Benin, 2014

The President of the Republic of Benin, His Excellency

Mr. Thomas Boni Yayi, has asked me to deliver this

message to the Assembly on his behalf.

At the outset, I would like to congratulate Mr. Sam

Kutesa on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. We pay tribute

to the country of Uganda for its leadership. I would

also like to congratulate the outgoing President of the

General Assembly, His Excellency Mr. John Ashe,

whose enthusiasm enabled consensus to be reached

on important issues considered during the Assembly’s

sixty-eighth session. Without a doubt, he successfully

fulfilled his mandate, laying the groundwork for the

post-2015 development agenda, in particular with the

successful conclusion of the work of the Open Working

Group on Sustainable Development Goals. My gratitude

also goes to the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon,

for his continuing efforts to strengthen the role of the

United Nations as an effective force for stability, peace,

collective security and the promotion of human dignity

and sustainable development. I would like to express to

him my firm support for his initiatives aimed at easing

tensions and settling conflict situations in order to pave

the way to building a world that is more just, based on

equality, justice, respect for human rights and solidarity

among peoples, and to curb climate change.

The theme of the current session, “Delivering on and

implementing a transformative post-2015 development

agenda”, is of prime importance for the least developed

countries (LDCs), a group for which Benin serves as

Chair through September 2015. It clearly describes the

major work to be done and on which we should focus

our energies throughout the Assembly’s sixty-ninth

session in order to forge consensus around actions to

be taken to make “The future we want” a reality. In

that regard, the post-2015 development agenda must

take into account the lessons learned and experiences

acquired throughout the 15 years we have just gone

through in the implementation phase of the Millennium

Development Goals. Efforts must therefore be pursued

to eliminate extreme poverty, promote more equal and

inclusive economic growth, establish transparent and

responsible institutions that are able to stimulate the

process of sustainable development, bring about the

professionalization of young people, and create decent

jobs for the long term through the implementation of

integrated social protection schemes that cover all forms

of vulnerability. Once adopted, the implementation

of the post-2015 development agenda should receive

stepped up attention and energy so that no one will be

left behind. The High-level Panel of Eminent Persons

on the Post-2015 Development Agenda have sent the

Secretary-General their recommendations on the

programme.

The third International Conference on Financing

for Development should be prepared with an open mind

towards innovation. In that regard, it is important to

create strategies and find the means to implement them

in order to accelerate structural transformations in the

least developed countries so as to reduce the gap that

separates them from developed countries, notably with

regard to access to the benefits of modernity, and in

order to meet basic needs, which should now be seen

as a fundamental right to be guaranteed to all human

beings. It is necessary to put an end to exclusion in all

its forms and at all levels and to integrate all countries

affected by marginalization into the global economic

growth by re-establishing the balance that has been

disrupted among the three dimensions of sustainable

development, namely, economic efficiency, social

stability and environmental preservation.

I would like to recall that the Istanbul Action

Programme set as a major goal halving the number of

LDCs by 2020. The Programme made the productive

capacity-building of LDCs one of its foremost priorities

in order to achieve that goal. With a view to mobilizing

the international community to implement that effective

programme, in its capacity as Chair of the Global

Coordination Bureau of the Group of Least Developed

Countries, Benin took the initiative to organize the

Ministerial Conference on New Partnerships for

Productive Capacity-Building in LDCs, held in Cotonou

from 28 to 31 July.

In its resolution 68/224, of 20 December 2013,

the General Assembly expressed its expectations with

regard to the outcomes of the Ministerial Conference.

Today, I can report those outcomes to the Assembly.

The Ministerial Conference adopted the Cotonou

Agenda for productive capacity-building in LDCs. It

advocated innovative approaches in that area through

specific recommendations both for LDCs and for

their development partners. It also requested that the

General Assembly include on its agenda for the sixty-

ninth session the issue of productive capacity-building

in LDCs.

On behalf of the Government and people of Benin,

I would like to thank our partners, in particular,

Turkey, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain

and Italy, for their contribution to the success of that

Conference, which is of historic importance to LCDs,

since it affects a crucial aspect of their development

and of their integration into the world economy. I would

also like to thank Belgium, co-Chair of the Group of

Friends of LDCs, and the European Union, which

assisted in implementing the initiative. The Office

of the High Representative for the Least Developed

Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and

Small Island Developing States, the United Nations

Office for South-South Cooperation, the United

Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes,

civil society and the private sector provided valuable

technical support for the knowledgeable preparation of

the Ministerial Conference. The Cotonou Agenda for

productive capacity-building in LDCs will clearly be

a road map for promoting the implementation of the

Istanbul Programme of Action.

In 2015, we will undertake a comprehensive review

of the major efforts undertaken and the results achieved

in all areas targeted by the Millennium Development

Goals. The most recent performance assessments put

Benin, my country, among the leading 20 countries

for the greatest progress made in absolute terms of

the proportion of their population that has emerged

from poverty. Benin, my country, is singled out by the

introduction of free kindergaren and primary education

and the provision of facilities at the secondary and

higher education levels for pupils and students in

need, thereby allowing a significant increase in school

enrolment, in particular among girls.

In the area of health, the actions of my Government

have improved the management and provision

of services for the prevention of mother-to-child

HIV/AIDS transmission, nutrition, water supply,

hygiene and sanitation. On the basis of the established

health-care infrastructure network, the Government

was able to launch a universal health insurance plan,

which provides a level of social protection to people

at an affordable cost. The provision by the State of

Caesarean operations, as well as free health care to

children under 5 years of age, have also been life-saving

measures for thousands of Beninese families. Also,

efforts have been made by the Government of Benin

to alleviate poverty by providing substantial support

to microcredit institutions. That has had a significant

impact on improving the living conditions of many

rural populations.

The willingness of development partners to

support Benin in its vision for long-term development

and in underpinning the progress made in the areas of

policy and administrative governance, the management

of social justice and the economic governance was

strengthened by the very encouraging results of the

round table on Financing for Development in Benin, held

in Paris from 17 to 19 June, with funding commitments

to the tune of approximately $12 billion over a period

of five years.

The facts demonstrate every day that peace,

security, good governance at the national and the

international levels and the flawless exercise of

sovereign functions by States are the best guarantees

for international peace, security and stability. In that

regard, it is urgent to strengthen the effectiveness of

the United Nations with regard to efforts to ensure

better conflict prevention and to combat injustice and

the various forms of criminality rampant in the world.

In that connection, with regard to Africa, in general,

and the Sahel region, in particular, it is necessary to

improve the United Nations support mechanism in

order to prevent further conflict and to promote the

necessary stability for the development of the States of

the region.

There is a crucial need to address the root causes of

conflicts, which, at the global level, are used as a pretext

for extremism and terrorist organizations. I would

like to welcome the mobilization of the international

community and the steadfastness of the United Nations

in response to the actions of those armed groups. Thanks

to the effectiveness of the actions undertaken, the main

theatres of conflict in Africa are seeing an easing of

tension. Benin will continue to provide its modest but

quality contribution to United Nations peacekeeping in

that regard.

Coastal African States, in particular those in the

Gulf of Guinea, also face piracy and armed robbery

at sea, as well as transnational organized crime. That

greatly hampers their economic growth. The steps

taken to address such criminality have clearly produced

encouraging results. However, we need to further

strengthen those steps through the ongoing vigilance

and greater support of the international community in

order to rapidly implement the measures adopted on the

basis of the outcome of the ministerial meeting held in

Cotonou on 18 and 19 March 2013 and the summit held

in Yaoundé on 24 and 25 June 2013 with regard to the

implementation of Security Council resolutions 2018

(2011) and 2039 (2012).

Moreover, the tranquillity of West African nations

has been shaken for some months by the outbreak of the

Ebola virus, whose rapid spread has already caused more

than 3,000 deaths, half the number of those infected.

The scale of the phenomenon requires the deployment

of a coordinated health mechanism throughout the

countries of the region in order to contain it.

From this rostrum, I commend the diligence shown

by the Secretary-General and by the World Health

Organization in leading the international community

to take measures commensurate with the challenge

to humankind and to establish a series of emergency

measures to counter and to contain that global threat

beyond the affected States. The crisis underscores the

need to promote human security and, in particular,

health security in order to increase the resilience of

populations.

The state of the world is undoubtedly taking a very

worrying turn. Humankind is at a crossroads. It is more

necessary than ever that the United Nations affirm its

leadership so as to reverse the alarming trends. In that

regard, it is urgent to find a negotiated solution to the

situation in the Middle East, which has continued for

too long. Maintaining the status quo is untenable in all

respects. The recognition of Palestine as a sovereign

State and a full Member of the United Nations, living

in harmony with Israel, cannot be delayed any longer.

Such recognition will clearly facilitate the momentum

for reducing tensions in the Middle East and establish

favourable conditions for a just and lasting settlement

of the other conflicts and complex problems afflicting

that region.

Benin deplores the escalation of violence in Ukraine

and the radicalization of the parties to the conflict, which

is leading to increase in the loss of human lives and the

damage suffered by the affected civilian populations.

I would also urge the United Nations to work towards

the settlement of that conflict in the higher interest of

international peace and security.

In addition, Benin advocates for the peaceful

settlement of existing disputes in the context of the

non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. We call for the

mobilization of the international community with

regard to the holding and the success of the next

Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapon, with an African

Chair. We draw the Assembly’s attention to the issue

of the funding for the preparations for the Review

Conference, the responsibility for which cannot rest

solely with the upcoming Chair, particularly since that

country is an LDC.

The universality, indivisibility and interdependence

of all human rights are fundamental values for Benin.

We are strongly committed to human dignity and the

sacred nature of human life. For that reason, out of a

national belief, Benin acceded to the international

instrument for the abolition of the death penalty. That

enables us to join the countries at the forefront of

the global campaign for the abolition of that form of

punishment. We welcome that commitment.

That campaign must continue so that the idea that

the death penalty, far from serving justice, instead

represents a failure of justice is more broadly shared.

The increasing number of countries that support the

moratorium or have acceded to it by law or in deed

strengthens our hope for the universal abolition of

the death penalty. In the context of that campaign, the

Government of Benin, in cooperation with the African

Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, organized

a regional conference on the abolition of the death

penalty in Africa in Cotonou from 2 to 4 July. The

conference called on African States to abolish the death

penalty throughout the continent.

My Government remains committed to strengthening

the principles of democracy and the rule of law and the

implementation of effective development policies. That

is why my Government strives daily to find ways and

means of strengthening those norms in Benin, which

requires the creation of jobs and opportunities for all.

That noble goal can be achieved only by effectively

combating corruption.

The difficult times that the world is currently

experiencing require both globally and nationally a

united front in support of the values of mutual respect,

solidarity, inter-faith dialogue and, in particular,

ongoing talks between Muslim and Christian leaders

in order to establish a common space of friendship,

essential to the flourishing of peoples. Taking into

account the seriousness of that problem in Africa, my

Government decided to support an initiative of the

Pan-African Social Prospects Centre, headquartered in

Benin, to hold an international symposium on Islamic-

Christian dialogue in Cotonou in March 2015. That

multifaceted project seeks to promote education on

peace and development among peoples in the context of

a harmonious coexistence of religions. I encourage all

people of goodwill to respect such ideals and to support

Benin’s initiative.

In conclusion, I recall the need for intensified

negotiations to achieve the reform of the United

Nations, in particular, the Security Council. Benin

strongly hopes that in 2015, the seventieth anniversary

of the Organization will be marked by the adoption

of significant measures commensurate with the

challenges and opportunities of the new era in order to

make the composition of the Council fairer and more

representative and its working methods more inclusive

so that it can fulfil its mandate more effectively.

Moreover, all our efforts must seek to achieve our

shared desire to see the United Nations regain its full

capacity to promote an inclusive, transparent and more

effective global governance in the context of productive

multilateralism so as to build a balanced world order

that promotes stability and harmony to the clear benefit

of our peoples. In such conditions, all Member States

would be able to take the virtuous path of sustainable

development and shared prosperity so that equality,

peace, brotherhood and the effective solidarity of

nations lead to that better world for which we yearn.