Ivory Coast, 2009

As I take

the floor for the first time at the present session, allow

me to join all of those who preceded me at this rostrum

in congratulating Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki and telling

him how proud we are to see him presiding over the

General Assembly at the sixty-fourth session. His

election testifies to his personal qualities and is a

tribute to the African Union.

I applaud our Secretary-General, Mr. Ban

Ki-moon. He has kept the United Nations on track and

strengthened the United Nations in the context of the

multiple crises affecting the world.

Two years ago, from this very rostrum, I updated

the Assembly on the crisis in my country, Côte

d’Ivoire. At that time, I welcomed the important role

played by regional organizations, such as the African

Union and the Economic Community of West African

States. I particularly dwelt on the internal processes

that brought us, the Government and former rebels, to

commit to a process of peace that ended the conflict

and led to the current preparations for general

elections. All through that process, we enjoyed from

the support of the United Nations, notably through the

United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire. We

benefited even more from the assistance of the

President of Burkina Faso, Mr. Blaise Compaore.

Thanks to the efforts of all, and particularly to the

Ivorians’ hard work and desire for peace, the process

has now entered into a irreversible phase. Today, there

are no remaining political obstacles to the holding of

the elections. I take this opportunity to express once

again the gratitude of Côte d’Ivoire to the United

Nations and to all our friends for their commitment to

the restoration of peace.

I would also like to share our desire to do our

utmost to end the crisis via the ballot box. We are all

the more resolute given that the challenges facing

today’s world require of all States, and in particular

small States such as ours, a political strategy based on

democracy. Thus armed, we will be able not only to

effectively address our current difficulties, but also to

contribute to the understanding of and resolution of

international crises.

This is what President Treki has called on us to

do through the theme of this sixty-fourth session of the

General Assembly, “Effective responses to global

crises: strengthening multilateralism and dialogue

among civilizations for international peace, security

and development”.

We note that, in addition to recurrent political

crises, the acute crises facing the world today affect the

stability of nations and jeopardize our shared future. In

2008, the energy crisis reached unprecedented

proportions. The price of a barrel of oil, it will be

recalled, rose to nearly $150. That major crisis took

place alongside a food crisis and an unprecedented

financial crisis that soon turned into a deep economic

crisis. The entire world woke up to the threat posed to

social and political equilibrium by the three crises that

struck at the same time. These crises shook all our

certainties and caused a wave of panic. They showed

us in no uncertain terms that nothing can ever be taken

for granted, even in big countries.

The entire world mobilized to meet the challenge,

both within individual countries and within

international institutions and organizations. We saw the

International Monetary Fund provide assistance to

countries that are not usually the recipients of such aid,

such as those of northern Europe. This exceptional

mobilization points to the concern of the international

community at seeing the situation end in uncontrollable

social and political crises.

However, although the mobilization and

cooperation were multilateral, the crisis resolution

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plans were not. Countries in North America, Europe

and Asia adopted national plans. This shows that there

are limits to multilateralism and that nation States

protect their prerogatives and shoulder their full

responsibilities at the economic level, when necessary.

I note, moreover, that the mobilization in Africa

and for Africa was quite diffident. It was as though the

financial crisis was not also an African crisis, or as if

the financial sector in Africa was not sufficiently

integrated into the international financial system.

Perhaps our continent did not grasp the full extent of

the crisis. And yet, the financial crisis has had

consequences on the African continent. In Africa,

perhaps more than anywhere else, the financial crisis

became an economic crisis that underscored the

economic and social fragility of our countries.

The lesson we draw from that experience is that

no country is immune to crisis. This requires the

international community to enhance its vigilance by

increasing oversight of the financial system and its

institutions at the international level. It would also be

timely for us to embark on a reform of the international

monetary and financial system. In this context, United

Nations reform, and above all reform of its organs, is

essential if the United Nations is to play a solid leading

role in strengthening multilateralism.

Among the cross-cutting issues in which the

United Nations must play a key role are the resurgence

of extremism. The entrenchment and hardening of

positions are prevailing over dialogue and deepening

the chasm between cultures that need to live together in

harmony. Hence, the importance of the historic high-

level meeting convened in this very Hall on 12 and

13 November 2008 on the urgent need for genuine

dialogue among religions with a view to creating a

culture of peace. That initiative bolstered activities to

raise the awareness of the international community to

the need for preventive diplomacy on this key topic, in

particular the World Conference on Dialogue, held in

Madrid in July 2008, and the launching in July 2005 of

the Alliance of Civilizations, under the auspices of the

United Nations.

We therefore believe that all of these initiatives in

favour of dialogue among cultures, as well as those to

come, point to the need to establish a permanent forum

for dialogue among civilizations so as to draw peoples

together.

I now turn to world peace and security. The only

sure way to attain lasting peace is the equitable

settlement of conflicts within a reformed, more

democratic and more credible Security Council.

Together, we need to build a United Nations with a

stronger mandate and greater representativity.

In that regard, it would be preferable to entrust

the prevention, management and settlement of local

conflicts to regional and even subregional

organizations. That approach, which was enshrined in

April 2008 by the Security Council, should be

strengthened by an earnest updating of the mechanism

for cooperation with regional organizations, as

provided for in the United Nations Charter of 1945.

In that regard, I would like to simply reiterate

here the position of my delegation, which is based on

our experience of handling and settling the Ivorian

crisis. Direct dialogue, like that in Côte d’Ivoire, offers

avenues for thought that the United Nations could

make good use of. I think that the Burkina Faso

delegation can address that issue as well as, if not

better than, we can.

Another topic of concern is world poverty. World

peace and security are dependent on the eradication of

extreme poverty and poverty reduction. That is why my

delegation welcomes the convening at the sixty-third

session of two high-level meetings on Africa’s

development needs and the Millennium Development

Goals. We welcome the outcomes and

recommendations of those meetings.

Côte d’Ivoire is resolved to free itself of the

burden of debt that is threatening its development

goals. There have been meetings on debt, but there

need to be more, and decisions must be taken on debt

because the debts that were incurred in the 1960s, the

1970s and the 1980s today hamper the development of

African countries. That must be considered. It is a law

of nature that when a small, weak country is

overburdened by debt, the original purpose of which is

often not known even to its leaders, that country sinks,

and drags the world down with it. Africa is part of the

world. If a decision is not taken on the issue of the debt

of African countries, the entire global financial system

will be on course for disaster.

That is why I stress, alongside the problem of

debt, the issue of climate change. We talk of climate

change, and we are right to do so, but we need to take

decisions that are critical for most of our countries. I

13 09-52463

do not know the situation in West Africa very well, but

it has been shown that, in Central and Southern Africa,

the deserts are advancing by two kilometres a year.

What does that mean? It means that in 50 years the

deserts will have advanced by 100 kilometres and

reached the coasts. We must decide.

While the deserts advance, on the coasts villages

and houses are disappearing into the sea. That is

happening in Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte

d’Ivoire and elsewhere. There are people living today

with the water at their feet. There are those who live

not knowing if tomorrow it will reach their houses or if

their houses will, in fact, be in the sea. Urgent

measures are needed. We need not only meetings, but

also decisions, and those decisions — on deserts, the

sea and floods — must be implemented. Everywhere

today — in Burkina Faso, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire —

the rains bring disaster, and those very rains that we

call for to water our farms have become a cause for

alarm. We no longer know if the rains to come bring

death or life.

Africa is fighting, and is doing so alone. It would

prefer to fight with the rest of the world behind it. That

is also why we have come to speak here. Africa no

longer wishes to feel abandoned or to fight alone.

Soon, in 50 years according to the experts, it will be

easier to find oil than clean drinking water, because we

will have to go a long way — too far for our

economies.

What are we going to do? The issue of clean

water has become a problem. Certainly, in some rich

oil-producing countries in the Arab world, we have

seen our brothers working to make seawater drinkable,

but how many countries in the world have the means to

turn seawater into drinking water? It is terribly

expensive. We need to convene a meeting here at the

United Nations on that issue — and not only meetings,

but decisions followed by action.

Those are the problems that I came here to talk

about on behalf of the Ivorian delegation. Everyone

knows that Africa is such that when one delegation

talks, it speaks for all delegations because we face the

same problems. I would hope that, as of today, we can

look beyond internal crises. We all know that Africa

has made great progress. It is up to us to strengthen

ourselves by daring to fight poverty, extreme poverty

and catastrophic climate change. Climate change is

dangerous throughout the world, but it is catastrophic

for us. We need the help of representatives to tackle

this difficult century before us. I pray that God may

bless the United Nations.