Republic of the Congo, 2014

I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the

President on his election to preside over the General

Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. At the same time,

I would like to welcome the wise choice that he has

made to view his mandate as an extension of the work

of Ambassador John William Ashe, his predecessor, to

whom I pay a well-deserved tribute. I also commend the

President on having chosen a theme for the sixty-ninth

session that invites us to engage in a comprehensive

consideration of the post-2015 agenda. I would also like

to pay tribute to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and

reiterate to him the unwavering support of the Republic

of the Congo for the efforts he expends with devotion

and selflessness at the head of our Organization.

The world is in turmoil. Humankind lives in

fear of tensions and conflicts, which exist virtually

everywhere; of terrorism, which has become the

bogeyman of States; of old and new epidemics that

plague societies, especially the poorest among them;

of the persistent disparities among and within States;

and of climate change, which threatens our planet.

Those are the challenges that arouse a feeling of great

apprehension throughout the world.

In turn, they make us put our faith in the United

Nations, the only instrument available to the world in

its search for solutions to those many problems. In that

universal quest, the priority action of States must be

directed above all to peace, security and the conservation

of nature. For the world needs peace and security,

especially wherever senseless conflicts have developed,

such as in Syria, Ukraine, Iraq and between the Israelis

and the Palestinians. The world needs peace and security

in Africa, especially in Libya and throughout the entire

Sahel-Saharan region, in South Sudan, Central Africa

and the Great Lakes region. Africa needs the increased

support of the international community so that Somalia

can, once and for all, emerge from the abyss and so that

Mali can recover its integrity and unity. It needs such

support so that the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

which has now experienced a degree of calm, will not

again be plunged into the violence that afflicted it for

so many long years. Finally, it also needs that support

so that the positive developments seen in the Central

African Republic in recent weeks with the cessation

of hostilities agreement, signed in Brazzaville on

23 July, and the transfer of authority, on 15 September,

from the African-led International Support Mission

in the Central African Republic to the United Nations

Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in

the Central African Republic can be strengthened to

allow the Central African people to emerge from the

crisis that has lasted too long.

Africa needs the ongoing support of the

international community to curb maritime piracy,

which increasingly threatens the Gulf of Guinea, and

to combat terrorism, which extends from the Sahel

to the south of the continent, with the involvement of

many local networks. That also applies to Boko Haram,

which rages in Nigeria and seeks to spread its activities

towards Cameroon, and perhaps soon to other countries

if nothing is done to prevent it. The same goes for

the rebel movement known as Joseph Kony’s Lord’s

Resistance Army, which is still active in the Central

African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the

Congo and Uganda.

In Central Africa, as elsewhere on the continent,

insecurity is often the result of a number of factors. There

are not only war and armed violence but also poverty

and endemic diseases, such as malaria, HIV/AIDS,

non-communicable diseases and Ebola haemorrhagic

fever. We commend the great spirit of solidarity shown

by the international community in assisting the African

countries affected by the Ebola epidemic to eradicate

that terrible scourge. In that regard, we welcome the

establishment of the United Nations Mission for Ebola

Emergency Response by the Secretary-General.

I would like to briefly address the issue of climate

change, which, as everyone knows, remains a major

threat to our planet. The Republic of the Congo, which

fully shares the Common African Position, supports the

conclusions of the Elysée Summit for Peace and Security

in Africa of 6 and 7 December 2013. The Climate

Summit held here in New York on 23 September saw

the announcement of firm commitments with a view

to the adoption of a universal, important and binding

agreement on both mitigation and adaptation at the

Paris summit in 2015.

In that regard, I would like to underscore the

importance for my country and for Africa of the

establishment of technology transfer and innovative

financing mechanisms and of ensuring the maximum

benefit and real implementation of the Green Climate

Fund, as well as the promotion of a substantive

programme to counter climate imbalance so as to

maximize the opportunities provided by combating

climate change.

Illicit logging and the illegal trade in fauna and

flora are another serious threat to the environment

and to biodiversity. In response to that international

environmental crime against biodiversity, during the

first half of 2015, my country will host in Brazzaville,

under the auspices of the African Union and in

partnership with the United Nations Environment

Programme, an international conference on the illegal

exploitation of and the illicit trade in the wild fauna and

flora of Africa.

The sixty-ninth session of the Assembly of our

Organization takes place on the eve of 2015, the

deadline for the achievement of the Millennium

Development Goals. The review undertaken by

stakeholders at all levels has shown that we have not

reached those Goals owing to, inter alia, shortcomings

in their initial preparation and drafting. Africa is the

continent with the largest number of countries that will

not have achieved some MDGs by the 2015 deadline.

African leaders have adopted a Common Position on

the post-2015 development agenda in order to meet

those challenges. We call for the joint commitment

of all members to ensure that the Common African

Position is placed at the centre of our concerns in the

negotiations that should lead to the adoption of an

inclusive post-2015 development agenda.

Before I conclude, I would like to solemnly

reaffirm my country’s commitment to the promotion

and protection of fundamental human rights and

freedoms, the various mechanisms for the protection

of human rights and the universal periodic review

process, in which we have actively participated. In that

spirit, Congo seeks to enrich its legal and institutional

framework by strengthening its national system for the

promotion and protection of human rights, with the

full participation of civil society. In that context, the

Republic of the Congo has decided to present, in the

upcoming November elections to be held in New York,

its candidature for a second term on the United Nations

Human Rights Council for the period 2015-2017.

Sports, as a contributor to peace and development,

unites peoples. In that spirit, in September 2015

Brazzaville will host the eleventh All-African Games

on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of that

African youth festival.

In conclusion, I reaffirm my country’s commitment

to the ideals of our universal Organization and reiterate

our commitment to supporting the efforts of the

entire international community for peace, security

and development, on which depend the well-being of

humankind and the advent of the better world to which

we fervently aspire.