Angola, 2008

I am

particularly honoured to address the General Assembly

on behalf of His Excellency Mr. José Eduardo dos

Santos, President of the Republic of Angola.

First, I should like, on behalf of my Government,

to warmly congratulate Mr. Miguel d’Escoto

Brockmann on his election to preside over this organ.

We wish him all success during his mandate and assure

him of the support of my country.

The present session of the General Assembly is

taking place at a time of serious challenges for the

international community. They include the food crisis,

the rise in fuel prices, unexpected climate change, the

financial crisis, the escalation of cold-war rhetoric and

terrorism. The global scale of those challenges and

their negative effects on the lives of millions of human

beings on all continents indicate that we are at a

critical moment. We must overcome those challenges

through a collective response, with the central role

played by the United Nations. Above all, however,

each State must also act individually.

With regard to the financial crisis, we must take

measures that help to prevent serious effects on the

global economy, especially the economies of the more

vulnerable countries. Such measures must be effective

and must help to reduce the negative impact on the

progress that African countries have already made by

implementing reforms that have enabled them to have

an annual growth rate of 5 per cent.

We are also concerned at the rise in food prices.

That has dealt a hard blow to the efforts to fight

poverty, which affects more than 1 billion people. The

rise in food prices is closely linked to climate change,

which is not only causing the destruction of

infrastructure and basic means of subsistence in many

countries, but is also forcing millions of people into

poverty.

The elimination of distorting elements in

international trade is also fundamental if we are to

resolve the world food crisis. The agricultural subsidies

provided by the wealthiest countries to their farmers

are ruining the farming production in poor countries,

rendering difficult their farmers’ access to international

markets. The failure of the World Trade Organization

negotiations during the Doha Round last July further

aggravated that scenario. The collapse of those talks

eliminated the chances of concluding, in the short term,

a general trade agreement that would remove such

subsidies and other obstacles to international trade

exchanges. The Republic of Angola hopes that

negotiations will resume as soon as possible and that

the main actors will show the necessary flexibility to

allow countries that are underprivileged as a result of

the lack of a global trade agreement to avoid remaining

eternally marginalized from the global economy.

Turning this extremely dangerous situation

around, particularly for the countries of the South,

requires that the General Assembly intensify its efforts.

Our hope is that the President will steer the debate

towards addressing these concerns. The Republic of

Angola commits itself to contributing, within the limits

of its capacity, to finding solutions to these problems

that affect all States.

South-South cooperation, including triangular

cooperation, has the potential to contribute to the

eradication of poverty through the establishment of

partnerships for sustainable development, trade,

55 08-52265

investment, tourism, prevention and combating of drug

trafficking, illicit trade in small arms and light

weapons, and transnational organized crime. In that

connection, Angola is honoured to chair the Zone of

Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic, an

effective interregional mechanism for cooperation in

the areas of development, peace and security among its

24 member States in Africa and South America.

I would like to avail myself of the opportunity to

assure our international partners that the Republic of

Angola is motivated more than ever to assume the

responsibilities that arise from membership in the

institutions of the international community, those of the

African continent and those of the United Nations. Our

engagement and commitment will, in the meantime,

continue to lie primarily in the maintenance of peace

and security, the consolidation of democracy, respect

for human rights and sustainable economic

development, on the basis of the social laws of a

market economy that will safeguard the interests and

the satisfaction of the majority of the population.

Those are the principles that have guided our

trajectory as a country, in particular since the end of

the cold war. A coherent application of those principles

is the basis for the progress that Angola is building in

the political, social and economic domains. As a result,

since 2002, a climate of peace prevails in the entire

country, with the eradication of conflict factors and

important advances in national reconciliation,

emergence of a highly entrepreneurial private sector, a

dynamic civil society and a free, vibrant and active

press.

In the last five years, Angola has been registering

high economic growth rates. During this period, the

gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an estimated

rate of 14.7 per cent in real terms. The non-oil sector

grew at a rate of 17.4 per cent, faster than the oil

sector, which reached an annual growth rate of 12.7 per

cent. This growth allowed the unemployment rate,

which in the mid-1990s was estimated to be at 45 per

cent, to decrease to an estimated level of 22.5 per cent

in 2007.

The relative weight of the extractive industry,

dominated by the oil and diamond subsectors, grew at a

significant rate of 61.6 per cent. Moreover, Angola saw

a reduction in inflation levels from 105.6 per cent in

December 2003 to 11.78 per cent in December 2007, as

well as a transformation in public accounts from a

deficit of 7 per cent of the GDP in 2003 to a surplus of

11.4 per cent of the GDP in 2007. These figures

encourage us to be optimistic in relation to the

implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.

On 5 September of this year, Angola added one

more pillar to its democratic structure by holding

legislative elections in a transparent and totally free

environment. Despite the criticism and the pressure on

the Angolan Government to hold the elections earlier,

independently of the objective and subjective

conditions prevailing at the time, the discernment of its

leader, His Excellency Mr. José Eduardo dos Santos,

demonstrated that the elections were held at the most

appropriate moment.

With the gradual yet significant improvement in

the quality of life of the people, and with fully

reconciled and peaceful spirits, a climate of tolerance

and political coexistence emerged into its optimal

space. The elections were indeed an expression of the

reaffirmation of our dignity.

All the efforts involved in the complex electoral

process that led to the success of this historic feat were

made with the human and material resources of the

Angolan Government. We are proud to once more have

given a good example of political maturity, civic

discipline and full popular participation. It gives us joy

to state before this Assembly that, like other peoples of

the world, Africans have the capability and the ability

to build their own destiny and develop participatory

democracy.

Armed conflicts continue to absorb resources

from both the international community and the parties

involved, resources that could be better utilized for the

well-being of the population in affected territories.

However, for the first time in many years, Africa is

experiencing a significant reduction in conflict,

allowing for improved economic indicators. The

progress in the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire and the

consolidation of peace under way in Sierra Leone and

in Liberia have brought about a new aura of hope.

Furthermore, the progress made in the Democratic

Republic of Congo, despite some tension in the eastern

areas, is manifestly encouraging.

We hope that the efforts currently being made by

the United Nations and the African Union, as well as

by regional organizations, will help resolve the

conflicts in Somalia and Darfur in a peaceful manner.

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As Chair of the Organ on Politics, Defence and

Security Co-operation of the Southern African

Development Community (SADC), the Republic of

Angola has given its all, together with the other

countries of that region and the facilitator, to support

the negotiation process with a view ending the political

crisis in Zimbabwe. Angola welcomes the inter-party

agreement reached in Zimbabwe and will continue to

make efforts to help the parties put national interests

before all personal quarrels so as to ease the return to

political stability and to reverse the grim economic

situation that prevails in the country. We appeal to the

international community, particularly to the European

Union, to support the programme aimed at overcoming

the crisis, which will be drawn up by the inclusive

Government resulting from the inter-party agreement.

We also call for the subsequent lifting of the sanctions

imposed on that country.

However, we must remain vigilant to the

possibility of the eruption of new conflicts due to the

political instability that exists in other countries of the

continent. We must invest in preventive diplomacy and

in the strengthening of rapid alert mechanisms.

In the Middle East, the latest developments seem

to introduce a light at the end of the tunnel, with regard

to a definitive resolution of the Palestinian and the

Israeli-Arab issues. Angola encourages the parties

involved to engage in a dialogue that will lead to the

de facto and de jure establishment of a Palestinian

State, with recognized borders, coexisting side by side

with Israel.

My Government maintains its solidarity with the

Common African Position and with all those who

advocate the need to democratize the United Nations

and to reform its system, including the expansion of

the Security Council so that it reflects a fair and

equitable regional representation, with all the rights

inherent in membership.

I would not like to end my statement without

once again conveying my regret to the General

Assembly over the continuation of the embargo that the

Republic of Cuba is subjected to by the United States

of America. It constitutes a situation that does not

comply with the rules that govern relations between

States. We are in an age of peaceful coexistence among

peoples and nations, and that embargo wounds the

universal collective conscience of our time.