We are extremely pleased to find ourselves once again in the General Assembly Hall after a little more than a year’s absence, owing to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, — this twenty-first century plague, which is shaking the core of humankind, especially because of the high number of victims, the destruction of national economies and the worsening levels of poverty in the world.
These renewed meetings are encouraging. They give us increasing hope for a return to normal life in our countries, thanks to the ingenuity of our scientists and the joint efforts of our States in a remarkable display of international solidarity. We must step up those efforts and strengthen the momentum of solidarity in order to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic once and for all, relaunch our economies’ growth and ensure a better future for the people of our planet.
I therefore welcome the choice of the theme for of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session: “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”. The theme accurately reflects our determination to eradicate COVID-19 and our desire to rebuild our common destiny through multilateralism under the guidance of a United Nations that is capable of addressing the existential challenges facing humankind, in particular achieving the inclusive Sustainable Development Goals.
Overcoming COVID-19 will be possible and sustainable only if the fight remains a priority for all and if we reach the necessary level of herd immunity for all of humankind. With regard to Africa, it has not sat idly by and will not give in fatalistically to any sort of preordained destiny. On the contrary, Africa has established the Africa Joint Continental Strategy for COVID-19 Outbreak. Within that framework, it has established the COVID-19 Response Fund and launched a medical supply platform to guarantee all its countries access to needed equipment and supplies.
On 28 March, Africa signed an agreement, under the aegis of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, to purchase 220 million vaccine doses. Several African countries have laid the groundwork towards establishing an African medicines agency; others are already producing vaccines under licensing agreements. By January 2022, the number of administered vaccine doses
will exceed 25 million a month on the continent. World- renowned African medical researchers have proposed a range of effective treatments for the coronavirus disease that deserve the support of our world Organization and specialized scientific institutions. In that regard, I take this opportunity to thank all the partners that have supported the continent’s efforts in combating the pandemic.
Although we welcome the undeniable progress of medical science in testing for the virus and the development of vaccines in record time, it must be said, unfortunately, that the disease remains far from being eradicated. Like a hydra, the pandemic has recurred in a third wave, which is more virulent than the previous two, especially in Africa and other parts of the world, and is unravelling the hope inspired by that significant progress. In order to definitively reverse the current trend, taking the following measures therefore seems urgent to me.
First, there is a need to increase the testing capacity in countries that lack the necessary laboratory equipment.
Secondly, we must ensure a sufficient and rapid supply of the drugs and equipment needed to treat patients.
Thirdly, we must universalize vaccination by supplying vaccines to those countries that do not manufacture them and providing them with the necessary local production capacity. I take this opportunity to call on the international community to support the plans to establish the African medicines agency.
Fourthly, there is a need to encourage medical research and increase scientific cooperation among academic institutions.
Lastly, we must support policies to reform healthcare infrastructure and expand health-care coverage for the greatest number of people in developing countries.
COVID-19 is not only destroying human lives. It is also a virus affecting the global economy, which it has plunged into recession, thereby exacerbating the vulnerability and dependence of the economies of poor countries, many of which are in Africa. Furthermore, the impact of the general decline in economic activities has been felt particularly in Africa by the most vulnerable populations, including women and children, especially as a result of the loss of jobs, falling revenues and a drop in school enrolment.
As we work towards eliminating the coronavirus from the lives of our populations, we must therefore also strive to revive the global economy, as we run the risk of increasing their vulnerability, undermining their resilience and compromising their future longterm return to prosperity and social normalcy. We will be able to win the battle only through a joint effort, based on a road map laid out together. That requires sharing responsibilities and greater equity in the complementarity that the globalization of our economies and international issues demand.
In the current health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, African economies are in dire need of financing so that they can recover, especially as their efforts to mitigate the shock of the pandemic and limit its repercussions have proven to be clearly insufficient compared to those of wealthy countries. As a result, the recovery under way will likely be uneven and consequently widen gaps between Africa and the rest of the world.
That is why the African Union welcomes all initiatives concerning the financing of African economies affected by COVID-19, in particular the following initiatives of the Group of 20 (G-20): the debt service suspension initiative and the common framework for debt restructuring; the initiative taken at the Summit on Financing African Economies, held in Paris on 18 May, which launched the idea of a New Deal; the initiative of the fourth summit of the G-20 Compact with Africa concerning the ambitious twentieth replenishment of International Development Association; and, above all, the initiative for the new allocation of $650 billion in special drawing rights (SDRs) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to meet the financing needs of countries with economies in difficulty as a result of the pandemic.
However, the $33 billion in SDRs allocated to Africa within the framework are entirely insufficient to meet the immense needs of its economic recovery. The United Nations and its Member States must therefore support the goal of the Paris Summit of reaching the equivalent of $100 billion in SDRs for Africa through the reallocation to poor countries of 25 per cent of SDRs allocated to rich countries. Moreover, part of that reallocation could contribute to increasing the capital of the African Development Bank and the World Bank.
It would also be good to see the exceptional allocation of those funds used to promote more vigorously youth
entrepreneurship in Africa, access to capital for small and medium-sized businesses and the green economy. In that spirit, I call for the massive support of technical and financial partners in establishing the Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa, which was proposed at the Paris Summit and will hold its constitutive meeting in the coming weeks.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo calls for stepping up the effective provision of resources by the IMF, without forgetting the imperative of alleviating the debt burden of African countries and honouring all promises made to Africa as compensation for the sacrifices it has made to safeguard humankind from global warming. Concerning global warming in particular, we should recall that the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is less than six weeks away and that the year 2030 is only nine years away.
For Africa, 2030 will be marked by a drop of up to 15 per cent in gross domestic product, a decrease in agricultural yields and a sharp increase in the risk of flooding for coastal and island countries. In order to address those negative impacts by that fateful deadline, the African continent will be in need $30 billion a year to adapt to those circumstances. That amount is expected to reach $50 billion by 2040.
I am therefore calling on the international community in general, and the friends of Africa in particular, to support the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program under the leadership of the Global Center on Adaptation and the African Development Bank, which intends to raise $25 billion in five years to help Africa withstand the shocks of climate change. Beyond proclamations of good faith and good intentions, the recovery of the world economy will be a reality felt by all, and international solidarity will be tangible, especially for the African peoples.
Africa is not in need of handouts. It is struggling to claim spaces of freedom and action in a world that remains in competition with itself in order to forge a better future and make a greater contribution to humankind’s overall progress. Africa is in need of constructive and win-win partnerships to develop its fabulous natural resources, acquire development infrastructure and improve the living conditions of its people. Clearly, achieving those goals demands strong and stable democratic institutions, effective public policies, good governance and regional integration. Africa lacks neither the capacity nor the dynamism of its people, let alone the natural resources, to meet those goals.
Overall, substantial progress has been made over the past two decades in terms of consolidating democratic processes, economic growth and poverty reduction, despite the unforgiving nature of international relations and the adverse consequences of climate change. However, the scourge of insecurity caused by terrorist and armed groups, mercenaries and criminals of all stripes is undermining the institutional stability of our young democracies and obliterating the efforts of many African leaders to develop their countries.
Indeed, while the fight against Da’esh has seem undeniable victories in the Middle East — specifically in Iraq and Syria — in Africa, on the other hand, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and other Da’esh- affiliated groups are gaining increasing ground every day. Mali, the Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Burkina Faso are enduring deadly attacks by Da’esh and Boko Haram jihadists on a regular basis. Since 2017, the north-eastern part of Mozambique has been the victim of recurring armed attacks by jihadist salafists from Ansar Al-Sunnah, which have already led to at least 2,600 deaths.
Islamic fundamentalism has reached the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is paying a heavy price in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema. Jihadists operating under the cover of the Forces democratiques de liberation du Rwanda and the Allied Democratic Forces/Madinat Tawheed Muwaheedina are killing my compatriots and plundering my country’s mining and agricultural resources on a massive scale.
In April, terrorists and mercenaries from Libya plunged Africa into deep sorrow by brutally snatching away one of its great leaders, Marshal Idriss Deby Itno, President of the Republic of Chad, who was killed in a cowardly manner on the front lines while defending the sovereignty of his country and the lives of his fellow citizens. From this rostrum, I pay tribute, on behalf of the Congolese people, to the bravery and commitment of that historic figure in protecting Africa against terrorism.
Africa refuses to serve as a rear base for international terrorism. That is why some African leaders, including those of the Group of Five for the
Sahel, have come together to pool their forces against the common enemy. In order to express the will and the fierce determination of the Congolese people and their leaders to actively contribute to eradicating terrorism, which not only destroys nations and compromises the future of democracy in the world but also increasingly extends its tentacles into Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo joined the global coalition against terrorism as its eightieth member. My country welcomes the decision taken by the coalition’s meeting in Rome on 28 June to set up a working group on terrorism in Africa.
Article 1, paragraph 1, of Chapter I of the Charter of the United Nations clearly states that one of the purposes of creating the United Nations is to “maintain international peace and security”. Today international peace and security are largely dependent on the internal stability of Member States.
That is why, when African States are destabilized or threatened with destabilization, particularly by terrorism, the United Nations has a duty to actively support them in their heroic struggle for the wellbeing of all humankind over and above statements of compassion and good intentions, which are rarely followed up with action on the ground.
If the community of nations downplays the danger posed by the spread of jihadism in Africa and if it does not adopt a comprehensive and effective strategy to eradicate that scourge, the wounds opened up in the Saharan region and in Central and Southern Africa will continue to spread until they join together to become a genuine threat to international peace and security.
The Democratic Republic of Congo therefore supports the implementation of a global counterterrorism strategy based on the following pillars: the adoption of coordinated security policies; strengthening State capacities, particularly by pooling resources and exchanging security information; respect for human rights; and prevention.
In the context of prevention, it is essential to emphasize that, in addition to security measures involving intelligence and operational services, we must promote upstream socioeconomic measures focused on education, youth employment and the fight against poverty in order to eradicate terrorism from our societies in the long term. While injustices and inequalities between nations and individuals persist in the world, terrorism will always find fertile ground for its emergence and spread.
The African peoples and their leaders are sufficiently aware that the development of their continent is solely their responsibility and depends on incorporating their respective countries into a free trade area. The latter should, in fact, promote the movement of people and goods, as well as the integration of intelligence, resources and initiatives.
The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is the outcome of that awareness, of the will of Africans to enhance their economic independence and of the need to develop Africa in a world where the poor are entitled only to pity and disregard. Making the AfCFTA a success, that is, making it effective and transforming it into a huge market of more than 1 billion consumers, is therefore becoming a major issue and challenge for both African leaders and elites in the twenty-first century. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, we are convinced that Africa will succeed in that regard and take up the challenge, since it has the capacity and the determination.
The main instruments of that great ambition for African integration are, in particular, the implementation of the regional and continental priority projects listed in Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want; the establishment of partnerships among African States; the implementation of internal policies to encourage private investment, particularly by improving the business climate; the diversification and industrialization of national economies; and the peaceful settlement of disputes between States within the framework of the continent’s own institutions and mechanisms, in accordance with the principle adopted by the African Union, which is that African problems should have African solutions.
Based on that principle, the United Nations Charter and the principle of subsidiarity, since my accession to the current chairmanship of the African Union I have been working to facilitate the settlement of the dispute between Egypt, the Sudan and Ethiopia over the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, built by the latter on the Blue Nile.
To that end, I took the following steps: the organization of the Kinshasa negotiations last April and my direct consultations with the highest authorities of three countries during my diplomatic tour in June to their respective capitals. That approach made it possible to identify the few points that still need to be
agreed among the parties in order to conclude a fair and binding agreement that takes into account the interests of each of them and fosters a climate of mutual trust, which is essential if that major dam is to become an instrument of regional economic integration and unity among Ethiopia, Egypt and the Sudan. Those points were communicated to the three countries, and talks will resume in the near future.
I remain confident, since the leaders of the three countries not only are committed to resolving their dispute through dialogue within the framework of the African Union but also constantly reiterate their confidence in the Union’s facilitation. I take this opportunity to thank them for that and to reassure the observers and any State or institution accepted by the parties that their support will be welcome.
In recent times, political crises have erupted in some African States. Those crises cannot overshadow the enormous progress made by the majority of African countries in terms of democracy and good governance. I would like to reassure the community of nations that the democratization process in Africa remains irreversible. The current upheavals are merely the result of a democratic process that is certainly arduous, but which is built over time and piece by piece. The African peoples will no longer tolerate military or autocratic regimes. The Congolese people are therefore continuing their noble and inspiring struggle against dictatorship, autocracy and the negative values that still shape our actions.
In that context, as soon as I became President, I undertook actions and deep political and economic reforms. I fiercely opposed all attempts to perpetuate the prevailing negative values based on greed and human rights violations. That led to the institutional adjustments of December 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, to the great satisfaction of my compatriots, who have never ceased to demand radical change in our country’s governance.
On the economic front, the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a programme with the International Monetary Fund last June and is benefiting from World Bank assistance to carry out major social projects and to develop basic infrastructure. Thanks to the implementation of bold reforms, economic growth has increased to more than 5 per cent annually, inflation has slowed and the national currency, the Congolese franc, has stabilized on the foreign exchange market.
Since increasing domestic revenue is one of our priorities, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been undertaking, since I assumed the presidency of the country, a rigorous policy to combat corruption, the misappropriation of public funds and impunity. The results can already be seen in the substantial increase in revenue as of the second trimester of this year.
We are constantly crisscrossing Africa and the world to rekindle multilateral and bilateral cooperation and invite investors to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in order to create wealth and jobs for our young people. To that end, the Government of the Republic has already concluded partnership agreements with several countries and groups of private investors. We are determined to further strengthen the return of confidence in our country.
However, a heavy burden weighs on those encouraging achievements and jeopardizes the victorious march of the Congolese people towards their well-being: that is, the insecurity in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been plagued for the past two decades by murderous attacks and recurrent raids by a multitude of armed groups, including Islamist terrorists. It is no secret that those attacks have caused thousands of deaths and internally displaced persons, women have been raped and there have been mass violations of human rights.
Facing that persistent cancer, which is undermining the country in the north-east, and the difficulties encountered by the troops of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in the theatre of operations, I have decided to declare, in accordance with article 85 of the Constitution, a state of siege to bring an end to the insecurity in one of the strategic regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Given this exceptional constitutional status, the Forces Armees de la Republique Democratique du Congo (FARDC) are assuming all responsibility for the administrative and security management of the provinces concerned at the same time as they conduct military operations.
As a result of the state of siege, important progress has been made. In particular, several hundred militiamen have been neutralized; numerous members of those armed groups have surrendered; numerous weapons and ammunition have been recovered by the FARDC; several networks of illicit trafficking in
arms, ammunition, minerals and various supplies to armed groups have been dismantled; numerous areas in the east of the country that were formerly occupied by rebels have been recovered; numerous hostages formerly held by armed groups, including the Allied Democratic Forces, have been released; important major roads that were previously under the control of negative forces have been reopened; and there has been a significant decrease in incursions against civilians.
Those results present an opportunity that should be capitalized on and should serve to mobilize all of us — the international community, leaders and the Congolese people — to put an end once and for all to the vicious cycle of violence imposed by the negative forces in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to build on peace, security and stability in the Great Lakes region. That is why the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is maintaining and increasing pressure on armed groups and their accomplices, and why the state of siege will be lifted only when the circumstances that motivated it are no longer present.
Furthermore, it is essential that there be a lifting of the requirement, imposed by paragraph 5 of Security Council resolution 1807 (2008), that the Democratic Republic of the Congo notify in advance the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo of all importation of military goods by my country’s Government or any provision of assistance, advice or training related to military activities of the armed forces and security forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, especially since the Government has the constitutional mandate to ensure the security of persons and property throughout the national territory.
Serious and exemplary sanctions must be taken against all mafia networks, whether they are in countries of transit or destination, and against multinationals that illegally exploit my country’s minerals and, in exchange, supply the armed groups with weapons and ammunition, thereby perpetuating the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region.
The withdrawal of MONUSCO must be progressive, responsible and orderly in accordance with Security Council resolution 2556 (2020). Pursuant to that resolution, a joint committee of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and MONUSCO, expanded to include other United Nations agencies and civil society, has been established to define the strategy and elaborate the road map for MONUSCO’s definitive withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. My country’s Government endorses the transition plan for the phased, responsible and sustainable withdrawal of MONUSCO, which was drafted by the joint committee in collaboration with civil society.
During the transition period, which expires in 2024, the Democratic Republic of the Congo expects the United Nations and the Security Council to provide all the necessary resources to MONUSCO and its Force Intervention Brigade so that they can fulfil their respective mandates and missions in accordance with the aforementioned resolution. That means ensuring that the troops deployed there have the required capabilities and means, including the necessary training to meet the requirements of the reality on the ground and the asymmetric warfare currently being waged by armed groups and terrorists whose existence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo cannot be disputed.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as elsewhere in the world, nothing can be built without peace and security. Peace and security are sine qua non conditions for the progress of nations. The Congolese people need them for its prosperity and to build its democracy, which is still fragile. That is why I am devoting all my energy and attaching great interest to putting an end to insecurity, massacres and looting and the establishment of lasting peace throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That will further contribute to the organization of free, transparent, inclusive and credible elections, which are scheduled for 2023.
I cannot end my statement without recalling, once again, the age-old issue of the reform of the United Nations and the representation of Africa within the Security Council. It cannot be repeated often enough — this is a question of the effectiveness of the United Nations and of justice to be rendered to a continent and to an entire segment of humankind, whose role in the conduct of international affairs is growing every day. Indeed, the revitalization of the United Nations, which we have chosen as a topic of our discussions during this session, is also at stake. The United Nations would make a serious political mistake by maintaining the framework of the power relations of the Second World War of 1940-1945, which ended 76 years ago.
In that regard, I reiterate the common African position established by the Heads of State and Government and contained in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Africa must be represented by two additional seats in the category of non-permanent members and two seats in the category of permanent members with the same rights, including the right of veto, and the same privileges and obligations as those of the current permanent members.
On behalf of the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I wish the General Assembly every success in its work during its seventy-sixth session.