Equatorial Guinea, 2012

I wish first to express my Government’s

congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Vuk Jeremić,

President of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh

session and a former Minister for Foreign Affairs of

Serbia, on his country’s election to preside over the

Assembly. We are very happy about that because, both

in the past and currently, his country has played an

active role in eliminating tensions and inequality and in

strengthening the rule of law in international relations.

We are firmly convinced that, during his tenure, the

proceedings of the General Assembly will be conducted

in a climate of consensus and solidarity among Member

States.

The current session of the General Assembly

is being held at a time of turmoil, when many States

are experiencing internal tensions, there is an acute

economic crisis, developing countries and their

emerging economies are encountering difficulties, the

environment and the atmosphere are deteriorating, and

other major catastrophes have caused the loss of human

lives and the destruction of infrastructures vital to

humankind.

The major efforts made by the Secretary-

General through the United Nations system have not

been sufficient to have a decisive impact. Greater

commitment, joint action and unified approaches

on the part of all States are required to combat with

determination the problems of concern to everyone

today. In point of fact, the Secretariat has stressed

the main outlines of the problems, which constitute

the agenda for the current session — for instance,

developing countries’ need for economic growth, the

maintenance of international peace and security, the

development of the African continent, the promotion

of human rights and the provision of humanitarian

assistance, the promotion of justice and international

law, disarmament, and the need to combat drug

trafficking, terrorism, the use of mercenaries, piracy

and other crimes.

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea wishes to stress

that of all those problems none has been more destructive than underdevelopment, which the United Nations must

not look upon with indifference. The annual victims of

hunger and the diseases in the developing world exceed

the number of victims of hostile confrontations recorded

each year worldwide. The adverse effects of illiteracy,

the lack of housing, and malnutrition experienced in

developing countries are greater than those caused

by natural disasters. In our times, ignorance and the

lack of scientific and technical know-how owing to

underdevelopment are more detrimental to a human

being than terrorism and drug addiction. In view of

all those adverse circumstances, we propose that the

Economic and Social Council adopt special programmes

to assist the least developed countries, with a view to

their overcoming the lack of basic infrastructure which

is hampering their development — programmes that the

more developed countries should commit to supporting

and that could serve as a basis for mutually beneficial

cooperation among affected States.

We cannot imagine the promotion of human

rights in a society subject to the restrictions of

underdevelopment. From basic human dignity itself to

all the other rights necessary for a dignified existence,

including physical and moral integrity, freedom and,

finally, well-being — these are what determine whether

people fully enjoy their universally recognized rights.

There can be no question as to which comes first,

human rights or economic development. We must

recognize that human rights cannot be be enjoyed by

people engulfed in underdevelopment.

With respect to combating underdevelopment,

we welcome the fact that Africa has already begun

promoting programmes for economic development and

modern democratic systems, which are liberating their

peoples from underdevelopment despite many obstacles

that still obstruct progress and attempts at perpetuating

new colonialist interests in Africa. Most of the internal

conflicts in Africa are supported by foreign interests that

try to ensure their continued presence in the continent.

As the saying goes, “If the river runs backwards, it is

the fishermen who win”.

We ourselves in Equatorial Guinea are very

happy with the progress made in our economic

development programme, which seeks to achieve

an emerging economy by 2020 through the use of

the resources provided by the exploitation of oil and

natural gas. Thanks to those resources, we are more

than meeting most of our needs in infrastructure,

including roads, hospitals, schools, vocational training centres, universities, ports, airports, the drinking

water supply, telephone communications, air, sea and

land transportation, urban development, housing and

electricity. In parallel to that programme, we have

adopted radical political reforms, appropriate to the

rapid development that the country is experiencing,

so as to ensure the strictest possible control of the

Government’s activity, to give greater freedoms to the

people and to protect human rights to the utmost. Under

those reforms, a leader may not remain in office for

more than two terms. Parliament is being expanded

for a more universal representation of the people.

Economic and social decisions are to be taken on the

basis of technical criteria and in the interests of society.

The President must by law be assisted by an advisory

body. The independence of the judicial and legislative

powers is being strengthened. A body to monitor and

audit public and private economic activity is being

established. Lastly, an authority to protect and ensure

human rights is being set up. A transition Government

has been formed to implement those reforms within

eight months.

My Government has always been very responsive

to the issue of humanitarian assistance. In that regard,

Equatorial Guinea proposes the establishment of a

trust fund of the Food and Agriculture Organization of

the United Nations (FAO) for food security in Africa

that will be open to less developed countries. From

this rostrum, we announce an initial contribution of

$30 million. We call on African countries and other

donors to make their contributions in support of that

initiative.

My Government’s humanitarian spirit has

always aspired to setting up initiatives that support

humankind’s development. Equatorial Guinea therefore

established the Equatorial Guinea UNESCO prize to

encourage the scientific community to research the

possibility of finding life-saving cures, in particular for

those suffering from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

The Director-General of FAO agreed to the initiative to

set up such a fund.

With regard to the other important items on our

agenda, we understand that international peace and

security essentially depend on respect for the principles

of international law: respect for the independence,

national sovereignty and territorial integrity of

each State; the sovereign equality of nations and

non-interference in the internal affairs of other

States; respect for, and compliance with, international commitments; and the promotion of mutually beneficial

and fair friendship and cooperation relations among

States.

Those norms are the basis for promoting justice

and law in international relations, and no State or

group of States should step forward to police their

implementation. Such an act usurps the authority of

the United Nations and undermines its effectiveness.

The United Nations should impose its authority at the

international level, avoiding any possible manipulation

through external pressure from those that violate the

spirit of its principles.

Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinea endorses the wishes

of the entire African continent to obtain a response to one

of its legitimate demands, made on various occasions,

namely, Security Council reform by increasing the

number of Council members in both categories and

reserving two seats as permanent members and five

as non-permanent members for the African region.

Democratic principles and the law are advocated at the

United Nations. Africa claims its rights, including in

the Security Council. Africa wishes to participate in

the taking of decisions that affect its future.

With the assistance of all, we will succeed in

adopting appropriate measures to reduce the tendency

towards unilateralism and hegemony in international

relations. We will succeed in mitigating the effects

of policies that threaten the peace and sovereignty

of States and that oppose the economic and social

development of peoples, thereby significantly violating

the principles of international law.

With regard to disarmament, which Equatorial

Guinea fully supports even though it is neither a

manufacturer nor a consumer of any sophisticated

weapons of mass destruction, we believe that there

should be no ambiguity on that issue. One cannot have

the best of both worlds.

We do not believe there to be a threat from other

planets of the solar system or other bodies in outer

space. The possession of nuclear weapons or weapons

of mass destruction is a disgrace to today’s humankind,

which is preparing its own destruction. So who should

arm themselves and who should be disarmed? The

end of the Cold War was supposed to also mean the

end of the arms race. It is now time for humankind to

build its own future instead of wasting resources on

extermination plans. Those that adopt embargoes against certain

Governments should not be insensitive to their

repercussions and to the suffering that they cause

to the population, in particular the most vulnerable

sectors. Such measures run counter to the Millennium

Development Goals adopted by the United Nations.

Sanctions and embargoes, whatever their real nature,

should always take into account the humanitarian

component with regard to the people who are suffering.

Therefore, we would suggest that the rights of the

individual be given priority whenever any kind of

sanctions are adopted. Accordingly, we appeal for the

suspension of the embargo against Cuba.

We will return to Equatorial Guinea with the

sincere hope that the sixty-seventh session of the

General Assembly will be a milestone in the process of

humanizing international relations.