Cape Verde, 2009

Before beginning my statement, I would like to

mention something that happened on our continent, in

West Africa, yesterday. Indeed, tragic events occurred

yesterday in a country in West Africa, of which Cape

Verde is a part: soldiers once again fired on a crowd.

As a neighbouring, friendly and long-standing partner

country of Guinea, I wish, on behalf of my country, to

express my deep sympathy and the unequivocal

condemnation of an act that disgraces the entire

continent. I am referring to a challenge to the brave

people of Guinea and to the international community. I

pay tribute to the numerous victims of this odious act,

which threatens stability and peace in the entire

subregion. I am pleased to congratulate Ambassador Ali

Abdussalam Treki on his election to the presidency of

the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. I also

congratulate his predecessor, Father Miguel d’Escoto

Brockmann, for his involvement, dedication and

courage, which left an important imprint on the work

of the sixty-third session. To Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon, Cape Verde expresses its confidence that he

will continue to further our aspirations and consolidate

the foundations of this Organization he leads that is

dedicated to the common good. We thank him for his

detailed report on the work of the Organization

(A/64/1).

Peace, security and development are public assets

that are essential to the progress of humanity. However,

they have never before been as threatened as they are

today. Therefore, I would like to share with the

Assembly some of my country’s concerns in that

context.

During the Assembly’s sixty-second session, the

Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Mr. José Maria Neves,

said:

“We are living at a time when problems and

threats are of concern to all. They are not

confined to a single State or region. Nor can there

be local solutions to the global threats of our

era.” (A/62/PV.11, p. 2)

He was referring to terrorism, organized crime and

human trafficking and to weapons and drugs that in

certain instances threaten the foundations of the

democratic rule of law. He said that these phenomena

“corrupt values, compromise development and thwart

the most legitimate expectations of peoples” who are

exposed to them and that “Responses to these issues

will be ineffective unless they are undertaken within a

robust, balanced and fair multilateral perspective”

(ibid.).

I quote these remarks by the head of Government

of Cape Verde because they are quite current and

because the themes they address have been the object

of increasing attention by the international community.

Cape Verde and other West African States are

facing organized crime, which has found fertile ground

for its activities in our region because of our fragile

economies, the vulnerability of our emerging

democracies and, in general, our States’ weak

capacities to respond to this major threat. With the

support of the United Nations, in particular the United

Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the logistics

capabilities of our partners, we, the States members of

the Economic Community of West African States are

pooling our capabilities to confront this tremendous

challenge that has engulfed our subregion.

In Cape Verde we believe that a small country

cannot allow itself to be poor, vulnerable and unstable

all at once. We therefore seek to reinforce our

advantages, reduce our weaknesses and diversify our

partnerships, in addition to strengthening our relations

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of solidarity for the benefit of peace, stability and

progress in our subregion.

Therefore, at the October 2008 conference on

drug trafficking in our region and at the April 2009

round table on Guinea-Bissau security sector reform,

both held in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, we

sought to define together the parameters of our actions

in these areas. We will continue to pay special attention

to this threat, as we are convinced that the zone of

peace we are building in the South Atlantic must

become a tangible reality if we wish to achieve the

Millennium Development Goals and, in general, the

life of peace and progress that we wish for all.

In this context in which States and democratic

processes are threatened by exogenous elements,

multilateralism appears as an indispensable shield and

an essential resource. There is no doubt that this

confluence of wills and means among the most diverse

countries and the most widespread regions at the heart

of the international community constitutes the path to

follow, not only for strengthening cooperation among

the entities of international life and for the timely

resolution of differences in the framework of the

principles and values of the United Nations, but also

for the strengthening of international law, which is

indispensable for strengthening peace and security in

the world.

The United Nations, in this context, remains the

central element of the collective conscience of the

community of nations. Thus the revitalization of the

United Nations system emerges as a necessity of our

time, giving priority to the participation of all, to the

detriment of unilateralism, strengthening efficiency for

the benefit of common interests and seeking solutions

that meet the aspirations of the most vulnerable and of

present and future generations.

Cape Verde is contributing to that framework as

one of the eight pilot countries testing the Delivering

as One process on the ground, which is successfully

under way as a unique programme with a unique

budgeting plan, a single purpose and single leader. This

process has had positive repercussions on cooperation

between the Government and the agencies, funds and

programmes of the United Nations working in Cape

Verde, thus enhancing the coherence of this

programme, reducing transaction and administrative

costs and benefiting all.

According to the United Nations Conference on

Trade and Development, it is expected that the global

gross domestic product will shrink by more than

2.5 per cent in 2009. The growth of developing

countries will decrease from 5.4 per cent in 2008 to 1.3

per cent in 2009, which means a reduction in the

average per capita income. In light of the stagnation

and reduction of economic growth, the developing

countries have seen an increase in poverty,

unemployment, the cost of essential goods and

malnutrition. With the drastic reduction in investment,

there is a strong likelihood that the Millennium

Development Goals will not be achieved.

It is expected that in 2009 world trade will be

reduced by at least 11 per cent in real terms and by

20 per cent in dollar terms. For the African continent,

the prognosis points to a significant deceleration of the

growth of production in 2009. However, it will remain

positive and drop to 3 per cent in North Africa and

1 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa. The medium- and

low-income countries in this context will certainly

require more support in the form of a coordinated

effort at the international level to increase official

development assistance.

The perspective of a solution to the crisis is

significant. It requires, among other things, a new

political strategy that includes regulation of the

financial market. The recent meeting of the Group of

20 in Pittsburgh offers some elements of response.

Indeed, management of the crisis in the context of

globalization and interdependence requires an

integrated response of the parties as well as a change in

the global financial system, more efficient institutions,

countercyclical policies, better monitoring of risk and

institutional regulation. The outcome document

adopted by consensus at the United Nations

Conference on the World Financial and Economic

Crisis of 24 to 26 June 2009 (resolution 63/303, annex)

contains recommendations to fight economic recession

and establishes viable and safe financial practices, in

addition to indicating important areas of intervention.

Cape Verde, despite the difficult situation created

by the economic and financial crisis, seeks to preserve

the gains already made in the various areas of the

Millennium Development Goals, thanks to a prudent

and pragmatic policy and taking its partners into

account to help diminish the impact of the crisis on the

archipelago.

19 09-53165

We think all international partners must

implement joint efforts to minimize the impact of the

economic deceleration, especially for developing

countries, and enable all to achieve more inclusive,

equitable and balanced development, oriented towards

economic sustainability, to help overcome poverty and

inequity in order to avoid an unprecedented human

crisis.

The Summit on Climate Change organized by the

Secretary-General last week was an undeniable

success. The Member States wished to participate in

large numbers to reaffirm their determination to see

this vital problem treated in a convincing, urgent and

genuine manner. The head of State of one of the heavy-

emitting countries declared that if we do not act now,

no one will ever be able to do so, reinforcing what

scientists have been demonstrating for some time: that

our planet is at serious risk of not being able to assure

life in all its fullness because of the consequences of

climate change. And the time to act is now.

The participants departed the Summit convinced

that there is no more time for evasion. The moment has

come for concerted, coherent and systematic action to

achieve a convincing and meaningful reduction of

greenhouse gases, to slow global warming and avoid

raised sea levels likely to endanger vast coastal regions

throughout the world, particularly the small developing

island States. Such States are increasingly vulnerable

and suffer the most from the consequences of a

situation created to a large extent by emitter States. At

its summit here in New York on 21 September, the

Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), of which

Cape Verde is a member, adopted a declaration

clarifying its position on various points being

negotiated within the framework of the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Cape Verde is a small archipelago with a small

population, in a geographic location that leaves it

simultaneously isolated in the ocean and dangerously

exposed to the effects of climate change and global

warming. As a Sahelian State, it has long faced

drought, desertification and a serious lack of water.

Those phenomena aggravate the population’s poverty,

hinder Government efforts and strongly affect actions

in the areas of environmental preservation and human

development.

In Cape Verde we are making efforts to make the

best possible use of our river basins, saving water

wherever possible and adopting modern irrigation

methods with the help of new technologies. We are

implementing an active policy in that area. A dam on

one of our islands is energizing the local agricultural

sector and allowing us to promote better subsistence

methods among farmers, while helping us develop

renewable power sources throughout the country with

the goal of providing electricity to 95 per cent of the

country by 2011. A research and development centre

for renewable energies aimed at serving the entire West

African region is under construction in Cape Verde.

The international community, and the developed

countries in particular, must strive to support the

specific dynamics of those States in the areas of

adaptation to and mitigation of the effects of climate

change and to enable them to minimize the risks that

burden them today, given that some of those States are

already facing issues of mass dislocation and forced

migrations.

For the people of Cape Verde, the ocean is more

than a nurturing mother or a demanding lover — it is

our vital source of civilization and inspiration. We

want to protect it; we want to preserve it. But equally,

along with the coastal nations of the Atlantic Ocean,

particularly in its southern half, we want to see it be an

area of exchange, not speculation, a realm of active

solidarity, not unruly competition. Far from making it

one more focus of human greed, let us preserve its

unique value as a precious cradle of life and the

repository of the hopes of our planet.