Cameroon, 2025

And I now give the floor to His Excellency, Mr. Lejeune Mbela Mbela, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cameroon. Madam President, I was entrusted with the honour, on behalf of His Excellency Paul B. Diop, President of the Republic of Cameroon Head of State, and he instructed me to speak in his name. Allow me, therefore, to renew Cameroon's warm congratulations on your election as President of the Republic of Cameroon. Your diplomatic experience and vision, which encourage us to unite our efforts for a better future, are guarantees of success for both your mandate and deliberations throughout this session. You can count, in this regard, on the full cooperation from the Cameroonian delegation. As you know, my country was honoured to see your predecessor, Ambassador Philemon Young, preside over the 79th session of the General Assembly. And I would like here to commend his commitment, his professionalism, and his determination, which was marked by his spirit of being able to listen and conduct dialogue as he fulfilled his mandate. Let me also reiterate to Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, the sincere appreciation of Cameroon for his tireless efforts at the helm of our organization and for his clear commitment to strengthen multilateralism in international context, which happens to be particularly difficult and complex. Madam President, Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Mr. Secretary-General and distinguished representatives, we meet this year at a pivotal moment for our organization, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary. European anniversaries are usually joyful occasions, but we must acknowledge that this particular one leaves us with questions. This is an opportunity for us to take stock and reflect on how we can make the United Nations more effective in fulfilling its missions and recommendations and promises contained in the Charter. You therefore proposed in this regard, Madam President, that we pool our will, our efforts, and our resources, and you believe, and rightly so, that we are better together. Cameroon shares this vision and welcomes the theme we have chosen for our discussion, which is, I quote, better together, 80 years and more for peace, development, and human rights. End of quote. This theme is more than just a slogan. It is a relevant program that we must translate into concrete actions at both the national and international levels. The union of our forces is the very foundation of the UN Charter. Its founding fathers understood that maintaining international peace and security and promoting economic and social development for all could only result from our collective labor. And that is why we must maintain this dynamic for the well-being of our populations. Madam President, the UN was created to be at the same time a beacon of hope, a forum for dialogue, and a catalyst for concrete actions so as to build a more just, safer, and more united world. And 80 years later, it is useful, as I mentioned earlier, it is useful to take stock and draw lessons for the future. So the following questions arise here. Have we succeeded? Have we managed to shield our peoples from the fear of war, uncertainty about their future? Have we succeeded to shield our peoples from famine? The current international situation, which is marked by numerous crises, offers a clear and negative answer to these questions. Indeed, in 2025, the global security environment remains unfortunately characterized by a proliferation of conflicts and threats of all kinds to human security, including the nuclear threat, which we once thought to be a thing of the past. Whether in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, or Africa, tensions are emerging or persisting, endangering peace, stability, and international security more than ever before. The ongoing armed conflicts around the world are a painful reminder for us that 80 years later, we neither could nor would succeed in protecting the world from the scourge of war. And this situation is further compounded by various natural disasters, including extreme weather events such as storms, hurricanes, forest fires, earthquakes, landslides, which cause significant material damage and loss of human lives, not to mention various pandemics on that list. The world will only meet the challenge of development if it first wins the challenge of peace. We have a historic responsibility to choose. Either we allow war and these multiple scourges to thrive, or we offer our children a stable, united, and prosperous world. And Cameroon has made its choice. It made the choice of peace and development, and stands firmly by your side in order to turn this aspiration into a shared reality. Madam President, Your Excellencies, it is well known that there can be no development without peace, nor can there be lasting peace without development. The ongoing crises, which negatively affect international trade, the cost of raw materials and market supplies, undoubtedly hinder the development of many countries. And yet, economic development, through the sustainable development goals, remains a primary objective that the United Nations must attain for the well-being of our peoples. In recent years, however, we have seen with regret that millions of people still live in extreme poverty, facing disease and food insecurity. In this particular context, children, women, and the elderly, and people with reduced mobility, are the most vulnerable. And although access to education has expanded, many children and young people remain outside of the school system. At the same time, we observe a decline in life expectancy. We see deteriorating health indicators and a critical shortage of health care professionals, especially in Africa. With five years remaining until the SDG deadline, it is urgent that coordinated actions be taken to fulfill the promises of the 2030 Agenda. We must, indeed, take our responsibility, individually and collectively, so as to achieve these goals that we had freely and voluntarily set for ourselves. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Cameroon, a ward of the United Nations, remains committed to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and spares no effort under the high leadership of His Excellency Paul Biya, President of the Republic, to promote peace and international security. And in this spirit, my country actively participates in UN peacekeeping operations, and through its three major specialized schools, trains police, gendarmerie, and other African civilian personnel who take part in these operations. Moreover, Cameroon remains consistently engaged in the fight against terrorism in general, in the Sahel, and particularly in the Lake Chad Basin, where the Boko Haram sect operates. Now, in economic terms, my country has adopted an ambitious national strategy that promotes harmonious economic and social development across the nation, whilst advancing democracy, respect for human rights, and good governance. This allows us to progressively and systematically realize the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union's Agenda 2063, among others. Madam President, in the Congo Basin, Cameroon actively contributes to finding solutions to global climate change and to protecting wildlife and biodiversity. It will always do its part and expect that promises made, especially in terms of financing, will be honored. For Cameroon, it is essential that the efforts of developing countries be supported. In this regard, it is worth recalling yet once again that over a decade ago, developed countries pledged collectively to mobilize 100 billion U.S. dollars annually to support climate change efforts. The same applies to development aid, which was set at 0.7 percent over 50 years ago. To date, none of these promises have been fulfilled. Cameroon believes that it is time for these funds, which were expected to be effectively mobilized to support the substantial efforts made by developing countries, especially in Africa, to preserve our shared environment for the benefit of all. On another front, Cameroon is mobilizing resources for major projects in education, health, infrastructure, and rural development, etc., all aiming to bring about structural transformation in our country. We take this opportunity here to thank our multilateral and bilateral partners who support us in this endeavor. We encourage them to strengthen this partnership to help us achieve our goals. Your Excellencies, the Pact for the Future and its two annexes, namely the Digital Compact and the Declaration for Future Generations, require that we implement them. Similarly, the recent final documents that came out of the NIS and the civil conferences, as well as the Yaoundé Declaration on Sustainable Blue Economy in the Gulf of Guinea, reaffirm commitments regarding financing and access to technologies especially in this digital and artificial intelligence era as decisive factors for promoting sustainable development. Cameroon welcomes these advances and the commitments made during these occasions for reforming the international financial architecture and advancing energy transition. My country aspires very much to see the realization of other long-awaited reforms, notably that of the United Nations Security Council to allow Africa to occupy its rightful place in line with the Azzolini Consensus and the UN Security Council. When it comes to human rights, Cameroon welcomes the drafting of the International Pact on the Right to Development. The eventual adoption of this important instrument will mark a milestone in human history by unequivocally affirming that development is a fundamental right and not a privilege. Madam President, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, at this pivotal moment in the history of the United Nations, we must act. It is an imperative obligation that we cannot ignore. This requires, in my view, respecting our commitments to development financing, fulfilling our promises for peace, and ensuring the effectiveness of our choices in human rights and humanitarian assistance. In the years to come, we must strengthen the foundations of lasting peace rooted in prevention, resilience, and justice. And we have the means to do so, especially now when global wealth in 2025 has reached unprecedented levels and technological development allows for significant improvements in living conditions for all. In conclusion, and as a call to action, we must do better and we must do more so that the United Nations fulfills the promises made to the peoples of the world and becomes more than ever the engine of strengthened multilateralism, fair and equitable cooperation, and reimagined solidarity in the face of the concerning rise of multipolarity. I thank you for your kind attention.