Ivory Coast, 2008

On behalf of my delegation, I would like to express my

sincere congratulations to you, Sir, on your outstanding

election to the presidency of the General Assembly at

its sixty-third session. Your personal qualities, your in-

depth knowledge of our Organization and your great

experience in international affairs have enabled you to

gather around you the support of the entire Assembly

and certainly augur well for the success of your work. I

also extend my congratulations to the members of your

Bureau. Please be assured that our warmest wishes will

accompany you throughout the session, which, under

your leadership, is sure to be crowned with success.

29 08-53135

Allow me to pay fitting tribute to your

predecessor, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for his work as

President.

I would also like to welcome Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon and wish him every success as he

attempts to accomplish his noble and lofty mission to

consolidate and strengthen the role of the United

Nations. My delegation and I assure him of our fullest

cooperation and support as he seeks peaceful solutions

to the problems of the world. I convey to the Secretary-

General the deepest gratitude and the sincere thanks of

His Excellency Mr. Laurent Gbagbo, President of the

Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, and the Ivorian Government

for his personal involvement in solving the crisis in my

country. The Ivorian people still recall his historic visit

of 23 and 24 April to Côte d’Ivoire. My country will

continue to support him and, through him, the United

Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire so that it may

successfully accomplish its mission.

May I also express the thanks and gratitude of the

Government and the people of Côte d’Ivoire to the

international community, and in particular to the

French Government, for their commitment and their

efforts, through Operation Licorne, to restore peace in

Côte d’Ivoire.

I take this opportunity once again to pay sincere

tribute to the facilitator, Mr. Blaise Compaore,

President of Burkina Faso and Chairman-in-Office of

the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS), for his untiring efforts on behalf of the

peace process in Côte d’Ivoire, in particular in the

framework of the follow-up mechanism of the

Ouagadougou Political Agreement signed on 4 March

2007. My thanks also go to the heads of State of the

African Union who spared no effort to resolve the

crisis roiling Côte d’Ivoire since 19 September 2002.

I wish solemnly to reaffirm the determination of

my country to emerge from the current crisis by

organizing free, open and transparent elections.

Attesting to our resolve was the launch on

15 September 2008, of the penultimate phase of the

electoral process, which consists of identifying the

voting population and individual voters.

The efforts of the international community to

ensure the return of peace to Côte d’Ivoire — relying

on regional organizations such as ECOWAS and the

African Union, pursuant to President Gbagbo’s

approach to resolving conflicts — are gradually

bearing fruit and giving rise to improvements in the

security situation throughout the country. For that

reason, my country would be grateful if the United

Nations could take into account the new situation and

once again consider lowering its security index for

Côte d’Ivoire.

In the same vein, my country would like to see

the Security Council sanctions committee accede to its

request, made on 26 September 2007 from this very

rostrum, for the lifting of individual sanctions imposed

on a number of Ivorian citizens. Allow me also, in the

framework of the reorganization of the new Republican

Army called upon to maintain public order and

security, to appeal once again for the partial lifting of

the arms embargo, as requested by President Laurent

Gbagbo on that same occasion.

More than ever before, our Organization must

show that it is able to maintain international peace and

security throughout the world. In that context, as was

indicated by President Laurent Gbagbo at the high-

level debate on the relationship between the United

Nations and regional organizations, this universal

Organization must open broad new avenues for peace

in the world. Indeed, the United Nations, as an

instrument prepared at the end of the Second World

War to guarantee international peace, is no longer

adapted to the current world. Therefore, as wished by a

number of Member States, the reform of the United

Nations is necessary, and we must clarify its goals and

its missions.

That is why my delegation feels that, after years

of work and reflection on United Nations reform, the

time has now come to bring the process to a close.

Unfortunately, with regard to the reform of the Security

Council, although there may be a consensus on the

need to increase the number of members of the Council

in order to make it more broadly representative, there

are still differences with regard to its composition, the

extension of the right of veto to potential new

permanent members, and the improvement of its

working methods. In that respect, my country reaffirms

its adherence to the African Common Position on that

matter.

The persistent search for peace will be in vain if

we do not bring greater justice to international

economic relations. In other words, there will be no

genuine peace so long as intolerable differences remain

in the living conditions between various population

08-53135 30

groups, on one hand, and between developed and

developing countries, on the other.

In that respect, I welcome the efforts undertaken

by a number of countries to promote economic

cooperation between them and the countries of Africa.

Examples include cooperation with the European

countries through the European Union; with Japan

through the Tokyo International Conference on African

Development; with China through the Forum on China-

Africa Cooperation; with the United States through the

African Growth and Opportunity Act; and with India

and Turkey through their respective partnerships.

Economic globalization was meant to open new

horizons for international cooperation, but overall it

has not been beneficial to developing countries because

of the fragile nature of their economic structures. It

would therefore be an illusion to imagine that market

forces alone can help the development of the poorest

countries. We must therefore regulate trade by adopting

rules agreed at the global level, because only a fair

international trade system can contribute to the

expansion of underdeveloped economies.

In that respect, my delegation deplores the failure

in July of World Trade Organization negotiations that

should have breathed new life into international

cooperation and created conditions for developing

countries to benefit from globalization through trade

and investment.

The issue of debt remains a cause for concern to a

number of developing countries. That is why I would

like to welcome all the praiseworthy initiatives

undertaken to alleviate its effects on the economies of

those countries.

The recent food crisis, whose devastating effects

are being felt in several countries, requires the

international community to go beyond mere promises

and to act together, taking specific innovative and

courageous actions and measures that can, above all,

bring hope to the situation and find a global response

to a problem that has become global.

In that regard, I welcome the establishment by the

Secretary-General of the High-Level Task Force on the

Global Food Security Crisis and the efforts of

developing countries to come to the rescue of those in

their countries who have been the most seriously

affected by the food crisis.

My country also welcomes the implementation of

the Centres of Excellence project carried out by the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development,

aimed at strengthening South-South cooperation

scientific research in the agricultural field. With that in

mind, President Laurent Gbagbo recommends the

creation of a solidarity-based mechanism through

which exporting countries would provide food to

importing countries and the establishment of a United

Nations food stabilization fund.

The energy crisis being felt throughout the world,

in addition to its negative effects, is demonstrating

once again the fragility of the economies of a large

number of countries. Although the development of

biofuels seems to be a good alternative to fossil

fuels — which, much to our consternation, are running

out — we must also ensure that their production is not

carried out to the detriment of agriculture, the main

purpose of which is to feed the people of the world.

That is why, in the interest of current and future

generations, we must think carefully and deeply about

the adoption and development of new, renewable

sources of energy.

With regard to all of the crises and difficulties

that humanity is facing, now more than ever before the

international community must translate into action the

idea of solidarity and cooperation, as contained in the

Charter of the United Nations, in order to restore

credibility to the Organization. Such solidarity should

be demonstrated first and foremost by the

implementation of the commitments undertaken by the

industrialized countries to devote at least 0.7 per cent

of their gross national income to official development

assistance.

To that end, I would like to welcome all

initiatives aimed at helping developing countries in

general, and African countries in particular, to

overcome their current economic situation. The

diligent implementation of the New Partnership for

Africa’s Development, the main goal of which is to

fight poverty, is part of such an approach. It is on that

note of hope that my delegation calls on the

international community to seek solutions to current

challenges in a United Nations that is more democratic

and that responds to each and every one of its

Members.