Senegal

We are meeting once again, but this time at a moment when humankind is facing many problems, each as difficult as the others, as if they had been planned to coincide: the agriculture crisis, the financial and economic crisis, environmental peril and tenacious, deadly diseases. Be that as it may, we are destined to prevail. There is simply no other option. We must and we can succeed. The numerous deliberations about these problems at all levels illustrate our increasing awareness of the dangers to us and succeeding generations. Believing fundamentally as I do in the genius of humankind and its capacity for imagination and creativity in extricating itself from the most difficult situations, I am both optimistic and aware of the price that will have to be paid. This is what we are called on to do here and elsewhere. The only question is how to coordinate the numerous elements required to expedite the rescue mission. Before going any further, however, I should like warmly to congratulate Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, who has been charged with guiding the work of this sixty- fourth session of the General Assembly. I have known Mr. Treki for a long time, and Senegal is delighted by his election and expresses its confidence in his human and professional qualities, which will bolster the success of his mission. I also pay tribute to Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the General Assembly at its sixty-third session, for his contributions to the effort to revitalize the Assembly. His commitment and dynamism are well known. I have admired his intelligence, his lively wit and the sensitivity he shows in his relations with others. To Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Senegal reiterates its support for his delicate task in the face of the many and urgent issues facing the Organization. This sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly has begun at a time of multifaceted turmoil. The economic and financial crisis, the scale of which has surprised many observers, reveals above all the deadlock in contemporary economic theory. In highlighting the inadequacy of our analytical and predictive abilities, it calls for a broader sense of shared responsibility both for the management of its immediate effects and for the search for long-term responses. In seeking solutions, let us be careful not to make the mistake of falling back on received wisdom and ready-made answers. Be it in the sphere of the environment, political and economic governance or development, the world must find a new way of thinking and acting, and thereby address the need to change our outlook. Having myself argued, often strongly, for the full participation of Africa in the conversation on world governance, I welcome the progressively expanded cooperative framework of the Group of Eight (G-8) and the Group of 20 (G-20). I only regret that my proposal to establish a shadow G-20, made up of the 41 09-52425 world’s greatest experts but open to all those who bring new ideas, has not yet been put into practice. The President returned to the Chair. Clearly, the world’s heads of State, elected on the basis of political criteria, cannot miraculously transform themselves into universal polymaths. They must hold to their political and even strategic role, and rely on the superior knowledge of experts. It is through dialogue open to all that we will be able to grasp the diversity of our respective situations and apply real- world answers to real-world problems. It is therefore fitting that the theme of this sixty-fourth session should be “Effective responses to global crises: strengthening multilateralism and dialogue among civilizations for international peace, security and development”. The current challenges, both complex and global in nature, call strongly for innovative and concerted solutions if we are to succeed. That is especially true for problems of agriculture and food security. If we are to achieve on schedule Millennium Development Goal 1, to halve by 2015 the number of people suffering from hunger, we must put into practice a different approach to international cooperation, one based on support for agriculture instead of food assistance, which should be used only as an emergency response to exceptional circumstances. The development of agriculture to promote sustainable food security in Africa necessarily involves water management, the availability of equipment, producers’ access to inputs and a sound organization of chains of production, storage, processing and sales of agricultural products. That is why Senegal hopes that these essential questions — and others, such as the regulation of agricultural markets and scientific research to increase productivity — will take a prominent place on the agenda of the Summit of the World’s Regions on Food Security, to be held in January 2010 in Dakar, and of the Global Partnership for Agriculture and Food Security proposed by the G-8. Once the right conditions are in place, there is no reason why Africa should not be able to ensure its own food security. Better yet, its enormous land and water resources predispose the continent to become the world’s breadbasket. To that end, however, we must avoid the vicious trap of ceding land to foreigners bearing millions of dollars. The G-8 quite rightly expressed its concern on this subject at its most recent summit in Italy. According to recent estimates, between 15 and 20 million hectares have changed hands over the past three years, primarily in Africa. We Africans should make it our vocation to become farmers tilling our own land rather than being agricultural labourers working for capital-rich foreign planters. For its part, Senegal, as I have often said, cannot accept such a course, which would without doubt empty our countryside of newly impoverished millions, who would swell our slums and the ranks of those ripe for illegal emigration. On the other hand, if we exploit our mutually complementary circumstances, we of the North and the South can promote a win-win partnership in which investors and local communities join to develop African land without dispossession. Senegal has succeeded, in record time, in responding positively to the food crisis. For the second year in a row, our home-grown agricultural campaign for food and abundance, known as GOANA, has rewarded us with excellent results. We intend to strengthen this food self-sufficiency option with the unionization of rural producers, on the model of Québec. To this end, we are currently setting up a green bank for farmers, fishers and livestock farmers, which will support financing of these sectors. This is a bold innovation, a green revolution that we want very much to see succeed. At the global level, I believe that, beyond its adverse impacts, the current crisis has a silver lining insofar as it stimulates creativity, initiative and a fighting spirit. If the Secretary-General had not launched his emotional appeal at World Food Day in Rome two years ago, I might not have felt a challenge so great as to demand the invention of GOANA. And because the fate of our people is at stake, it is our primary responsibility to establish on our own the conditions necessary for a brighter future. Internal efforts will continue to be futile without a healthy global environment rid of the speculative practices of the virtual economy and unjust asymmetric programmes, such as subsidies and other inequitable practices. In this context, non-oil-producing African countries continue to feel the full brunt of the increase in oil prices resulting from speculative practices that we cannot mitigate because they are controlled by the oil oligarchy. Economies such as ours, which had hitherto posted average growth rates of 5 per cent, have been brutally weakened by imported inflation. 09-52425 42 For that reason, Senegal supports and encourages the dialogue between producers and consumers initiated by the International Energy Forum to improve transparency in the oil market and take effective measures against speculative practices that devastate the economies of importing States. In implementing the “Wade formula”, I proposed a fund to fight poverty funded by voluntary contributions from African oil-producing States and oil companies working in Africa, based on the principle of shared social responsibility. The fund could be managed collectively or entrusted to the World Bank. Similarly, I welcome the extension of the Exogenous Shocks Facility to countries benefiting from the Policy Support Instrument. The summit meeting on climate change confirmed a broadly shared conclusion. If we do not change our methods of production and consumption, the future of mankind itself will be in peril. We must admit that we have not taken sufficient action to reverse these negative trends. Nature subjects us daily to the adverse consequences of our own attacks against it in different ways, including floods, droughts, desertification and coastal erosion. These upheavals foreshadow even more devastating phenomena. International consensus is therefore urgently needed to save the planet. In order to survive, each of us must strive to behave more respectfully towards the environment and to create a world with fewer greenhouse gas emissions. According to the hopeful statement of the Secretary-General, we now find ourselves on the threshold of a new era — that of the green economy. Let us have the courage to cross the threshold for ourselves and for succeeding generations. Africa for its part wishes to assume its share of responsibility in this necessary environmental rebirth. That is the essence of the Great Green Wall project that runs from Dakar to Djibouti. Shared by all countries it runs through, the Great Green Wall is 7,000 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide, and Senegal has the responsibility of coordinating it on behalf of the African Union. With the assistance of experts from all over the world, we have selected plants adapted to the fairly arid conditions prevailing in the Sahelian-Saharan zone. At the same time, we have decided to build water-collection basins along the entire length of the Great Green Wall, based on the model that we have implemented in Senegal with some 250 basins. Every African State involved in the construction of the Great Green Wall organizes its implementation at the local level through a national agency. At the continental level, national agencies are coordinated by a pan- African Great Green Wall agency under the auspices of the African Union. I cherish the hope that the United Nations will become involved in this project, which contributes to protecting the global environment, by mobilizing what might be called anti-desert soldiers along the lines of peacekeeping troops. Here, I pay tribute to the participation of Ivorian boys and girls who, although not directly impacted by desertification — Côte d’Ivoire being a country of forests — spontaneously participated in building the Senegalese section of the Great Green Wall in Senegal. They worked voluntarily, side by side with their comrades from Senegal. These young people, transcending the artificial borders created by colonization, are using self-determination to take ownership of the struggle for Africa’s future. This experience could serve as a prelude to the creation of a broad movement of “youth without borders” that unites young Africans from throughout the continent. They could be the heralds of various causes, such as the fight against HIV/AIDS, early marriage and female circumcision, as they in Senegal. While we await foreign assistance, Senegal has already built nearly 527 kilometres of the Great Green Wall. The project is also under way in Mali, and Chad will follow in the near future. Through the progressive restoration of the Saharan ecosystem, the Great Green Wall will contribute through greenhouse gas sequestration to the global fight against global warming. I thank the European Union for its pledged support, and I welcome in particular President Sarkozy’s initiative to deploy to this front — the only worthy front — soldiers to plant trees and build water-collection basins. I cherish the hope that this initiative will serve to inspire other States with the necessary human and material resources to support the Great Green Wall. Given the severity of the situation, the environmental threat, in my opinion, should be considered a threat to international peace and security. If it were, we might consider allocating new international missions to national armies. In the manner of peacekeeping operations, Senegal proposes 43 09-52425 the creation of a mechanism to save and restore the environment based on the voluntary commitment of armies through modalities to be determined. In the framework of civilian and military activities, countries wishing to do so could mobilize contingents for specific periods to assist in implementing major environmental projects, such as the Great Green Wall, or what is referred to in Senegal as the Atlantic wall against coastal erosion. In Senegal, we are currently creating along our coastline a concrete wall 3 to 4 metres deep and 40 centimetres wide built on an impermeable foundation to stop the maritime erosion that threatens many African countries. Its effectiveness is guaranteed. The only problem is the cost — $1.5 million per kilometre. From Casablanca to Cotonou, representing some 5,000 kilometres of vulnerable coastline, the overall cost would be $7.5 billion. Compared to expenditures often seen at the global level, it certainly is not much. Moreover, if mankind were to stop building lethal weapons for only three months and allocate the money thus saved to building the Atlantic wall, the threat to that part of Africa would be permanently removed. For 16 years now, Security Council reform has been an important item on our agenda. It is a paradox that an Organization, universal in its mission, should remain deadlocked 64 years after its creation by the elitist nature of its principal body. The leader Al-Qadhafi summarized our position on that issue (see ). As Africa is the only continent not represented among the permanent members, despite the fact that it’s the focus of 70 per cent of the Council’s work, that historic injustice must be corrected by granting the continent here and now, outside the context of overall reform, one seat with the right of veto that could be held by the Chairman-in-Office of the African Union. Let us ensure that this session is the one at which we finally solve the issue of Security Council reform so that we can focus our efforts on other important issues. Those important issues still unfortunately include the tragic situation in the Middle East. While it recognizes the Israeli people’s right to live in peace within secure and internationally recognized borders, Senegal resolutely supports the just and legitimate claim of the Palestinian people to a viable, free and independent State. That claim is morally consonant with the right of peoples to self-determination. However, in general, Senegal rejects violence in all its forms, whatever its origin. Israel’s pursuit of illegal activities on Palestinian territory is counterproductive. The settlement, expropriation and lockdown of the territories are a serious obstacle to the negotiations process and delay the prospects of an era of peace for all peoples of the subregion. Senegal supports the vision of two States, Israeli and Palestinian, as recalled here yesterday by President Barack Obama (see ). Turning to the situation in Africa, Senegal welcomes the considerable progress made in the peaceful settlement of disputes and in the integration process towards establishing the United States of Africa. The accomplishment of African unity is the only viable answer to the challenges of globalization, the creation of large groupings and the redefinition of the rules of governance. It is also an essential condition for the establishment of lasting peace and stability on the continent. Senegal continues to contribute to the settlement of disputes in Africa on the basis of that ideal of peace. I therefore welcome the normalization of the situation in our sister Republic of Mauritania following the Dakar Accord of June 2009. We should remember that the Accord was concluded with the support of the International Contact Group throughout the negotiation process. I reiterate my congratulations and my appreciation to all. In the sister Republic of Guinea-Bissau, I welcome the gradual return to stability after the presidential elections, recognized and acknowledged by all as free and transparent. As a neighbour, Senegal reiterates its call for the convening of a donor conference in support of the courageous stabilization and development efforts of the people of Guinea- Bissau, through their new authorities. On the other hand, the situation in the Republic of Guinea seems to me of greater concern. That country merits our full attention because it could fall into violence at any time. Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia, and I, in our capacity as goodwill neighbours, were in Conakry only two weeks ago. I reported back to the African Union, stressing the need for an ongoing presence in the field and for a dialogue with all stakeholders, including the army. In my view, 09-52425 44 that is the only way to help restore the constitutional order in Guinea. The ideal of peace, the primary raison d’être of our Organization, remains seriously threatened by extremism of all stripes, fuelled and perpetuated by ignorance, mistrust and the manipulation of religion. The need for dialogue between cultures and civilizations is all the more urgent on that account. The challenge today, in particular for the three revealed religions that share the same God, is to build on that common monotheistic pedestal a bridge of brotherhood that brings us closer and teaches us to live together again by sharing our common values and with respect for our differences. As Chairman-in-Office of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, I reiterate once again the dedication of the Islamic ummah to dialogue for the mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence of peoples because Islam, in letter and spirit, is a religion of the happy medium and of peace that teaches, in all things, knowledge, moderation, reasonableness and respect for the freedom of worship. Let us all agree to strive to learn to better understand each other, overcome mistrust and fight the obscurantist ideas that give rise to tensions and confrontation. A world living in peace in the twenty- first century will be one in which all peoples enjoy an equally dignified existence. In that spirit, Senegal will host the Third World Festival of Negro Arts from 1 to 15 December 2010. That artistic and intellectual event, with Brazil as guest of honour, will provide the opportunity for Africa and its diaspora to celebrate the values of culture and civilization of the black world. For us, that is a way to fight the prejudices that still haunt some malicious minds and fuel the re-emergence of revisionist ideas. Africa is ready to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century in a spirit of openness and dialogue with all peoples for a world of peace and human brotherhood.