Gabon, 2007

At the beginning of my statement, I would like to convey my

sincere congratulations to you, Sir, on your election to

the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-

second session. Your election, Mr. President,

constitutes undoubtedly significant recognition of your

country for its prioritized and resolute actions with

respect to implementation of the goals of the United

Nations. But it is also, in personal terms, the successful

outcome of a long and fruitful career as a diplomat and

professor of international relations. In addition, in

warmly congratulating you, I would like to assure you

of the support my country, and of my own support, as

you carry out your challenging and noble mission.

Allow me also to pay a well-deserved tribute to

the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-first

session, Her Excellency Ms. Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa,

for the dedication, wisdom and skill with which she

steered our deliberations, and particularly for her

having led the necessary negotiations with respect to

consideration and implementation of the important

recommendations of the 2005 World Summit, which

included reform of the Economic and Social Council

and the Security Council.

To the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, I

would like to express my full encouragement as he

carries out his functions at the head of the United

Nations. The major reform that he has initiated in order

to adapt the Organization to the needs of a world in

constant change deserves everyone’s support.

The theme for the general debate, climate change,

which you have proposed for this year, is one of the

primary concerns of the international community. The

selection of this very theme by the Secretary-General

as the framework for the discussion during the high-

level debate that was just held is additional evidence of

this. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force in 2005 and

was a major historical milestone in the process of

reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

With respect to trends in this phenomenon, every

one can note that the goals set forth in the Protocol

have yet to be fully achieved. We, therefore, need to do

our utmost so that the Bali meeting in Indonesia, slated

for December 2007, will be an opportunity to reach

agreement on a common, global strategy in order to

carry out more robust, collective action to mitigate

significantly the negative effects of global warming.

Africa, which contributes least of all to the

worsening of this phenomenon, is unfairly undergoing

the serious consequences of it. Therefore, the principle

of common but differentiated responsibilities needs to

be applied. For its part, Gabon, whose forest is one of

the essential components of the major Congo Basin,

the second ecological lung of the planet after the

Amazon, has unreservedly acceded to the Convention

on Biological Diversity and has joined up in the fight

against climate change.

Moreover, it has decided to devote 11 per cent of

its territory to humankind, particularly by establishing

13 national parks. Recently, Lopé park was named as a

new UNESCO world heritage site, and Gabon is

prepared to go much further, because protection of the

environment is an important pillar in the fight against

poverty and an essential condition to achieving the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

As is evident, then, Gabon has undertaken

considerable efforts in order to bring about greater

protection of nature and of ecosystems. As a result,

Gabon, together with other African countries, deserves

to benefit from compensatory measures from

industrialized countries, the main emitters of carbon

dioxide.

From this standpoint, we urge the establishment

of a stabilization fund to compensate for existing forest

carbon stocks. We also would like to ensure that our

forests are included in the carbon market mechanisms.

The General Assembly is the appropriate forum

to discuss the major challenges that our world is

facing. That was the strong message reaffirmed by the

world’s leaders when they assembled here for the

September 2005 world summit. I welcome the fact that

the major decisions taken at that time continue to drive

the reform of our Organization.

The report of the High-level Panel on United

Nations System-wide Coherence indicates the scope of

the changes to be made to ensure greater effectiveness

in implementation of the Organization’s programmes.

Here, I would like to pay a well-deserved tribute to the

President of the Assembly at its sixty-first session for

having launched intergovernmental consultations on

this important issue.

The intensive activities of the General Assembly

in recent years clearly attests to its central role as the

principal representative organ and deliberative body

responsible for setting the policies of the Organization.

I have no doubt that you, Sir, will continue your efforts

to strengthen the authority and primary role of the

General Assembly. Similarly, one of the key measures

that our Organization needs to bring about to improve

the implementation and ensure the legitimacy of its

decisions is reform of the Security Council. We will

need to reach agreement in order to carry out this

reform that is so important for the future of the United

Nations.

This session is beginning in a complex and

unstable international context that is marked by deep

crises and many kinds of threats. The geography of the

conflicts puts the spotlight on Africa and the Middle

East.

In Africa, the situation in Darfur continues to be

of concern. However, I would like to praise the efforts

of the Sudanese Government, which has undertaken to

participate in comprehensive peace talks on 27 October

2007 in Tripoli and to accept the principle of a

ceasefire. Gabon, for its part, will continue to firmly

support the national peace and reconciliation process in

the Sudan. To this end, it welcomes the adoption by the

Security Council of resolution 1769 (2007),

authorizing the deployment of an Africa Union-United

Nations hybrid force in the Sudan.

Furthermore, Gabon, which has for many years

played a major role in the many negotiations on

national reconciliation in Africa, supports the efforts

undertaken by the European Union, particularly in

protecting civilians and providing humanitarian

assistance in Chad and the Central African Republic.

Specifically with regard to Chad, Gabon is

currently facilitating peace and reconciliation talks

among factions in that country.

The instability in Somalia for the past 15 years

has negated any possibility of development. However,

we need to mention the praiseworthy decision of the

Peace and Security Council of the African Union in

authorizing the deployment of a peacekeeping mission

in that country.

With respect to the situation in the Middle East,

more specifically, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, only

concerted and sustained efforts based on the principle

of two States, Israel and Palestine, coexisting in peace

and security within secure and internationally

recognized borders, can bring about a lasting and just

settlement of this conflict.

My country endorses the idea of holding an

international conference under the auspices of the

Quartet, in order to relaunch the process of direct and

constructive negotiations.

With respect to Lebanon, Gabon reaffirms its

support for implementation of Security Council

resolution 1701 (2006).

With respect to the issue of international

terrorism, I would like to commend the General

Assembly’s adoption on 8 September 2006 of the

Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. While politically

that is praiseworthy progress, nevertheless in legal

terms we need to accelerate current negotiations in

order to adopt a general counter-terrorism convention.

In the twenty-first century, threats to international

peace and security are not limited solely to terrorism,

war and international conflicts. Organized crime, civil

violence, poverty, infectious diseases, natural disasters

and weapons of mass destruction are also phenomena

that can undermine the survival and foundations of the

State as the basic element of the international system.

With respect to weapons of mass destruction, we

need urgently to end the stalemate in the multilateral

talks and to again place disarmament and non-

proliferation issues at the forefront of the concerns of

the international community. Our collective security

depends on it.

On the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which severely

affects many African countries, we need to act

proportionately to the seriousness of this scourge.

Furthermore, as was underscored in the political

declaration on HIV/AIDS adopted in New York on

2 June 2006 as the outcome of the high-level meeting

on that pandemic, the African countries are already

allocating considerable financial resources to counter

this scourge. Despite these efforts, our countries

continue to face a shortfall of the resources necessary

to achieving universal access to prevention, care and

treatment by 2010. From this standpoint, Gabon

welcomes the commitment taken by Group of Eight

(G-8) in Germany, granting to Africa under

development assistance the amount of $60 billion to

fight malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

More than a year ago, our Organization gave

itself a peacebuilding mechanism. Here, I would like to

reiterate my appreciation of the work already done by

the Peacebuilding Commission under the presidency of

Angola, as well as by all of the members of the

Commission for their efforts to devise an effective

strategy bringing together all the national and

international players involved in the processes of

reconstruction in Burundi and Sierra Leone.

These countries, like all developing countries,

need ongoing support from the international

community, in accordance with the decisions taken

under the Monterrey Consensus and reaffirmed at the

2005 World Summit. From this standpoint, the donor

countries need to meet their pledges for assistance to

developing countries, particularly in the areas of debt

relief and opening their markets. To that end, the

implementation of the Doha programme is an

imperative for developing countries and will

particularly enable countries in Africa to achieve the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Similarly, we need to continue our brainstorming

in order to identify and launch innovative sources for

development financing. That is a priority objective for

our countries, particularly since our resources are

limited because of debt reimbursement, and this

prevents us from responding effectively to

development needs.

Here, I would like to pay tribute to the Paris

Club, which has agreed to the principle of Gabon’s

buying back its debt. This agreement is key for Gabon

in its legitimate quest for economic prosperity and

social well-being.

It is in this spirit of renewed international

solidarity and in effective partnership that we will be

able to build a better world that respects the rights and

dignity of the individual. This vision of the founding

fathers of our Organization is also shared by my

country and its President, El Hadj Omar Bongo

Ondimba, who has always been able to work for the

protection and promote human rights.

In keeping with these values, the Government of

Gabon recently decided to abolish the death penalty

and was a sponsor of the draft resolution on

establishing a moratorium on the death penalty.

The United Nations has existed now for sixty-two

years. From the cold war to the collapse of the Berlin

Wall, it has been able to stand, together with the

society of nations, the test of time. Unfortunately,

however, and despite its long history, it has not been

able to fully bring about the profound aspirations of

liberty, equality and peace and justice, as expressed by

the peoples of the world. The ongoing reforms need to

be continued in order to enable the United Nations to

be the mirror of diversity and human values.