At the outset, I would like to convey a message of solidarity from the Malagasy people with every nation and family that has been hard hit by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In these particularly difficult times, we reiterate our support and commitment to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the leadership that he has shown in steering our Organization through the pandemic.
For this seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly, we have gathered here at United Nations Headquarters to reflect together on strategies capable of addressing the effects of COVID-19. Our goal is to find ways and means to relaunch the economy after the coronavirus disease. And the well-being of our populations should be the focus of all our reflections.
The theme of the 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”, encourages us to act together to build a post-crisis world at the multilateral level.
The entire world has been through a period of profound upheaval in the past two years, weakening our economies and inflicting considerable social effects. The weapon in this war is neither guns nor nuclear bombs but an invisible enemy, a virus, that has spread rapidly from country to country and continent to continent. Many have succumbed — 4.5 million people have lost their lives. It is a painful reality and a devastating toll.
The impact on the job market has been terrible. The numbers from the International Labour Organization speak for themselves: 255 million people have lost their jobs in the pandemic. The countries that are worst affected are those whose economy is based mainly in the informal sector. That has helped drive people into poverty and worsened living conditions. The middle classes are disappearing and too many families are sliding into a precarious existence. The global economy is currently in a serious recession. There are predictions of a drop of nearly 5 per cent in per capita income, which will push millions into extreme poverty. Health inequalities around the world have been exacerbated. As we have confronted this war, we have seen that we are not all equal. And some countries, such as Madagascar, have had to be bold and resourceful. We have relied on the intelligence of our scientists and our traditional pharmacopoeia. Our homegrown solutions have been our best ammunition in this fight.
The fact that when we talk about developing countries such as Madagascar, it is always the negative and grim side that is conveyed and highlighted in the international arena, should make us think. When we talk about the African continent, we always tend to see the reality as gloomy. It is time for that perception to change. We must stop perpetuating such prejudices and go beyond the preconceived ideas. The analyses that we have seen of the COVID-19 situation predicted a health disaster on the African continent. But ultimately, Africa and the so-called vulnerable countries have proved those predictions wrong. Like Madagascar, those countries have been better able to absorb the impact of COVID-19 and to emerge with positives. In order to recover from this shock wave, Madagascar decided
to adopt an optimistic approach by implementing its development vision.
Today we are writing the story of a profound transformation. COVID-19 has not prevented us from continuing our efforts to catch up from Madagascar’s development lag. In the area of health infrastructure, for instance, our goal is to establish health care for all and to bring it closer to the people by building hospitals and basic health centres in every region and district of Madagascar. We have also just built and inaugurated the largest soccer stadium in the Indian Ocean region, and we will continue to build sports infrastructure, including stadiums, gymnasiums and a national elite sports academy. We are investing in sport, because sports brings people together.
We are also building a new city, Tanamasoandro, which will be the showcase of the Indian Ocean. We are putting in place solutions to modernize the capital’s public transport system through the construction of an urban train network, which is well under way, and work on a cable car system will also begin this year. We are building thousands of social housing units for the people and distributing plots of land called “green ownership” to support agricultural entrepreneurship, as well as expanding Madagascar’s industrialization by establishing sugar and cement factories. Our goal is to produce locally everything that the Malagasy people need on a daily basis. On the social front, 2.5 million people, or 500,000 families, have benefited from cash transfers during the coronavirus.
NutriSud, our first factory producing nutritious food aimed at combating infant malnutrition, will be inaugurated in a week. Madagascar is building. We have a vision, a velirano or commitment, and a programme, and we are moving forward. The country is entering a new era. We can see and feel it. A new generation of leaders driven by a sense of patriotism and a pragmatic vision are driving the change. The sceptics are not our friends, but we are moving forward with determination with partners and friendly countries that believe in Madagascar’s emergence.
While the world was struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis also struck with full force. One climatic tragedy has followed another, with a series of deadly floods and storms in Europe, Africa, North America and South-East Asia, along with devastating forest and bush fires in Latin America, on the American West Coast, in Australia and on the African continent. Among the disasters caused by climate change we are also seeing rising sea levels and growing desertification. Madagascar is affected by the consequences of climate change, too. In the south of the country we have recurring waves of drought, water sources are drying up and subsistence activities are becoming almost impossible. My compatriots there have paid a heavy price in the climate crisis, a crisis that they did not create.
Today, to save the Malagasy in that part of the country, we are betting on strategic actions to bring radical and sustainable change, including through the construction of a major pipeline to supply water to the southern region in order to irrigate the land and enable its inhabitants to grow crops and indeed to live. A pipeline project of this size has never been undertaken. It is a historic challenge based on our State’s unprecedented commitment to resolving the situation in the southern part of the Grande lie. Realizing this major project will enable a genuine renaissance there in the area of agriculture and animal husbandry so as to create jobs and promote community resilience. We have already effectively established basic infrastructure in the areas of health care, education, energy and security, as those are fundamental rights for all. As leaders and rulers, it is our duty to protect our people.
In the fight against climate change, all our efforts will be in vain if the lax application of sanctions and measures to combat climate change continues. This crisis is forcing us to make a paradigm shift. If we do not act, the crisis will continue and will get worse. Madagascar calls on every State to act in an equitable manner commensurate with its polluting activity.
The cornerstones of a robust recovery are sovereignty and national unity. One of the main issues at stake for Madagascar in those areas is the question of the lies Eparses or Nosy Malagasy, a hurt that is still deeply wounding to my country and my people. France made commitments regarding the decolonization of Madagascar in San Francisco in 1945. Our independence was restored only in 1960 — in other words, 15 years later. But our decolonization is unfinished, because the issue of the lies Eparses has still not been resolved, despite two General Assembly resolutions. The first, resolution 34/91 of 1979, called on France to immediately initiate negotiations with Madagascar on the reintegration of the islands, which had been arbitrarily separated from Madagascar. In 1980, in resolution 35/123, the Assembly expressed its
regret that those negotiations had not been initiated and called for them to start as a matter of urgency.
Today, 42 years after the adoption of those resolutions, I am working with my French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, through the holding of a joint commission between our two countries. I have great faith in the possibility of a positive, fair and peaceful outcome for these efforts. I urge our Organization, the United Nations, to play its part in ensuring their success in a benevolent and coherent manner. Madagascar has neither the power nor the weapons, much less the intention, to declare a war. The only thing we have is faith in the legitimacy of our aspirations and in our right to decide the fate of our territory.
It is time we put into practice the solidarity that is the foundation of our Organization. Let us pay more attention to our most vulnerable populations so that we can act more effectively to help them and ensure their well-being and development. Today I want to advocate for them and speak on their behalf. Our exchanges and reflections are valuable and essential because we must act together. Let us show responsible leadership and promote cooperation, which is the driving force of our organizations and of the institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that are supporting and helping us to come through this difficult economic period and to realize our projects and ambitions for growth and development. In that connection, I would like to thank the IMF, which responded to the appeals of countries with fragile economies by providing the support necessary to mitigate the economic and financial fallout of the pandemic. The IMF’s facilitation of funding disbursement has benefited Madagascar directly.
Let us strengthen the role, authority, effectiveness and efficiency of the United Nations by building on the progress made. Let us focus on what unites us and brings us together rather than what divides and separates us. It is now, in these circumstances, that we need the mutual support and unity that are the foundation of our Organization. The United Nations, as a whole, unites countries to form a harmonious world. I therefore call here and now for the solidarity of humankind, the unity of nations and shared hope for our world. May God guide and support us. Blessed be our homeland.