Fund for Agricultural Development and the World
Bank, will be invaluable in the quest for a coordinated
solution to this crisis. Agricultural development should
be encouraged with a view to ensuring sustainable
growth and improvements in people’s means of
subsistence, based on the sound management of
environmental and natural resources.
Programmes and activities to promote long-term
growth should, of course, be carried out in accordance
with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In
2000, when we committed ourselves to achieving the
Goals by 2015, we aroused legitimate hopes
throughout the developing world. We do not have the
right to dash those hopes, which would worsen the
North-South fracture and further deepen the divisions
within our own societies, with incalculable risks for the
governance and stability of States.
A little more than nine years after the Millennium
Summit, it is indisputable that significant progress has
been made, but we must acknowledge that, in many
countries in Africa and elsewhere, a large majority of
the population lives in abject poverty. The Millennium
Development Goals are the surest way to speed the
progress of African peoples towards well-being. The
development projects in the MDG sectors need stable,
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sufficient and predictable long-term funding. We thus
regard this session of the General Assembly as an
opportunity to raise the awareness of all international
development financing institutions, without exception,
and lead them to effectively pledge to mobilize and
transfer the financial resources necessary to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals.
Likewise, the Programme of Action for the Least
Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010, aimed
at significantly improving the living conditions of the
more than 600 million people living in those countries,
is concluding and thus should be reviewed in order to
address the marginalization and the new
socio-economic challenges facing least developed
countries.
Climate change joins the challenges confronting
our world, because the economy, the environment and
the way of life of every nation represented here are
threatened.
At the United Nations Climate Change
Conference held in Bali, Indonesia, in 2007, world
leaders decided to negotiate a new agreement on
climate change to succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.
In the Bali Road Map, States defined spheres of action
and agreed to take them into account during the post-
Kyoto negotiations. The working meeting of the heads
of State of the G8+5 in L’Aquila on 9 July 2009
examined the issue of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.
My country is committed to the global fight
against climate change, as demonstrated by its
ratification of several international instruments on
climate issues. I am referring to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change and the
Kyoto Protocol.
For the Central African Republic, the challenge
of climate change relates to not only mitigation,
namely reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but
also to adaptation to the harmful effects of that change.
However, for vulnerable States, with a weak economy
like ours, the cost of adaptation, calculated at several
tens of billions of dollars a year, puts a still greater
strain on our limited resources and increases poverty.
This is an opportunity for me to express the wish that
assistance in combating climate change not replace
official development assistance.
We have not come to this sixty-fourth session of
the General Assembly to point an accusing finger at the
States responsible for global warming, but rather, like
the brother countries of Africa, to convey a message to
the leaders of the world. Africa will continue its efforts
to preserve its forest ecosystems, but the rich countries
must assume their responsibilities to reach concrete
proposals for post-Kyoto.
We support France’s proposal at the summit on
climate change, held on 22 September 2009, for the
establishment of a world environment organization, the
implementation of the Bali Road Map through
technology transfers to developing countries, and the
financing of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. However, we strongly hope that, in
Copenhagen next December, the common position of
the countries of Central Africa, which share the forests
of the Congo basin, will be taken into account.
Allow me here to recall that the countries of
Central Africa, members of the Commission for the
Forests of Central Africa (COMIFAC), signed a
declaration in Bangui on 11 September 2008 in which
they call on the institutions of the United Nations
system, the European Union, the International
Organization of la Francophonie, the Secretariat of the
New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the
high-level panel of experts to support them in their
effort, inter alia, to include issues relating to the
management of tropical forests in the post-Kyoto
arrangements.
The forests of the Congo basin, the second largest
forest system in the world, play a key role in regulating
the global climate. The efforts to conserve and
sustainably manage the forests of that natural space
agreed to by the member countries of COMIFAC
should be encouraged as part of the process of reducing
emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in
developing countries. In Copenhagen, we must reach a
fair agreement, based on win-win partnerships that
enable developing countries to reconcile the
preservation of natural resources with economic
development.
The Central African Republic fully supports the
statement made by the Chairperson of the African
Union Commission at its recent special session on the
consideration and resolution of conflicts in Africa, held
in Tripoli, Libya, on 31 August 2009. It shares the
conviction that economic growth and sustainable
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development are intertwined with the status of and
trends in world peace and security.
In view of the proliferation of arms of all kinds,
disarmament is a pressing issue. The United Nations
Disarmament Commission must promote resolutions
that encourage multilateralism in the area of
disarmament and non-proliferation, the reduction of
military budgets and respect for environmental
standards in the drawing up and implementation of
disarmament agreements. An effort is also needed to
overcome the current impasse and to achieve nuclear
disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation in all their
forms. The strategic doctrine adopted by nuclear-
weapon States that justifies the use of or threat of the
use of atomic weapons is as dangerous as uranium
enrichment for weapons purposes and should simply be
discarded.
On the other hand, a national security concept
based on the promotion and development of military
alliances and nuclear deterrence policies seems better
suited to the ideals that we pursue. The Central African
Republic welcomes the initiative of United States
President Obama in convening a meeting of the
Security Council on nuclear non-proliferation and
nuclear disarmament.
Terrorism is the most flagrant violation of
international law. It prevents people from enjoying
their basic freedoms and destabilizes legitimately
established Governments. For those reasons, it must
not be tolerated by or associated with any religion,
civilization, ethnic group or claim, however legitimate
it may seem. My country resolutely condemns terrorist
acts and aligns itself with the fight against terrorism
being carried out by the committees established by the
United Nations Security Council.
The issue of the control of conventional weapons
at the regional level is all the more relevant in view of
the fact that it is the most effective way to tackle the
illegal proliferation of armed groups and transnational
crime. The peace and security of Central Africa are
hampered by that recurrent problem. Armed groups
threaten the stability of the national institutions of
some of our States. Along those lines, the
comprehensive peace agreement signed at Libreville in
neighbouring Gabon on 21 June 2008 enabled the
Central African Republic to thwart an ill-intentioned
plot to seize power.
However, its concern, like that of other States of
Africa’s Great Lakes region, such as the Sudan, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, is with
the criminal activities of the uprising of the so-called
Lord’s Resistance Army, which has become a
transnational criminal organization, causing death and
destruction as far as the Central African Republic. Its
destructive capacity goes beyond the territory of the
Republic of Uganda and is becoming a regional
problem, for which an agreed solution is essential. The
affected States are striving to achieve that with the
limited resources that they have.
I am convinced that the Charter of the United
Nations and international law continue to be essential
instruments and the pillars of the preservation and
maintenance of international peace and security.
Representing nearly the entire international
community, the United Nations has well-established
international legitimacy and is the best forum for
finding a lasting solution to problems of that kind.
The United Nations remains the primary and
fundamental forum for addressing world issues and
seeking consensus. That is why we Member States
attach great importance to strengthening its role and
believe that reform is necessary in order to develop its
full potential. The reform must be comprehensive and
cover all areas, while respecting its political nature and
its intergovernmental and universal character.
However, adjustments to two organs of our
Organization seem to be a priority in that reform: the
Security Council and the General Assembly. The
General Assembly must be invigorated by giving
greater weight to its role and to its authority as the
main deliberative and representative organ of the
Member States. The General Assembly’s prerogatives
as the chief oversight body of the United Nations, even
in the area of peacekeeping, must be respected.
As for reform of the Security Council, it must be
directed at achieving transparency and balance within
that body. Its enlargement will enable better
representation of all regions in order to allow us to
debate new approaches to the maintenance of
international peace and security. This is an African
position that has been advocated during this general
debate by the Leader of the Great Socialist People’s
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (see ), and it is one
that the Central African Republic supports. My country
hopes that reform of the United Nations system will
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have a positive impact on the development of
multilateral cooperation in our ever-changing world.