Comoros

Allow me, first of all, on behalf of the people of the Comoros, my Government and in my personal capacity, to sincerely congratulate you, Madam President, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty- first session. I am convinced that your eminent qualities will enable you to skilfully guide the work of this General Assembly. And I assure you of my readiness to work with you towards the successful accomplishment of the difficult mission entrusted to you by our General Assembly. I take advantage of this opportunity to address our Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and to express my deepest gratitude for the total and resolute commitment that he has always shown as head of our Organization, in particular, in the promotion of its ideals. We are all aware of the immeasurable efforts that he consistently deploys to defend the noble causes of our institution — the fight against poverty, the maintenance of peace in the world, to list but the main ones. It is a great honour to take the floor today and to address this Assembly in my capacity as the newly elected President of the Union of the Comoros. Allow me, therefore, at this historic time, to address my deep gratitude to all of the brother countries, to the United Nations system and to the African Union, in particular, for having become engaged in order to ensure that, for the first time, a democratic and peaceful political transition was able to take place in my country following free and transparent elections. That was indeed a first in the Comoros in 30 years of independence. At this junction, I would like to underline the principal role played by the Republic of South Africa and by its President, Mr. Thabo Mbeki, in monitoring the electoral operations during the last presidential elections held in the Comoros. These elections are an exemplary model for Africa, in spite of certain imperfections. I wish to convey to the Government and to the brethren people of the Republic of South Africa the sincere gratitude of the people of the Comoros and my personal acknowledgment for the unfailing support that they provided to the process of national reconciliation in the Comoros. 06-53005 2 I wish to convey to France, a country with which we have long-standing relations, the gratitude of the people and the Government of the Comoros for the constant support that it continues to provide to our country. We are convinced that France, the home country of human rights and freedoms, will meet the request of my Government to ensure that together we can guarantee a harmonious development in the Comoros, with democracy, the rule of law and good governance. The People’s Republic of China also deserves our deep admiration. With great vigour, this brother country has supported the development of the Comoros, ever since we gained independence more than 30 years ago. Through the quality of its relations, China has earned the friendship of all the people of the Comoros, and I remain convinced that it will continue to provide aid and support for my country’s socio- economic development, a matter which remains a priority for my Government. The Republic of Mauritius deserves a special mention for its invaluable support to my country throughout the national reconciliation process. By hosting the donor conference for the Comoros in December 2005, this brother country has demonstrated its great solidarity with the Comoros. We therefore express to it our deep appreciation here today. Madagascar is a country with which we enjoy, over and above formal cooperation, very close relations by virtue of good neighbourliness, blood ties, a shared language and commerce, and it will remain a crucial partner for us. Madagascar has consistently demonstrated the importance of preserving common values, in particular through closer ties. I know that with this brother country we still have a long way to travel together, as our destinies are linked. From this platform, I would be remiss not to convey our sincere gratitude to all other bilateral and multilateral partners of the Comoros, in particular, the League of Arab States, the International Organization of la Francophonie and the European Union, which, through the African Union, has provided valuable support and assistance in recent years in the context of the national reconciliation process. I would like to thank sincerely the entire international community for the spirit of solidarity often expressed towards my country. Moreover, I remain convinced that the entire international community will continue to support the Comoros to help it complete national reconciliation. This is the sine qua non to ensure that a period of peace and political stability can take root in my country. The people of the Comoros hope to see an end to the hellish cycle of coups d’état that have spoiled their daily lives over the past three decades. Since my election as President, my Government and I have strived to find the ways and means to promote social and economic development. We are aware of the need to diversify our cooperation abroad and to create conditions that are propitious to investment. On the domestic level, my Government is resolutely committed to fighting corruption and the embezzlement of public funds, to reestablishing an independent and equitable judiciary and we are committed to improving public housing. In order to achieve these goals, we require the backing our partners in support of our own efforts. That is why I make a solemn appeal to this Organization and to its Members to provide diverse forms of aid in order to ensure the success of this task. I would be remiss if I did not also touch on the major global issues that we face. The situation in the Middle East remains critical. The conflict that occurred in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah deeply hurt us in our flesh and in our hearts. Once again, we question the grounds for waging that war, the reasons for the destruction of economic infrastructure in that brother country, and finally the loss of thousands of lives. My country deeply deplores the shedding of innocent blood in Lebanon and in the Middle East. Why is there so much violence? Why is there so much suffering? Why is there so much inhumanity? What is there to say about the situation in Palestine where the same scenario persists with its toll of martyrs, children and women who are victims of blind bombing? It is high time for the international community, working within the framework of the United Nations, to respond and to put an end to that conflict by ensuring that a negotiated solution is reached promptly. We have the right to ask why the situation in Iraq remains catastrophic. It would be a shameful lie to say that we do not awake each day, learning of a growing number of deaths in each community in Iraq. In Africa, even though some conflicts have been settled, instability and the risk of war and the threat of 3 06-53005 war still persist in Chad, the Darfur region of the Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, just to mention some instances. The question of Moroccan Sahara in no way leaves us indifferent. It is high time that the international community uses the prestige of the United Nations to expedite a solution based on law to that long-standing dispute. In any such situation, only the application of international law can guarantee the restoration of legality. Asia is not spared its share of armed conflicts, for example those in Sri Lanka, Timor and southern Philippines. To mention all such conflicts would be tedious. Wherever or whenever war takes place, armed conflict inevitably results in millions of displaced persons, destroyed economic infrastructure and irreversible human, social and economic tragedy and damage. We must acknowledge and appreciate the vast effort of the international community to ensure that dialogue, discussion and negotiation prevail over force, destruction and war. Our Organization plays a major role in this respect. We must acknowledge that the crucial missions undertaken by the United Nations are irreplaceable. We live in a time of paradoxes. On the one hand, we are living through an exceptional period marked by extraordinary growth of knowledge and know-how in the areas of technology, science, economic output, information technology and communications, just to mention a few. Yet on the other hand, we continue to devote almost unlimited financial and technical resources to producing more and more weapons capable of destroying our planet. Our countries are caught up in an arms race, instead of concentrating on development and combating disease and poverty. At a time when science makes possible considerable progress, as I said earlier, the contradiction persists at the start of the twenty-first century that millions of individuals do not have enough to eat, millions of persons are totally destitute, and too often abject poverty, famine and devastating pandemics prevail. Many families live without shelter or in precarious and unhealthy conditions. Side by side with an increasingly prosperous world, more and more people live in increasingly difficult situations. We must ask ourselves how to overcome these contradictions in order to meet the challenges of the future. Without going into detail, I wish to touch on the root causes of these problems, their consequences and prospects for the future. In my humble opinion, the reasons for these conditions are twofold. The first concerns governance in countries themselves. It will not surprise you to hear that in many countries, especially in the poorest countries, there is injustice, corruption and a lack of respect for fundamental human rights. The second point concerns international governance and all the related problems. While we live in a globalized world, we must recognize that degradation of the environment from uncontrolled pollution by business motivated by easy profit endangers the lives of future generations. In economic terms, we stand by powerless, witnessing deteriorating terms of trade, which plunge the poorest countries into ever-deepening poverty while the richest countries continue increasingly to prosper. We believe that in order to achieve peace among men, to seek peace among countries and to ensure lasting peace for each and every one, we must prevent and resolve the conflicts and ills that beset our world. We meet in this forum to seek — and to find — solutions to the problems that I have touched upon in my statement. The permanent quest for material and social well-being should guide us towards a guarantee of better lives for our children. We must attack the root causes of the conflicts breaking out everywhere in the world. It is crucial that we combat pandemics such as AIDS, which has destroyed millions of people worldwide. Mr. Majoor (Netherlands), Vice-President, took the Chair. Finally, I wish to use the words of Saint Francis of Assisi who said, “Give us love, my God, so that we might instil it where the forces of evil dominate”. May God the almighty and most merciful inspire our decisions to ensure that a time of peace comes upon us and that we see an end to the spilling of the innocent blood of people in countries at war. (spoke in Arabic) The Union of the Comoros has entered into a new period since my accession to the post of head of the supreme Council following the free and transparent elections that were held in May and June. We hope to strengthen our ties with all friendly countries on the basis of mutual respect and common interests. We reaffirm our firm commitment to all international 06-53005 4 conventions and agreements that seek to ensure peace, well being, security and development for all peoples of the world. The Comoros occupies a distinct strategic position and embraces many civilizations. In spite of the challenges it faces, the Comoros has managed to preserve its African and Arab identities, and its affiliation with Islam: a religion of love, amity, tolerance and peace. Our country is among the world’s poorest, in spite of the priceless natural resources that we enjoy, such as agriculture, fishing and tourism, in addition to our strategic position in the Mozambique Channel. Incorrect economic politics applied since we gained independence in 1975 and political instability have been among the negative factors that made our country especially poor and backward. Average gross domestic product per capita stands at about $300 per year. We have therefore developed a far-reaching plan seeking to provide substantial shelter for our population, in place of straw huts. We have sought to establish an independent judiciary in order to ensure the justice and equality of all before the law, and we are combating unemployment and poverty. If we are unable to provide decent and dignified housing and unable to guarantee a minimum of justice, then we will be unable to fight unemployment and poverty. I would like once again to call upon the international community to continue to provide aid and assistance to my country. I assure members all that their generosity and assistance will reach secure hands and will be used properly and appropriately.