At the outset, on behalf of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara, who could not make the journey here and whom I have the honour to represent, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to Mr. Abdulla Shahid on his commendable election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session. I also wish him every success in carrying out the challenging yet inspiring task that has been entrusted to him.
I also thank the outgoing President, His Excellency Mr. Volkan Bozkir, for his outstanding leadership of the work of the previous session in a difficult context marked by the persistence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Lastly, allow me to warmly congratulate His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres on his well-deserved reappointment at the helm of our Organization. I also commend his leadership and unwavering commitment to the promotion of international peace and security, human rights and sustainable development throughout the world.
Since its outbreak in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted our way of life and exacerbated the multiple fragilities that our world already faced. Therefore, the theme of the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly, “Building resilience through hope — to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people and revitalize the United Nations”, serves as a call to act collectively to translate the ideals of peace, shared prosperity and solidarity that led to the creation of the United Nations into concrete actions, thereby emphasizing the essential nature of multilateralism.
Despite the constant efforts made by States, the international community and the scientific world to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the health crisis persists. It has assumed worrisome proportions with the emergence of new variants that are more contagious and just as deadly as previous ones. Those new variants pose a real challenge to the implementation of response plans, both globally and in developing countries.
There is no doubt that, at this stage in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines offer real hope. We must therefore scale up national initiatives and further strengthen collective action through cooperation and the pooling of resources, as well as by ensuring equitable access to vaccines for all. That will require adequate funding for current initiatives, the waiving of patents and the development of vaccine production capacities, particularly on the African continent, which to date has not been sufficiently served.
In that connection, I am pleased to welcome the implementation of the World Health Organization’s Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to address immediate health needs, the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility mechanism, the COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan and the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, as well as the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust Team initiative. However, those mechanisms can achieve the expected results only in a climate of peace, security and stability.
That is why, in view of the persistence of conflict in certain areas around the world, in particular in Africa, which compromises the efforts made by our States in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Cote d’Ivoire wishes to reiterate its support for the appeal made by the Secretary-General in March 2020 for a global cessation of hostilities.
The implementation of the response plan in Cote d’Ivoire is being carried out with determination. That plan includes health and humanitarian components as well as an economic component, which provides for massive support to the private sector in order to preserve jobs and curb the social impact of the health crisis.
In the same vein, on 15 February my country launched a large-scale vaccination campaign against COVID-19, with the support of our bilateral and multilateral partners. As of 15 September 2021, more than 1.5 million people had been vaccinated. Our goal is to reach 60 per cent vaccination coverage of the
population over 18 years old by the end of December 2021, while maintaining a daily rate of at least 20,000- 30,000 doses.
In view of the magnitude of the unprecedented collateral and adverse effects of the pandemic, particularly at the economic, social and humanitarian levels, which constitute potential sources of instability for States, the consolidation of peace and the strengthening of social cohesion remain at the heart of the Government of Cote d’Ivoire’s priorities. Moreover, having overcome the sociopolitical upheavals it experienced in recent years, Cote d’Ivoire continues to be resolutely committed to a virtuous and irreversible process of national reconciliation and social cohesion across all political and social spheres.
Our commitment to strengthening the national reconciliation process has never wavered, despite the many complex challenges obstructing the path to its implementation, because we are convinced that our ambition to make Cote d’Ivoire an emerging Power once again that is united in its cultural, political and democratic diversity and open to the world depends upon the success of that process. That is why the Government of Cote d’Ivoire continues to work, with all the active forces of the nation, to further consolidate its current national reconciliation dynamics, for which no sacrifice is too great.
From that perspective, the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara, met with his predecessors, Mr. Henri Konan Bedie, on 11 November 2020, and Mr. Laurent Gbagbo, on 27 July 2021. The outcome of those meetings was an agreement on the need to maintain dialogue and combine their efforts to promote national reconciliation, which is an essential condition for the preservation of lasting peace and stability in Cote d’Ivoire. That is a prerequisite for any harmonious and sustainable development process in the interest of our courageous people.
Those meetings, which will be followed by several others in order to restore trust among all political stakeholders, are the continuation of a series of bold measures that President Ouattara has taken to pursue and strengthen the process of establishing a peaceful sociopolitical environment that was initiated in 2011.
At the institutional level, those measures involve the creation of a ministry devoted to national reconciliation, a Chamber of Kings and Traditional Chiefs responsible for launching mediation missions for the prevention and management of crises and conflicts, and a Senate whose role is to ensure the dynamic stability of our democracy.
At the operational level, those measures involve the compensation of the victims of the 2010-2011 post- electoral crisis; the mass return of refugees, including high-ranking political figures; and the pursuit of an inclusive political dialogue with the opposition and civil society, which made it possible to organize inclusive and peaceful legislative and senatorial elections and pardons for people convicted of acts of violence committed during the 31 October 2020 presidential election.
The national reconciliation process, which contributes to strengthening the rule of law in Cote d’Ivoire and its irreversible progress towards an emerging economy, will continue to be based on an independent justice system, a sustained commitment at the highest level of the State and strong national ownership. Cote d’Ivoire knows that it can count on the multifaceted support of the United Nations and the entire international community in that process.
If we want to succeed in the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for the benefit of our people, it is imperative that we redouble our efforts to reduce poverty, preserve the environment and create conditions conducive to mobilizing financing for development.
In the context of improving the well-being of our people, the issues of health, education and social inequalities require our sustained attention. We must therefore promote resilient health systems that ensure both universal health coverage and better preparedness to face future threats, in accordance with the commitments made in the political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on universal health coverage adopted on 23 September 2019.
The health sector therefore remains one of the priorities of the Government of Cote d’Ivoire, which has devoted a significant share of the national budget to that sector over the past 10 years. In that connection, we have launched an ambitious universal health coverage project to guarantee access to quality health care and services at a lower cost for all residents of Cote d’Ivoire, which is a source of relief for the population and has been in operation since 1 January.
Along with health, education is one of the sectors that has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indeed, the pandemic has accentuated the inequalities and disparities within and between States, which have consequently undermined the achievement of the goal of ensuring education and training for all. In that respect, we believe it is urgent to take action to strengthen the resilience of the education system by improving equity, inclusion and digital connectivity. The Government of Cote d’Ivoire, which since 2015 has made schooling free and compulsory for all children aged 6 to 16, will spare no effort to reach the goal of a 100 per cent enrolment rate.
In addition to health and education, the promotion of the well-being of populations is at the heart of our concerns. The implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, whose achievement has been hindered by the health crisis, should contribute to that. The Decade of Action launched by the Secretary- General is therefore an urgent invitation to intensify our efforts in the fight against poverty. For its part, Cote d’Ivoire has strengthened its national strategy with a view to gradually building a social protection system for the most vulnerable populations, in particular through the establishment of a direct cash transfer programme.
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified our vulnerabilities and made us aware of the need to initiate vigorous actions to restore the balance of biodiversity and ensure the sustainability of our planet. That requires that we respect our commitments and adopt new management, production and consumption models that are more respectful of the environment. That is why my country has acceded to the main international legal instruments and developed sectoral management strategies for the conservation of natural resources.
As a signatory to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Cote d’Ivoire is committed to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 28 per cent by 2030 and increasing the share of renewable energies in its energy mix to 42 per cent. In order to promote sustainable solutions to environmental challenges, my country has taken measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the areas of agriculture, integrated coastal management, renewable energy and the modernization and resilience of road transport, which is a major emitter of carbon dioxide.
In that regard, we would like to thank our bilateral and multilateral partners, who have supported us in our desire to build a safe and healthy environment for ourselves and for future generations. Cote
expresses the hope that the upcoming fifteenth session Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa, and the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will be held in Cote d’Ivoire and Scotland, respectively, will offer excellent opportunities to renew our common commitments and propose concrete and urgent actions to save our planet.
The financing of the Sustainable Development Goals remains a major concern for our countries. Today more than ever, the capacity of our States to mobilize the resources needed to finance the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 of the African Union is strongly affected by various health, socioeconomic, technological and environmental factors. Indeed, the global growth crisis, which is linked in particular to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the debt burden and the lack of liquidity, is drastically limiting our budgetary leeway.
In view of that situation, it is imperative that we conceive new strategies for mobilizing sustainable financing, both internally and externally, in accordance with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, in order to invest in socioeconomic infrastructure and fight more effectively against poverty, insecurity and inequality. In that regard, we invite the private sector to become more involved in financing sustainable solutions.
In that context, I would like to welcome the various initiatives that have already been taken in that direction, in particular the Group of Twenty initiative for the final extension of the debt service suspension measure until the end of 2021 in order to enable beneficiary countries to mobilize more resources to deal with the health crisis and its collateral effects; the historic decision by the International Monetary Fund to allocate $650 billion in special drawing rights to member countries, in line with the commitments made at the Paris summit on the financing of African economies on 18 May; the organization in Abidjan, on 15 July, of the twentieth International Development Association replenishment advocacy meeting, which provided an opportunity to exchange views on common challenges, particularly in the area of improving human capital, job creation and economic recovery.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners, both bilateral and multilateral, who are
stakeholders in these initiatives and who are supporting my country in the implementation of its national development plan 2021-2025, which aims to enable a structural transformation of its economy.
However, I would like to renew our plea for increased official development assistance, debt cancellation and the promotion of innovative financing, in support of national efforts to mobilize resources to build together a safer and more resilient world. We cannot build this resilient and stable world without resolutely addressing the serious transnational threats to peace and security posed by terrorism, violent extremism, organized crime and cybercrime.
From this rostrum, I would therefore like to make an urgent appeal for increased mobilization given the danger posed by the terrorist threat to our countries, especially the poorest ones. In addition to those threats, internal and regional conflicts persist in several parts of our planet. The international community must continue to pay attention to the situation in the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Western Sahara.
With regard to the question of Western Sahara, Cote d’Ivoire would like to affirm its support for the negotiation process under the aegis of the United Nations by calling on the parties to show compromise in order to settle this dispute, particularly in the context of the relevant Security Council resolutions and the spirit of the Moroccan autonomy initiative.
Today the multifaceted and complex security challenges in some regions of the world have been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the case in the West African subregion and in the Sahel, where, since the beginning of the health crisis, there has been an upsurge in terrorist attacks, which are increasingly deadly. In Cote d’Ivoire, we have recorded no less than five attacks since the beginning of this year, resulting in numerous victims. Fortunately, several other terrorist attacks have been foiled thanks to the vigilance and valour of our defence and security forces.
Because of their cross-border nature, these threats to the peace and stability of our States require increased subregional, regional and international cooperation. The effective implementation of the priorities set out in the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime would be a decisive step in that regard.
In that context, my country signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on 3 June, within the framework of the United Nations Countering Terrorist Travel Programme, which aims to prevent and detect terrorist offences and other serious crimes through the use of advance passenger information and passenger name records.
Similarly, in partnership with France, the International Academy for Combating Terrorism has just been set up in Jacqueville in the south of the country, with the objective of creating a community and a culture of combating terrorism in Africa.
During the celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations last year, we made 12 solemn commitments to “build the future we want for the United Nations”. The implementation of those commitments cannot be delayed given the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis and its multiple adverse effects.
I would therefore like to reaffirm before this Assembly my country’s commitment to the values of multilateralism, which remains the best approach to our common quest for solutions to contemporary global challenges and issues. We must therefore promote an inclusive, supportive multilateralism with strong partnerships that reaffirms the key and unifying role of the United Nations. That requires a courageous reform of our common Organization, which we want to be stronger, more democratic and more proactive in order to achieve the noble objectives entrusted to it.
Cote d’Ivoire reiterates its commitment to the necessary reform of the Security Council in order to adapt it to the realities of the world in the light of the profound geopolitical and economic transformations that have taken place in recent decades. My country reaffirms its full support for the common African position expressed in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, which call for the reparation of the historical injustice done to Africa and for an egalitarian reform of the Security Council.
Cote d’Ivoire remains optimistic about our ability to overcome our current differences, achieve a new architecture of the Security Council and further unite our efforts in the service of maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights and promoting sustainable economic development for the benefit of all.