Angola, 2005

It is with great

honour that I take this floor before this Assembly. At

the outset, I should like to congratulate the President,

on behalf of the Government of the Republic of

Angola, for his election to the presidency of the

sixtieth session of the General Assembly of our

Organization.

I also wish to express my appreciation to his

predecessor, Mr. Jean Ping, for his commitment and for

the transparent and efficient manner in which he

presided over the fifty-ninth session of General

Assembly.

Today, 60 years after the foundation of the United

Nations, humanity continues to face new and complex

challenges. The continuation of armed conflicts,

hunger, poverty, massive human rights violations, the

spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, the scar

of terrorism and the risk that non-State actors can

acquire, develop and use weapons of mass destruction

indeed constitute a threat to international peace and

security. Therefore, the international community has

every reason to act collectively to reform and

strengthen the United Nations in order to render it

better prepared to address the many and complex

challenges we are facing.

The Republic of Angola follows with great

concern the developments in several areas of the world,

particularly on the African continent. In spite of a

relatively positive tendency characterized by a

decrease in areas of tension in the world today, it is

necessary to continue to pay special attention to the

peace processes in various parts of the world,

particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau, to mention

only a few.

Regarding Guinea-Bissau, my delegation is

satisfied with the results achieved, and we commend

the political maturity shown by the people of Guinea-

Bissau during the transition period, particularly the

civic responsibility demonstrated during the period of

presidential elections.

In this context, we believe that respect for the

constitutionally established institutions of sovereignty

is an indispensable condition for political stability.

Only this will create a propitious environment for the

accomplishment of tasks that guarantee the

maintenance of peace and economic reconstruction.

Such is the expectation of the Guinean people, who

went to voting stations in such significant numbers.

That is a vote for democracy.

In that connection, we welcome the round table

on Guinea-Bissau, scheduled for the month of

November, and we urge donors to respond positively

since the international community’s assistance remains

a fundamental condition for the process under way.

Regarding the process of consolidation of peace

currently in progress in the Great Lakes region,

Angola, in its capacity as a core country, is pleased

with what has been achieved so far. We thank the

Group of Friends, and particularly the Government of

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Canada, for the support they have been providing, and

especially for the second Great Lakes Conference, due

to be held next November in Nairobi.

Although we understand that the primary

responsibility to prevent and resolve conflicts in Africa

falls upon African States themselves, we share the

notion that the international community should, in

partnership with regional and subregional

organizations, play a more significant role in the

prevention and resolution of conflicts on the continent.

Based on our own experience, we believe that in

order for strategies for the prevention and resolution of

conflicts to be successful, they should be based on an

approach that is as inclusive as possible. In this

connection, the cooperation of the key organs of the

United Nations — the General Assembly, the Security

Council and the Economic and Social Council — is

absolutely essential. The pertinent involvement of the

international financial institutions, as well as the

private and business sectors, has proven to be equally

fundamental.

For this reason, we support and welcome the

decision of the High-level Meeting to create the

Peacebuilding Commission. We are ready to work with

partners towards rendering this organ operational as

soon as possible.

Angola supports the creation of the permanent

fund for the consolidation of peace. We are also of the

view that activities related to disarmament,

demobilization and reintegration should be financed

from the regular budget and attributed to peacekeeping

operations.

While the illicit exploitation of natural resources

was not mentioned in the outcome document of the

summit, we hope that during the current session of the

General Assembly this issue will be given due

consideration since it constitutes a fundamental

element for the strategy of prevention and resolution of

conflicts.

Terrorism undoubtedly constitutes a permanent

threat to the world that no country can face alone.

Therefore, it calls for cooperation among all countries,

with the United Nations playing the central role in the

fight against it. In this connection, we join the

Secretary-General’s plea for the conclusion, as urgently

as possible, of the comprehensive convention against

international terrorism, which would contain a

universally accepted definition of the concept of

terrorism.

Five years since the adoption of the Millennium

Declaration, the social and economic situation in

several parts of the globe continues to be characterized

by extreme poverty.

As well-articulated mentioned by the Secretary-

General in his report, “In larger freedom” (A/59/2005),

poverty is not only about development; it is also a

matter of security and respect for human rights, which

are fundamental to the Millennium Development

Goals. For this reason, I agree with several previous

speakers that this issue in the outcome document ought

to be dealt with in greater detail. Thus, we look

forward to continuing our work in the relevant forums,

in particular in a strengthened Economic and Social

Council.

The fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria,

tuberculosis and other illnesses constitutes an

indispensable condition for peace, stability and

international collective security. For this reason, we

urge the international community to redouble its efforts

in mobilizing the required resources for the prevention

and treatment of these illnesses.

Let me take this opportunity to express my

Government’s appreciation to the United States for

funding and initiating a programme to fight malaria in

Angola, as well as in Tanzania and Uganda.

In my delegation’s opinion, in order to meet the

challenges facing the world, it is imperative that we

proceed to the reform of the main organs of the United

Nations, with a view to adapting them to the current

reality. We will remain active in the process of reform

of the United Nations, including the Security Council

and the other primary bodies of our Organization.

We share the opinion that the composition of the

Security Council should properly reflect the present

day political reality. Enlarging the Security Council

would render it more transparent and more

representative, with greater credibility and, in

particular, greater authority in its decisions.

Nevertheless, we would like to underline that the

enlargement of the Council is just one aspect of the

reform that needs to be completed. We should not

underestimate other elements of Council reform that

we consider no less important, such as the need to

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improve and render more transparent its working

methods.

I am convinced that the results reached at the

High-level Plenary Meeting during this session of the

General Assembly will stimulate the continuation of

the debate on the process of the reform itself. This will

create a platform that will reinforce the Organization’s

common vision and objectives: strengthening

cooperation and providing greater assurances that

international peace and stability can only be found in a

reinforced multilateralism.