Djibouti

Praise be to God, peace and blessings be upon the Prophet, his family and his companions President of the General Assembly, Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. President, First of all, I would like to warmly congratulate you on your election to preside over the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session. We endorse the hope-based vision you have articulated, which we believe you will implement during your term of office. I wish you success and assure you of my country’s full support. We thank your predecessor, Mr. Volkan Bozkir, and congratulate him on his extraordinary commitment during a challenging, difficult and uncertain year. I would also like to express our deep appreciation to the Secretary-General for submitting his report, entitled Our Common Agenda. We welcome the insightful analysis of the threats to the planet, prosperity and world peace it contains and relevant recommendations for a way out of the crisis. It is a call for urgent and collective action, and an important way to reflect on laying the foundation for renewed international cooperation, based on solidarity. Mr. President, Secretary-General, Excellencies, The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on populations, especially the poor and vulnerable. It has severely affected social indicators, jeopardized progress to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and increased extreme poverty. It continues to pose a threat to the health system of countries, given vaccine scarcity and the infodemic. It is therefore urgent to implement a global vaccination plan before current variants mutate and jeopardize the gains made to date in the fight against COVID-19. In Djibouti, we immediately recognized the danger and implemented a management and response plan to contain the spread of the virus as soon as the first set of cases appeared. The emergence of variants led to an adaptation of the strategy. We also developed a vaccination plan that includes the installation of vaccinodromes in the capital and further inland, and promoted a community-based approach, by deploying vaccinobuses. We designed a social response plan that seeks to: 1. Preserve the livelihoods of the poorest, vulnerable groups and those who have lost their jobs; 2. Put in place short-, medium- and long-term recovery and social support measures; 3. Put technology at the centre of all social activities, while seeking to innovate working methods and the work environment; On behalf of the Government and the people of Djibouti, I now take this opportunity to thank all international partners that provided vaccines free of charge, in support of our vaccination strategy against COVID-19. We hope that the summit meeting, scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday, at the initiative of President Joe Biden, will identify concrete ways to sustainably reverse the spread of the virus and urgently ensure the asymmetric deployment of vaccines worldwide. It is also vital that greater efforts be made to build consensus on the need for the temporary lifting of intellectual property rights to accelerate vaccine production. Mr. President, Secretary-General, Excellencies, Due to restrictions imposed worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, the severe contraction of the economy, widening Government deficits and devastating economic consequences, we are faced with the urgent need to develop solutions to stimulate recovery. In this quest, the valuable support of the international financial institutions and that of friendly countries will be crucial. Mr. President, Secretary-General, Excellencies, In their statements, many of my predecessors have underscored the growing concerns and uncertainties about the future of our planet. Paradoxically, the global health crisis that has affected us for nearly two years is a unique opportunity that may not present itself again in the future. It has brought to light the intrinsic link between human health, the economy and the environment. Indeed, the various facets of the impact of COVID-19 compel us to make a choice — continue to harm our planet and our environment or adopt a collective approach that is both courageous and that demonstrates solidarity. Yes, solidarity — solidarity with nature, solidarity with our environment, solidarity with our peoples. It is true that in 2020, the world faced an unprecedented slowdown in economic and trade activity, according to statistics from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. In that regard, allow me to highlight some of them: • 42 per cent drop in foreign direct investment; 20 per cent contraction in world trade • Quadrupling of the price of container transport With regard to the environment, there has been a considerable decrease in global greenhouse gas emissions, which contributed to a slowdown in the deterioration of the ozone layer. To address the risks of economic collapse, Governments invested nearly $12,000 billion in the fall of 2020 to counter the economic effects of COVID-19. Now more than ever, given the multiple devastating effects of climate change, such as prolonged droughts, increased hurricanes, sea level rise, extreme temperatures, flooding and even locust invasion, to name a few, we have a compelling obligation to rethink our actions. Although the Paris Agreement was a historic achievement, we must acknowledge that the efforts made have not lived up to the hopes, following COP21. Because of their climate vulnerability, the international community must support developing countries so that they can benefit from technology transfer and expertise, as well as appropriate funding. Allow me, at this time, to again welcome the announcement made in January this year to provide $5 billion to help restore degraded landscapes, improve agricultural productivity and boost livelihoods, as part of the Great Green Wall, connecting Dakar to Djibouti and passing through 11 countries. It appears that COVID-19 is a unique opportunity to, at last, lay the foundation for more egalitarian, environmentally friendly societies. We must build on the momentum to restore our societies and economies and redefine our interaction with our planet. Mr. President, Djibouti remains committed to building a better future, lasting peace and strong regional economic integration for the benefit of our people. It deplores the fact that the efforts we made to normalize relations with Eritrea have not yet produced the expected results. As noted by the Secretary-General in his letter to the President of the Security Council, dated 30 July 2021, we deplore the lack of significant progress on the outstanding issues, namely the border dispute and the fate of the 13 Djiboutian prisoners of war. We reiterate our call for Eritrea to agree to resolve these issues, through bilateral dialogue, mediation or binding international arbitration. We also urge our Eritrean neighbours to proceed with the dismantling of the Anda’ali camp, as a confidence-building measure that would help create better relations between the two countries. Djibouti is closely following developments in Ethiopia. Djibouti shares historical ties with Ethiopia and has developed productive bilateral relations in the political, economic and cultural fields. These relations are destined to grow and prosper. We reiterate our support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. We hope that, in the near future, a peaceful Ethiopia will emerge, reconciled, and return to growth and economic development. With regard to Somalia, Djibouti is encouraged by the progress made by the country. Nevertheless, it shares the concerns expressed by the members of the Security Council regarding political disagreements among members of the Government and their possible negative impact on the Somali electoral calendar. Somalia is at a crossroads — every effort must be made to ensure that Somalia’s positive trajectory is not in jeopardy! We reaffirm our support for a just, lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the creation of an independent and sovereign State, based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. We condemn settlement expansion, demolitions and property-seizure campaigns in the occupied West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, as well as acts of violence that target Palestinian civilians. We call on Israel to respect its obligations under international humanitarian law. Djibouti welcomes the appointment of the new Special Envoy for Yemen, Mr. Hans Grundberg, and hopes that his appointment will give a new impetus to the efforts of the international community to achieve a lasting political solution, in accordance with Security Council resolutions. We urge the Houthis to remain constructively engaged in the peace process and reiterate our condemnation of the repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia. We reiterate our deep concern about the threat of a possible ecological, maritime, economic and humanitarian disaster, posed by the FSO Safer oil tanker. It is urgent that the necessary authorizations be granted for the United Nations to proceed, without conditions, with its inspection and make the appropriate repairs in order to avoid the worst-case scenario and minimize the risk of an oil spill in the Red Sea. Thank you for your attention.