I would like to
begin by extending my congratulations to Mr. Ali Treki
on his election to the presidency of the General
Assembly at this sixty-fourth session and by wishing
him every success in the execution of his term of
office. Allow me also to pay tribute to Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon for his tireless work and for the
remarkable devotion that he has demonstrated at the
helm of our Organization.
Like each year, we are asked during this session
to look at the state of the world, to consider together
the current problems and to recommend appropriate
solutions to them. In that regard, as we know, the
international community remains under the impact of a
global financial and economic crisis that has spared no
country.
The extraordinary mobilization that it has aroused
reflects its scope and extent, as well as the gravity of
the threat that it poses to the stability of the global
economy. We must welcome that strong mobilization,
led by the major industrialized countries. It was
prompt, resolute and consistent. Without doubt, it has
demonstrated the international community’s capacity to
respond fully when it is driven and underpinned by real
political resolve.
That is certainly a good example of solidarity, the
kind of international solidarity that we seek and that
we would like also to see in the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals, in our common
concern to narrow the gap between the North and the
South, and in our daily struggle against poverty, hunger
and pandemics.
In other words, if we have been able to mobilize
ourselves so vigorously to contain the effects of the
financial crisis, we can do the same to address the
other challenges confronting us, namely the poverty
and underdevelopment in which so many human beings
throughout the world still live. For, while the crisis has
spared no continent, there is no doubt that its effects
vary depending on the country, region and level of
development.
Africa, in particular, which in no way contributed
to the unleashing of the crisis, today, paradoxically,
finds itself among the worst affected victims. Among
the most alarming effects, we therefore condemn the
decrease in remittances to our countries; the severe
drop in the prices of our products; the marked fall in
investment; worsening budget deficits; and the
slowdown in economic activity — all of which, among
other things, also have severe social consequences,
such as a rise in unemployment. Furthermore, there is
reason to fear that the continuation of the crisis will
only increase the debt of developing countries.
We find ourselves facing new difficulties just as
we are emerging from lengthy years of economic
recovery efforts under rigorous structural adjustment
programmes, resolutely implemented by our States in
cooperation with the international financial
institutions. Neither our efforts nor our sacrifices have
been in vain, and we believe that our gains, which are
the fruit of the commendable efforts of our peoples,
must unquestionably be preserved and supported.
The President took the Chair.
That is why we believe that, faced with the
harmful effects of the crisis, it is important that we all
work together towards a global, coordinated and
significant response for the benefit of the weakest
economies. In our view, that response should lead to
the provision of substantial financial resources free, as
far as possible, of conditionality and aimed at
mitigating or even compensating for the consequences
of a crisis that we could not avert.
Without such support, our developing countries
run the risk of seeing their economic activity decrease
15 09-52470
and the signs of the revival that they could reasonably
hope for disappear. It is evident that, over and above
development and improved living conditions, the peace
and stability of our countries depend on it. That also
holds true for international peace and security,
inasmuch as the numerous problems confronting the
world today — be it, for example, illegal immigration
or trafficking of every kind — arise partly from a real
lack of cooperation and solidarity, and thus call for
greater justice in international relations.
In that connection, I welcome the fortuitous
decision taken in London in April by the Group of 20
to recommend that the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) support the weakest economies through more
and softer loans, possibly with less conditionality.
Moreover, in that context, my country, Cameroon,
benefited from substantial financial support from the
IMF under the Exogenous Shocks Facility. I welcome
that support, and take this opportunity to thank
International Monetary Fund officials. That timely
support will strengthen the anticyclical measures that
we have adopted at the national and subregional levels,
fully aware that foreign aid is merely a buttress that
should not replace our own efforts.
Accordingly, in Cameroon, we have, inter alia,
strengthened the productive sectors and taken action to
reduce the prices of basic commodities and improve
the business climate. In the subregion, member
countries of the Central African Economic and
Monetary Community have agreed to adopt tax
incentives and to establish a support fund for the
sectors most affected by the crisis. Thus, while
welcoming assistance from the international
community, we are aware that it can bear fruit only if
based on stringent management and good governance
centred on the primacy of the public interest.
Moreover, it was in that spirit that a few years
back I recommended from this rostrum the
establishment within the United Nations of a global
ethics committee, for it is a combination of moral drift
and serious ethical deviations that is at the root of the
current global financial crisis. We trust that, in the near
future, we will surmount the crisis through collective
awareness and mobilization.
However, alongside with the financial and
economic crisis, we are concerned about other
important matters. The food crisis is still ravaging
many developing countries. The poverty reduction
struggle is far from being won. Global peace and
security are still threatened worldwide, particularly in
Africa. Climate change is each day becoming
increasingly worrisome, with visible consequences in
every country.
Regarding climate change in particular, Africa,
like other continents, has been hard hit despite its low
level of greenhouse gas emissions. Global warming, its
most salient feature, affects many socio-economic
sectors, including energy, health, agriculture, livestock
production, ecosystems and rapid desertification. In
this regard, the spectacular drying up of Lake Chad, the
surface of which has shrunk from 26,000 square
kilometres in the 1960s to 1,500 square kilometres
today, clearly requires significant collective action of
the Central African States which, in our opinion, needs
strong support from the international community. One
thing is certain: African countries are individually and
collectively pulling their full weight in the activity
necessary at the national, subregional and global levels
to provide concrete solutions to the challenge of
climate change.
Such participation is significant. In Cameroon, it
has taken the form of numerous actions, including the
establishment of a national environmental management
plan and the adoption at the subregional level of a
convergence plan for the sustainable management of
the Congo basin forest which, we are all aware, is the
world’s second largest.
The implementation of all these measures is very
costly, especially in terms of acquiring adapted
technologies, and requires our people to accept huge
sacrifices. Furthermore, without denying the fact that
the fate and future of the planet are everyone’s
business, it seems legitimate, in my opinion, to ask that
the peoples of Africa be duly compensated by the
international community for their efforts and sacrifices.
In this regard, we hope that the Copenhagen climate
conference scheduled for December will provide
satisfactory answers to the particular case of Africa.
Regarding world peace and security, we continue
to deplore the persistence of numerous conflicts or
hotbeds of tension, despite significant progress towards
a return to calm. I refer to the situations in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Darfur and Somalia,
among others. Cameroon is playing an active role,
including by dispatching Cameroonian contingents, in
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the efforts to find lasting solutions to these conflicts,
which have lasted too long.
In this respect, I wish to hail the role of the
United Nations, which is making tireless efforts to
stabilize all these situations. However, if it is to be
more effective, the United Nations requires
commensurate human, financial and material resources.
Furthermore, the United Nations should be able to
reflect the common will of all its Members, large and
small, in order to ensure its effectiveness and
credibility. It must more clearly assert and further
strengthen its role as the crucible par excellence of
multilateralism, that is, a forum for the exchange of
ideas, solidarity, equity and equality where all the
voices and opinions of developed and developing
countries alike are expressed and taken into account.
These values go hand in hand with the dialogue
of civilizations proposed for our consideration at this
session. Such a dialogue should not ignore differences,
but rather promote diversity so as to foster knowledge
and mutual understanding among peoples. From this
perspective, the dialogue of civilizations or cultures
advocates tolerance and mutual respect and rejects all
forms of fanaticism that threaten international peace
and security.
That is the dual role that the United Nations, a
proving ground for multilateralism and crucible of the
dialogue of civilizations, must assume if it seeks to
embody the noblest and deepest aspirations of
humankind and satisfy our peoples’ expectations with
comprehensive and relevant solutions.
But the question is, how can the United Nations
fulfil this role if it does not adapt to the current trends
and changes in international relations? That is the
purpose of the recommendations we have been making
for the reform of the Security Council, the
revitalization of the General Assembly and the
strengthening of the means of action of the Secretary-
General. We therefore need to fast-track the overhaul
of an Organization that, through its universal nature,
symbolizes our common destiny and seeks to be our
common abode. For only a renewed United Nations
that is more democratic, more credible and more
efficient will be able to inspire peoples’ hopes and
trust.