As I take
the floor for the first time at the present session, allow
me to join all of those who preceded me at this rostrum
in congratulating Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki and telling
him how proud we are to see him presiding over the
General Assembly at the sixty-fourth session. His
election testifies to his personal qualities and is a
tribute to the African Union.
I applaud our Secretary-General, Mr. Ban
Ki-moon. He has kept the United Nations on track and
strengthened the United Nations in the context of the
multiple crises affecting the world.
Two years ago, from this very rostrum, I updated
the Assembly on the crisis in my country, Côte
d’Ivoire. At that time, I welcomed the important role
played by regional organizations, such as the African
Union and the Economic Community of West African
States. I particularly dwelt on the internal processes
that brought us, the Government and former rebels, to
commit to a process of peace that ended the conflict
and led to the current preparations for general
elections. All through that process, we enjoyed from
the support of the United Nations, notably through the
United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire. We
benefited even more from the assistance of the
President of Burkina Faso, Mr. Blaise Compaore.
Thanks to the efforts of all, and particularly to the
Ivorians’ hard work and desire for peace, the process
has now entered into a irreversible phase. Today, there
are no remaining political obstacles to the holding of
the elections. I take this opportunity to express once
again the gratitude of Côte d’Ivoire to the United
Nations and to all our friends for their commitment to
the restoration of peace.
I would also like to share our desire to do our
utmost to end the crisis via the ballot box. We are all
the more resolute given that the challenges facing
today’s world require of all States, and in particular
small States such as ours, a political strategy based on
democracy. Thus armed, we will be able not only to
effectively address our current difficulties, but also to
contribute to the understanding of and resolution of
international crises.
This is what President Treki has called on us to
do through the theme of this sixty-fourth session of the
General Assembly, “Effective responses to global
crises: strengthening multilateralism and dialogue
among civilizations for international peace, security
and development”.
We note that, in addition to recurrent political
crises, the acute crises facing the world today affect the
stability of nations and jeopardize our shared future. In
2008, the energy crisis reached unprecedented
proportions. The price of a barrel of oil, it will be
recalled, rose to nearly $150. That major crisis took
place alongside a food crisis and an unprecedented
financial crisis that soon turned into a deep economic
crisis. The entire world woke up to the threat posed to
social and political equilibrium by the three crises that
struck at the same time. These crises shook all our
certainties and caused a wave of panic. They showed
us in no uncertain terms that nothing can ever be taken
for granted, even in big countries.
The entire world mobilized to meet the challenge,
both within individual countries and within
international institutions and organizations. We saw the
International Monetary Fund provide assistance to
countries that are not usually the recipients of such aid,
such as those of northern Europe. This exceptional
mobilization points to the concern of the international
community at seeing the situation end in uncontrollable
social and political crises.
However, although the mobilization and
cooperation were multilateral, the crisis resolution
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plans were not. Countries in North America, Europe
and Asia adopted national plans. This shows that there
are limits to multilateralism and that nation States
protect their prerogatives and shoulder their full
responsibilities at the economic level, when necessary.
I note, moreover, that the mobilization in Africa
and for Africa was quite diffident. It was as though the
financial crisis was not also an African crisis, or as if
the financial sector in Africa was not sufficiently
integrated into the international financial system.
Perhaps our continent did not grasp the full extent of
the crisis. And yet, the financial crisis has had
consequences on the African continent. In Africa,
perhaps more than anywhere else, the financial crisis
became an economic crisis that underscored the
economic and social fragility of our countries.
The lesson we draw from that experience is that
no country is immune to crisis. This requires the
international community to enhance its vigilance by
increasing oversight of the financial system and its
institutions at the international level. It would also be
timely for us to embark on a reform of the international
monetary and financial system. In this context, United
Nations reform, and above all reform of its organs, is
essential if the United Nations is to play a solid leading
role in strengthening multilateralism.
Among the cross-cutting issues in which the
United Nations must play a key role are the resurgence
of extremism. The entrenchment and hardening of
positions are prevailing over dialogue and deepening
the chasm between cultures that need to live together in
harmony. Hence, the importance of the historic high-
level meeting convened in this very Hall on 12 and
13 November 2008 on the urgent need for genuine
dialogue among religions with a view to creating a
culture of peace. That initiative bolstered activities to
raise the awareness of the international community to
the need for preventive diplomacy on this key topic, in
particular the World Conference on Dialogue, held in
Madrid in July 2008, and the launching in July 2005 of
the Alliance of Civilizations, under the auspices of the
United Nations.
We therefore believe that all of these initiatives in
favour of dialogue among cultures, as well as those to
come, point to the need to establish a permanent forum
for dialogue among civilizations so as to draw peoples
together.
I now turn to world peace and security. The only
sure way to attain lasting peace is the equitable
settlement of conflicts within a reformed, more
democratic and more credible Security Council.
Together, we need to build a United Nations with a
stronger mandate and greater representativity.
In that regard, it would be preferable to entrust
the prevention, management and settlement of local
conflicts to regional and even subregional
organizations. That approach, which was enshrined in
April 2008 by the Security Council, should be
strengthened by an earnest updating of the mechanism
for cooperation with regional organizations, as
provided for in the United Nations Charter of 1945.
In that regard, I would like to simply reiterate
here the position of my delegation, which is based on
our experience of handling and settling the Ivorian
crisis. Direct dialogue, like that in Côte d’Ivoire, offers
avenues for thought that the United Nations could
make good use of. I think that the Burkina Faso
delegation can address that issue as well as, if not
better than, we can.
Another topic of concern is world poverty. World
peace and security are dependent on the eradication of
extreme poverty and poverty reduction. That is why my
delegation welcomes the convening at the sixty-third
session of two high-level meetings on Africa’s
development needs and the Millennium Development
Goals. We welcome the outcomes and
recommendations of those meetings.
Côte d’Ivoire is resolved to free itself of the
burden of debt that is threatening its development
goals. There have been meetings on debt, but there
need to be more, and decisions must be taken on debt
because the debts that were incurred in the 1960s, the
1970s and the 1980s today hamper the development of
African countries. That must be considered. It is a law
of nature that when a small, weak country is
overburdened by debt, the original purpose of which is
often not known even to its leaders, that country sinks,
and drags the world down with it. Africa is part of the
world. If a decision is not taken on the issue of the debt
of African countries, the entire global financial system
will be on course for disaster.
That is why I stress, alongside the problem of
debt, the issue of climate change. We talk of climate
change, and we are right to do so, but we need to take
decisions that are critical for most of our countries. I
13 09-52463
do not know the situation in West Africa very well, but
it has been shown that, in Central and Southern Africa,
the deserts are advancing by two kilometres a year.
What does that mean? It means that in 50 years the
deserts will have advanced by 100 kilometres and
reached the coasts. We must decide.
While the deserts advance, on the coasts villages
and houses are disappearing into the sea. That is
happening in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte
d’Ivoire and elsewhere. There are people living today
with the water at their feet. There are those who live
not knowing if tomorrow it will reach their houses or if
their houses will, in fact, be in the sea. Urgent
measures are needed. We need not only meetings, but
also decisions, and those decisions — on deserts, the
sea and floods — must be implemented. Everywhere
today — in Burkina Faso, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire —
the rains bring disaster, and those very rains that we
call for to water our farms have become a cause for
alarm. We no longer know if the rains to come bring
death or life.
Africa is fighting, and is doing so alone. It would
prefer to fight with the rest of the world behind it. That
is also why we have come to speak here. Africa no
longer wishes to feel abandoned or to fight alone.
Soon, in 50 years according to the experts, it will be
easier to find oil than clean drinking water, because we
will have to go a long way — too far for our
economies.
What are we going to do? The issue of clean
water has become a problem. Certainly, in some rich
oil-producing countries in the Arab world, we have
seen our brothers working to make seawater drinkable,
but how many countries in the world have the means to
turn seawater into drinking water? It is terribly
expensive. We need to convene a meeting here at the
United Nations on that issue — and not only meetings,
but decisions followed by action.
Those are the problems that I came here to talk
about on behalf of the Ivorian delegation. Everyone
knows that Africa is such that when one delegation
talks, it speaks for all delegations because we face the
same problems. I would hope that, as of today, we can
look beyond internal crises. We all know that Africa
has made great progress. It is up to us to strengthen
ourselves by daring to fight poverty, extreme poverty
and catastrophic climate change. Climate change is
dangerous throughout the world, but it is catastrophic
for us. We need the help of representatives to tackle
this difficult century before us. I pray that God may
bless the United Nations.