Cameroon, 2013

Allow me at the outset to convey to all present

the apologies of His Excellency Paul Biya, President of

the Republic of Cameroon, who wanted to participate

in the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly

but was not able to owing for constraints relating to the

national political calendar. He instructed me to read out

the following message:

“As President Ashe takes the reins of the

General Assembly, the United Nations is entering a

critical period that should lead to the defining of the

international development agenda that will follow

the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Aware of his vast responsibility and the tremendous

amount of work he will be facing during this

session, I would like to convey to him the sincere

congratulations of my country in connection with

his election to preside over the Assembly and wish

him every success in this challenging but rewarding

undertaking. His vast experience in the area of

diplomacy, which was made clear when he presided

over the Commission on Sustainable Development

and the Group of 77 and China, ensures a fruitful

outcome to our present deliberations and to the

work of the General Assembly for the 12 months

ahead.

“Those same qualities were the major strengths

of his predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi., and I should

like here to commend his dynamic and effective

presidency of the Assembly at its sixty-seventh

session.

“Lastly, I would extend our sense of satisfaction

to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his efforts

in the service of peace and economic and social

development worldwide.

“This session is beginning in a context marked

by the bloody terrorist acts committed in a mall in

Nairobi, Kenya, several days ago. This is for me

an opportunity to strongly condemn those acts

of violence and to convey to the people and the

Government of that brotherly country the deepest

condolences of the people and the Government of

Cameroon.

“Let me, on a more optimistic note, welcome

the end of the crisis in Mali, which resulted in the

democratic election of President Ibrahim Boubacar

Keita. The end of that process, which had the

welcome support of the international community,

represents a milestone in peacebuilding, security,

national reconciliation and development in that

country.

“As I noted at the start of my remarks,

throughout this session we must reflect deeply

on the post-2015 development agenda. During

the 2010 high-level debate, we noted that while

progress made in achieving some of the MDGs,

significant disparities persisted between countries

and between regions.

“We noted that, despite the progress, at the

current pace of implementation very few countries

would achieve all the MDGs by the deadline.

With two years to go, we must point out that it

will be difficult for Cameroon to achieve some of

the Goals. Substantial progress has been made in

reaching some of the targets. In the area of health

care, which is considered to be the catalyst for

economic and social development, with a view to

reducing poverty, my country remains committed

to the effort to combat the AIDS pandemic. The

allocation of substantial resources to the fight

against that disease, the distribution of free

antiretroviral drugs, the effective care of the sick

and the implementation of an efficient prevention

programme, including the transmission from

mother to child, have led to a considerable decline

in the rate of HIV infection in Cameroon. From

10.5 per cent in 2000, the rate dropped to 4.3 per

cent in 2012, a decline of more than 50 per cent.

“Another genuine source of satisfaction for

Cameroon is the progress made in the area of

education. The Government has strived to continue

and strengthen the numerous efforts to ensure

primary education for all Cameroonians. I would

underscore that the national target is to provide

to all children — boys and girls — throughout

Cameroon, the resources to achieve a complete

primary schooling cycle. The implementation of

the sectoral strategy on education has led to clear

progress in the implementation of the education

policy. I can mention, among other things, the

expansion of school infrastructure, the improvement

in the teacher-student ratio, the reduction in the

number of students who repeat a school year and

the improvement of girls’ education. The result of

those actions is that the Cameroon today has one

of the highest literacy rates in sub-Saharan Africa,

with an enrolment rate of nearly 100 per cent.

“But the same progress has not been achieved

with respect to the targets of the other Goals.

That is the case for most developing countries,

including Cameroon. Hence the need to further our

thinking that began in Rio de Janeiro in the context

of the post-2015 development agenda and, as the

President wished, to set the stage for the post-MDG

development agenda. That thinking should be based

on a clear assessment of the challenges encountered

and lessons learned in the implementation of the

MDGs in order to consider the prospects for the

future international framework.

“The full implementation of the Millennium

Development Goals faces structural difficulties for

some and temporary difficulties for others. They

include climate change, the financial crisis and

food insecurity. Those difficulties raise a number

of important questions about how the MDGs were

formulated. Were we too ambitious? Was the 2015

deadline realistic? Would an effective follow-

up and support mechanism for States not have

been necessary? Did we give ourselves adequate

resources to ensure implementation? Clearly,

Millennium Development Goal 8 — ‘develop a

global partnership for development’ — was the

beginning of an answer to the last point. However,

that Goal will also be difficult to achieve by 2015.

“All the MDGs will probably not all be achieved

by 2015. We should, however, acknowledge that

the programme will enable the achievement of

clear progress in many areas. It has allowed us to

convey the very complex language of development

in clear objectives accessible to all and enabled

every one to articulate simple requirements and

needs to their Government. We should safeguard

those achievements in framework of the post-2015

agenda.

“The post-2015 agenda should also take into

account the viewpoint of developing countries,

which are the primary targets. In that regard, I

congratulate the United Nations for having initiated

a broad and inclusive process of consultations

to garner the views of all, in particular those of

academics and civil society organizations, with

respect to the MDGs and the framework that will

follow them. Consultations of that kind have been

held in Cameroon. They have enabled civil society

to issue recommendations for the post-MDG

framework. Those recommendations are in keeping

with the MDGs in terms of strengthening the

actions to undertake in order to provide universal

access to primary education, to reduce maternal

and infant mortality and to improve access to water

and sanitation.

“Furthermore, in the context of the next

programme, my country believes that particular

focus should be placed on creating decent jobs

as an engine of economic growth and sustainable

development. It is in that context that, in 2010,

Cameroon crafted a strategy document for

growth and employment. That document is part

of Cameroon’s shared development vision to 2035,

through which the economic performance of my

country will lead to concrete results in terms of

creating jobs, reducing poverty and significantly

improving the living conditions of our people,

especially for women and youth.

“While the creation of decent jobs should,

according to Cameroon, occupy a central position,

environmental issues should not be neglected. In

accordance with the spirit of Rio de Janeiro, those

issues will make it possible to determine the future

we want for humankind and to work seriously to

bring it about.

“To ensure that new development goals

will be achieved by the established deadline,

coherent national initiatives must be supported

by an effective global partnership. Therefore, in

addition to the provisions that may be taken at the

international level by donors — increased pledges,

concessional loans, debt swaps, debt restructuring

and debt cancellation — and at the national level

by developing countries, it is crucial that control

be better maintained over the financial and raw

materials markets in order to enable countries to

better withstand external shocks.

“We should also consider the possibility of

setting up a support fund for implementing the new

development programme, as well as regular follow-

up mechanisms at the international and regional

levels for achieving each goal.

“Beyond the difficulties I have already

noted, the MDGs, like the future international

development framework, can be optimally achieved

only if an appropriate security environment is

ensured. Unfortunately, developing countries, and

Africa in particular, continue to be a stage for many

conflicts.

“The situation in the Central African Republic,

that in the eastern part of the Democratic People’s

Republic of the Congo and the turmoil following

the crises of the Arab Spring in North Africa are

all sources of concern that could jeopardize the

development efforts undertaken by the States

involved. With respect to the political, security and

humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic

in particular, which has reached proportions

unprecedented in the history of that country,

Cameroon and other States of the Economic

Community of Central African States (ECCAS)

have shouldered their responsibilities by sending

troops to Bangui to stabilize the situation. Similarly,

we have actively contributed to the establishment

of a road map that should enable them to restore

normal constitutional order within 18 to 24 months.

“Cameroon calls on the international

community to support the efforts of the Central

African subregion, in particular in order to quickly

operationalize the international support mission

for the Central African Republic and to mobilize

humanitarian assistance commensurate with the

problems the country faces.

“Those political, security and humanitarian

crises are compounded by recurrent acts of banditry,

such as abductions of civilians and maritime piracy.

The development of the latter criminal activity,

which poses a threat to international trade, has

reached alarming proportions. According to the

International Maritime Bureau, the number of acts

of piracy identified along the coast of West Africa

in 2012 exceeded for the first time the number of

attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

“To deal with that problem, Yaounde,

Cameroon’s capital, hosted on 24 and 25 June, in

accordance with Security Council resolution 2039

(2012), of 29 February 2012, a joint summit of the

Economic Community of Central Africa States,

the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS) and the Commission of the Gulf of

Guinea (GGC) on maritime safety and security in

the Gulf of Guinea. This was aimed at combatting

piracy, armed robbery and other illegal activities

perpetrated in the maritime space of the Gulf of

Guinea.

“The Heads of State and Government of

ECCAS, ECOWAS and the CGG, meeting together

for the first time since the establishment of those

three institutions, decided to set up an interregional

coordination centre to monitor anti-piracy efforts

in their common maritime space and to pool their

resources. The headquarters of the centre, whose

purpose is to implement a regional strategy to

combat piracy, armed robbery and other illicit acts

in the Gulf of Guinea, was given to Cameroon.

Everything is being done to make it operational as

quickly as possible. I would here like to commend

the assessment of the results of the summit by the

United Nations and other strategic partners and

their commitment to support the implementation of

the resolutions Yaounde meeting.

“As I pointed out on the occasion of the summit,

in order to achieve the desired security objective,

it will be necessary for all stakeholders to fully

assume their role in the effective implementation

of the instruments that the three organizations have

put in place. As with the MDGs, the support of all

of our strategic partners is crucial to effectively

fight against piracy and other forms of insecurity

in the Gulf of Guinea.

“Anything that will promote the development

of the region will contribute to improving global

growth and security and represent significant

progress towards ‘The future we want’ — a future

of peace and prosperity for all.”