Madagascar, 2009

It is with great pleasure that I speak from the rostrum of the United Nations

today representing Madagascar, for which it is a particular honour to be able to

contribute to the reflections and deliberations in this highly significant setting.

As we all know, the United Nations is the ideal forum for exchanging our

respective experiences and to maintain our solidarity.

In such circumstances, allow me first of all to express my heartfelt thanks to

Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann for the excellent way in which he led the sixty-third

session of our General Assembly, which allowed us to make progress on various

current issues that are necessary and useful for the fulfilment of humanity as a

whole.

Allow me, furthermore, to present my warm congratulations on the election of

Ali Treki as President of the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly. I am

certain that this august Assembly will adopt pertinent resolutions and decisions

under his clear-sighted leadership.

I also wish to salute you, Mr. Secretary-General, for your exceptional and

visible ability to react in response to all the crises troubling the world. I can only

wish you the greatest success in accomplishing your missions.

This year’s theme, “global response to global crises and development through

strengthening multilateralism and dialogue of civilizations” perfectly reflects the

desire of us all to find a common solution to our common problems.

Our cultural, religious or other differences should in no way constitute a factor

in lack of understanding among us, the peoples of this world.

On the contrary, they should provide even greater impetus to guide us towards

durable peace and security.

Indeed, our differences lie in the way in which each of us approaches realities,

being and events. The resulting points of view are partial, and thus necessarily

complement each other.

I join with African leaders in affirming that Africa deserves its place in the

community of nations. I also share the view that the common value of democracy

we all proclaim would be meaningless if geographical representation were not

applied within this Organization. It is a matter of the very legitimacy of the United

Nations.

As the world’s second most populous continent, Africa should not be excluded

from initiatives that concern it.

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We support the demand of the President of the African Union and several

member States to grant it the right to a permanent seat on the United Nations

Security Council with all the associated prerogatives.

We are here to mark the way for future generations and to make concrete our

desire to promote dialogue among cultures and civilizations. Let us hold fast to the

principles we unanimously adopted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are

endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit

of brotherhood.”

Allow me to salute all the efforts undertaken to date, at all levels of our

international community, for this cause that is dear to us. Nevertheless, much

remains to be done, for we are still far from achieving our objectives.

Understanding, rejection of discrimination, and tolerance, religious or

otherwise, without which a durable peace will remain a utopian ideal, must be the

watchwords in guiding our actions.

They must be our reference points in each decision we take, whether in the

political, economic, social or cultural fields.

In that regard, allow me briefly to examine the case of my country,

Madagascar, whose situation, it appears to me, embodies a model of society where

“we”, the youth, must take on an increasingly important role in all decision-making

processes.

Sixty-five per cent of the population of Madagascar is under 25 years of age,

which is roughly the proportion of youth throughout the world, especially in

developing countries.

The world is in the process of searching for a reference point to survive the

major challenges it is facing, in particular the economic and financial crisis, climate

change, food insecurity and growing poverty.

In Madagascar, these problems, combined with failed governance over the past

two decades, inevitably resulted in an acute political and social crisis.

The Malagasy experience speaks to us all, for the youth of Madagascar have

taken responsibility.

Being among the youngest Heads of State present at this General Assembly, if

not the youngest, I formally call on all the youth of the world to take action against

the new challenges facing humanity.

“Let us act in order not to suffer, and change for a better, sustainable world!”

I also appeal to our elders to have confidence in the youth of today and of

tomorrow. And I thank the Secretary-General for the relevance of his initiative at his

climate change conference, when he involved youth in this struggle for the survival

of humanity.

We are speaking out to the whole world because:

We have waited too long for our opportunity to choose;

We have waited too long to attack injustice, the poverty of our countrymen,

abuse and drift;

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We have waited too long to find real solutions to poor governance which has

mired much of humanity in poverty.

To suffering, anguish and despair, we must have one response:

We want to change,

We must change,

We will change.

This is not the first time in 49 years of independence that the Malagasy people

have manifested their will for change.

The peaceful movement of the Malagasy people led to the establishment of a

Transitional Authority validated by the High Constitutional Court of the Republic of

Madagascar.

Unfortunately, some technical and financial partners are threatening sanctions

of various types.

We can only regret such threats, which will serve only to increase the suffering

of the Malagasy people, for Madagascar still depends on international assistance,

and in the end its beneficiaries are the people and not Governments.

Therefore, from this rostrum, we solemnly appeal to the international

community, to all donors, to review their reading of the situation and to continue

their assistance to the Malagasy people in order to prevent further deterioration in

their standard of living.

The principal mission of the transition regime, which is consensual and

inclusive, is to draft a new Constitution for the advent of the Fourth Republic in line

with the expectations of the Malagasy people. The major principles of this new

Constitution will be laid down during a national conference to be organized and

conducted by civil society.

We would like to state our commitment to the holding of free, fair, transparent

and regular elections as early as possible, on the basis of a new electoral code under

the supervision of the Independent Electoral Commission and monitored by

international observers.

We greatly hope that the United Nations will accompany us through this

electoral process. We request your assistance and support.

Looking towards the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures in

2010, the Malagasy people call for international cooperation in favour of all

initiatives aimed at promoting a culture of peace and dialogue among all cultures,

civilizations and religions. This choice is eminently meaningful as the current crises

remind us that all countries of the world are called on to cooperate, especially

because of interdependence related to globalization, and that a spirit of dialogue

must prevail.

Dialogue assumes equality and mutual respect. Thus, all points of view and

proposed solutions deserve to be considered for their worth in order to address the

complex crises which are currently raging across our planet. In other words,

effective multilateralism through international organizations is at stake, and

ideological eclecticism as well as methodological realism must be brought to bear.

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Dialogue also requires a spirit of burden-sharing. From this viewpoint, since

crises have universal impact, recovery should benefit all and associated strategies

must be impartial.

As long as some peoples and actors of the world are underestimated and even

excluded, effectiveness will miss the mark.

The promises made at the international conferences on the economic, financial,

food and climate crises must be kept. Among them, I would like to cite the promise

to allocate 0.7 per cent of the economic recovery plans adopted in rich countries to

respond to the immediate needs of peoples suffering from hunger and malnutrition

and to guarantee food security for all.

Madagascar is grateful for the support of the international community in its

efforts for peace and development, and reaffirms its determination to contribute to

our collective reflections in order to solve shared problems.

May the dialogue of civilizations prosper all the nations through a gentler,

more humane globalization!