Mali

At the outset, Sir, it is a pleasure for Mali to congratulate you on your election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session and on your outstanding management of our work. The trust placed in you does honour to the whole of Africa and is a brilliant tribute to the great Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and its leader, whose commitment to African unity and just causes is acknowledged by all. I assure you of our full support in your new responsibilities and congratulate your predecessor, Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua, on his excellent work throughout his mandate. I also congratulate Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his strenuous efforts to strengthen the role of our Organization, and reaffirm our desire for his success in his assigned missions. The current general debate is a timely opportunity for us to consider together the urgent problems facing the international community, to share our worries and concerns about the challenges that affect the world, and to find sustainable solutions pursuant to the heartfelt aspirations of our peoples. While the financial and economic crisis that burst onto the scene last year has spared no country, it undoubtedly weakened the economies of the developing countries, especially in Africa, a continent that has long been marginalized. Fluctuations in food and oil prices have decreased revenues and exacerbated inflation in many developing countries. The current multifaceted crises in the realms of finance, food, energy and the environment have plunged hundreds of millions of people into poverty and aggravated circumstances already straitened by unemployment and the high cost of access to basic services. The plight of the most vulnerable strata of society in developing countries, especially women and children, calls for action by the international community and should be at the heart of international concerns. Even as this year we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, hundreds of millions of children still live at risk and in extreme poverty. More than 26,000 children under the age of five die each day in developing countries of diseases that for the most part could have been avoided if adequate resources had been mobilized and effective measures put in place to respond to immediate needs. The breadth and complexity of the challenges that must be met cannot distract the international community from its responsibilities. It goes without saying that the resolution of the world financial and economic crisis requires a democratization of the international monetary system, notably the institution of a new international financial architecture based on the genuine participation of all nations, including developing countries. Only a global and cooperative effort will succeed in laying the groundwork for a lasting recovery. It is also essential to strengthen global development partnerships in order to create conditions favourable for the reduction of poverty, the improvement of health and education, gender equality and environmental protection, as set out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In this regard, the Government of Mali has launched an innovative project to focus the MDGs on the 166 Malian municipal districts most vulnerable to food shortages. That initiative, inspired by the Millennium Village approach, is part of the economic and social development project instituted by the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Amadou Toumani Touré. The project’s principal aim is “to assure robust and sustainable growth that produces opportunities and prosperity for all citizens; to open the way to the achievement of the MDGs by 2015, thus allowing all Malians to enjoy the fundamental rights of all human beings to have enough to eat, to have access to potable water, to enjoy basic services within a radius of five kilometres and to send their children, both boys and girls, to primary school; and to create good working conditions for the majority of the country’s young people”. As part of that initiative, the Forum on Initiative 166, organized by the Malian Government in the 39 09-53165 margins of this session of the General Assembly, has increased awareness among development partners and donors alike of the need to support the efforts of the more than 2.5 million people living in nearly 3,000 villages in the 166 districts to raise themselves out of extreme poverty and launch their own social and economic development process. Despite the progress made in developing countries with regard to the MDGs, the 2015 deadline looms on the horizon and much remains to do. We dare believe that the pledges made by the industrialized countries, notably at the Group of 20 summits held in Washington, D.C., London and Pittsburgh, will be honoured. We also urge donor nations, international financial institutions and development organizations to give full attention to the special circumstances of the group of landlocked developing nations. Given their lack of access to oceans, their isolation and their removal from international markets, those countries face great difficulties in their endeavours to ensure their economic growth and social well-being and to participate in the global economy and international commerce. We remain convinced that pushing forward the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action for landlocked countries will greatly contribute to the realization of the goals identified. Climate change remains one of the greatest challenges of the day. We welcome the Secretary- General’s initiative to convene a summit devoted exclusively to climate change and environmental degradation. We believe that the international community must intensify its efforts to reach an international accord at the Conference in Copenhagen this December. The maintenance of international peace and security is a prerequisite for all development. That is why Mali remains firmly devoted to the ideals of peace and stability both inside and outside its borders. In that spirit and at the initiative of the President of Mali, a regional conference will shortly be convened in Bamako on peace, security and development in the Sahelo-Saharan region. Our most ardent wish is to transform that area into a haven of peace, stability and prosperity. Mali welcomes the progress made in Africa in restoring peace, stability and post-conflict reconciliation under the auspices of the African Union and the United Nations. We reaffirm our active solidarity with the peoples of the Middle East and will continue to support the relevant United Nations resolutions on the Middle East and the Palestinian question. International terrorism is yet another serious threat to international peace and security. Mali therefore firmly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and applauds the General Assembly’s adoption of the Global Counter- Terrorism Strategy (resolution 60/288), as promoted by our heads of State and Government at the 2005 World Summit. Today more than ever, our nations must coordinate their efforts to overcome together the great challenges faced by humanity. The strengthening of international cooperation demands greater solidarity. That is in the interest of us all, because humanity needs to harness all of its potential if it is to achieve harmonious and sustainable development in an environment of peace and security.