Senegal and
the Kingdom of Bahrain have had cordial relations of
friendship, which have been enhanced and
strengthened by reciprocal confidence and esteem. I am
therefore pleased that Ms. Haya Rashed al-Khalifa is
presiding over the General Assembly at its sixty-first
session, during a key time in the history of our
organization. Her election was an act of faith in the
ideals of the United Nations and a message of hope for
peoples who dream of a fairer, more equitable and
more welcoming world for all. I offer her my warmest
congratulations and assure her of the full cooperation
of the Senegalese delegation as she carries out her high
responsibilities in the service of the international
community.
I would also like to convey to the Secretary-
General a fraternal message of my greatest
appreciation and gratitude for the ability and
effectiveness with which he has always acted, enabling
our Organization to better adapt to the requirements of
the new millennium. At a time when he is preparing to
leave his high post after 10 years of loyal and good
service, it is with a sincere sense of pride that I say to
him as an African compatriot, “Mr. Secretary-General,
mission accomplished”.
Last year, in this very Hall, we renewed our
commitment to meet the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) by 2015. To be sure, since that time,
some praiseworthy initiatives have occurred along the
way, especially with measures to erase the multilateral
debt of 18 least developed countries (LDCs) and to
establish a levy on air tickets as a source of financing
for development. I salute the efforts made by President
Jacques Chirac of France and by President Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva of Brazil for their promotion of this
innovative mechanism to mobilize resources.
The problem of debt, however, in particular the
debt of our continent, remains a hindrance to our
development. In reality, the first question we should be
asking ourselves, and which we do ask in Africa,
5 06-53005
regards the evaluation of the debt: to take a look at the
overindebtedness of Africa, to see exactly how much
we owe, because it turns out that some countries are
paying more than they owe. This is why I have long
been advocating an x-ray of African debt to see how
our countries have ended up in a situation whereby
they devote much of their export earnings to paying off
debt, contracted sometimes in dubious circumstances,
to the detriment of their economic and social
development programmes. The vicious circle of debt,
compounded by unfair imbalances in international
trade owing to agricultural subsidies in wealthy
industrialized countries, has been particularly harmful
for our farmers.
The failure of the agriculture negotiations in the
Doha round, which is still fresh in our memory, shows
how far we have yet to go in order to ensure respect by
all for the rules of the game, so that world trade can be
equally profitable for the giants of agro-business as for
the small-scale cotton growers of Senegal, Benin,
Burkina Faso and Mali, or for the small-scale coffee
planters from Uganda, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. We
say yes to free trade, but it must be fair and equitable.
The dizzying increase in the price of oil and its
by-products since 2003 constitutes a new source of
concern for non-producer countries. If the current trend
continues, many countries will see their years of
economic and social development efforts wiped out by
the cost of oil. It will then be pointless to expound on
the Millennium Development Goals on schooling,
universal health care, access to drinking water for all,
the fight against unemployment and the eradication of
poverty.
In Africa, we have decided to take up the
challenge by gathering together, on the initiative of
Senegal, in the Association of Non-Oil Producing
African Countries, in order to promote the
development of bio-fuels. This green version of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) has already been launched. With its vast
cultivatable lands and enormous fresh water resources,
Africa has, without a doubt, incomparable advantages
in this sphere, and could even aspire to become the
world’s premier bio-fuel producer.
I would call upon all interested parties to join
with us in this new green energy revolution, especially
since it respects our environment and is in perfect
harmony with the objectives of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change and its
Kyoto Protocol. Let us be optimistic in thinking that
our planet will be a healthier place in the interest of all
peoples, thanks to a civilization based on clean energy.
Turning to the situation in Africa, Senegal
welcomes the progress made in democracy on the
continent, as well as the significant progress achieved
in the peaceful settlement of disputes. Such positive
developments, however, have been thwarted by the
persistence of some hotbeds of tension. In the Sudan,
we hope and work for the expansion of the camp of
peace, so that those protagonists who have thus far
been left out of the peace process can sign the Abuja
Agreement for a settlement of the Darfur crisis.
Yesterday, here in New York, the Peace and
Security Council of the African Union addressed the
issue of Darfur and emphasized that Africa must offer
more efforts, more sacrifices and more commitment,
but that it can find a solution only within the
framework of close cooperation with the United
Nations, for which it must indicate its readiness.
Turning to the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Senegal welcomes the holding of elections last
July. We hope that, whatever the outcome of the second
round of presidential elections on 30 October, a
reconciled Congolese people will work in the spirit of
unity to utilize the tremendous potential of their
country for peace, national unity and economic and
social progress.
To my Ivorian brothers and sisters I would like to
solemnly state that the need for a Côte d’Ivoire, healed
of its wounds for good, has become most urgent — as
much for themselves as for all of us in the subregion. I
would thus urge Ivorian leaders of all ideologies to
show that they can get beyond their differences to
foster a return to lasting peace, more in accordance
with the history of that brother country and with its
proper destiny within the West African family and
within our continent.
With regard to the Digital Solidarity Fund, which
I proposed in December 2003 at the World Summit in
the Information Society, as information technology and
communications coordinator of The New Partnership
for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), I am pleased to
report that we have had satisfactory results. Since
being launched in March 2005 with the support of
nearly all Members of the United Nations, the Fund has
gained the formal support of the People’s Republic of
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China. I would like warmly to thank the Chinese
authorities for their support, which surely bolsters the
Fund’s universal nature. I request all States that have
not yet done so to formalize their previously voiced
commitment to the Fund by sending a letter to the
Executive Secretary of the Fund in Geneva. I would
recall that cities too can become members. I take this
opportunity also to recall that the Digital Solidarity
Fund is supported exclusively through voluntary public
and private contributions, the amount of which is up to
member States, cities or local governments.
We would suggest that countries commit
themselves to the so-called Geneva Principle, which
consists of, including in calls for bids in the digital
technology field, a contribution to the Fund of 1 per
cent of the value of the goods and services linked to
information and communications technology. Fund
resources are managed in strict transparency through
the Foundation Council with a tripartite membership:
local authorities, private enterprise and civil society.
The General Assembly’s recent High-Level
Dialogue on International Migration and Development
shows the extent to which we must continue our joint
efforts to address an extremely relevant and complex
problem which will be with us for a long time to come.
International migration has always been a part of the
history of peoples. What is new is the current scope
and form of illegal immigration. For a wide variety of
reasons, with North-South imbalances not the least of
them, illegal migration necessitates an approach of
joint partnership instead of unilateral solutions.
In Senegal, we have already decided to resolutely
combat this phenomenon by strengthening the
surveillance of our coasts with the support of our
European partners. We have already signed an
agreement with Spain, and we shall sign a similar
agreement with France next week. The purpose of
these agreements is to regulate migratory flows to
developed countries, thereby combating illegal
migration. The smugglers, largely responsible for this,
are constantly being hunted down and punished in
accordance with the law.
Along with the dismantling of clandestine
networks, we have launched our Return to Agriculture
programme, through which we are setting up rural
farms in order to enable our young people to engage in
modern agriculture and animal husbandry. This will
give them reasons to stay at home and avoid tragic
ventures which often end at the bottom of the sea or in
the desert. That is how we implement the principle we
have adopted in Senegal: zero illegal emigration.
The year 2006 marks a decisive turning point in
the history of the United Nations, with reforms under
way to adapt to changing world realities. These include
the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the
Peacebuilding Commission, which I hope will allow
for enhanced promotion of human rights and more
effective management of post-conflict periods.
As for Security Council reform, Senegal deplores
the deadlock in the negotiations, which is to the
detriment of regions such as ours. Africa, while it is the
focal point of the Council’s agenda, does not have a
single permanent seat. That is a historical injustice
which must be corrected as soon as possible by
granting Africa a seat, with the right to veto, apart from
the overall reform package.
The Palestinian people, too, are victims of
injustice, depriving them of a legitimate right to a
viable, free and independent State. History teaches us
that war, despite its long list of innocent victims and
the toll it takes on civilian infrastructure — bitter
experiences recently relived by the peoples of Lebanon
and Palestine — will never overcome a people’s will if
it aspires to take its rightful place in the community of
free nations. The right to freedom and
independence is part of the destiny of peoples. Its
attainment can be delayed by historic circumstances,
but destiny will always be achieved. It is better to
understand this in time than to regret it too late.
As Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of
the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,
Senegal will continue to ensure that the Organization
continues its efforts towards a negotiated, just and
lasting solution to the Middle East conflict so that all
of the suffering peoples of the region can finally live in
peaceful coexistence.
With regard to Iran, the Assembly is aware of my
position. There should be dialogue without prior
conditions, meaning that the protagonists should sit
down around a negotiating table.
Senegal has always acted in the service of peace
and continues to do so more than ever before at a time
when we face such major challenges.