Mali, 2004

Allow me

at the outset warmly to congratulate you, Sir, on your

election as President of the General Assembly at its

fifty-ninth session and to assure you and the other

members of the Bureau, whom I also congratulate, of

the full support of the delegation of Mali as you carry

out your mission.

I also wish to pay tribute to the dedication of

Secretary-General Kofi Annan and to thank him for his

tireless efforts in the service of the United Nations.

Six days ago, Mali commemorated in its own way

the forty-fourth anniversary of its independence. From

this high rostrum, the most symbolic of all, I wish to

recall the efforts of my country to build, under the

leadership of Mr. Amadou Toumani Touré, President of

the Republic and Head of State, a democratic, stable

and prosperous Mali asserting its place in the concert

of nations.

For several weeks now, our country and others of

the North and West African regions, have been stricken

by an unprecedented locust infestation. As President

Amadou Toumani Touré stressed in his message to the

nation on 22 September, the magnitude and speed of

the infestation have surpassed the most pessimistic

projections. The catastrophic effects of that insect

plague on the upcoming harvest and on our vegetation

are a true threat to the livelihood of the millions of men

and women thus exposed to famine.

The Government of the Republic of Mali is

actively working to suppress the scourge, above all

through a national mobilization that has brought teams,

brigades and village communities to work in the field,

and with the support of the international community,

and in particular to brotherly African countries. I

reiterate here my country’s gratitude to them all. I also

wish firmly to say, however, that, faced with the insect

plague and in order to ensure the food security of

infested countries, including Mali, we have a shared

responsibility to launch and strengthen short-, medium-

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and long-term international mobilization. We must act,

act quickly and act effectively.

Questions related to international peace and

security continue to be a source of concern to us. In the

past year we have seen crises and conflicts multiply

throughout the world. I would like, in particular, to

recall the situation in West Africa and Mali’s initiatives

to contribute to the settlement of the crisis in Côte

d’Ivoire, whose subregional repercussions are

considerable and fraught with consequences for peace

and stability in West Africa.

In this regard, the so-called Bamako II meeting

made it possible to establish the conditions for the

success of the Accra III high-level meeting. I

forcefully echo the assertion of President Amadou

Toumani Touré that Mali will continue to support

peace and reconciliation in Côte d’Ivoire: peace for the

people of Côte d’Ivoire, and peace for all of the

foreigners who live in that brotherly neighbouring

country.

Here I would mention Mali’s participation in the

peacekeeping missions of the United Nations, the

African Union and the Economic Community of West

African States (ECOWAS) in Liberia, Sierra Leone, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Haiti.

Furthermore, Mali’s commitment to international

peace and security is at the root of our country’s action

to make the Sahelo-Saharan area a focal point of

development and stability. This was especially evident

during the Malian presidency of the Community of

Sahelo-Saharan States.

Mali is also deeply concerned by the situation in

the Middle East: measures to close off Palestinian

territories, arbitrary arrests, extrajudiciary executions,

the destruction of property, land seizures, lack of

respect for resolutions adopted by the international

community and the siege imposed upon President

Arafat. Those actions do not help to establish true

peace in that part of the world. Mali, which has always

supported the just cause of the Palestinian people,

urgently appeals to the members of the Quartet to

restore dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian

Authority, with a view to a just, equitable and lasting

settlement of a conflict which has gone on too long.

International terrorism is today another challenge

to international peace and security. We have seen this

phenomenon on all continents, making it abundantly

clear that terrorism has neither homeland nor religion.

That is why the international community must display

steadfast political will in combating terrorism by, inter

alia, strengthening the available legal arsenal,

including mechanisms for cooperation and technical

assistance. Beyond this, we must tackle the root causes

of the phenomenon, which include poverty, massive

human rights violations, intolerance, injustice and

impunity from prosecution.

The question of small arms and light weapons is

also a primary concern for us. Mali has made a

significant contribution in this area by developing

initiatives at the subregional, regional and international

levels. In this regard, Mali is striving to transform the

ECOWAS Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation

and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons in

West Africa into a convention. We further believe that

the international community must now resolutely

engage in the establishment of a binding legal

instrument on marking, registering and tracing small

arms and light weapons.

The situation of children in armed conflicts is

also a source of concern for my country. We fully

support the recommendations contained in the report of

the Special Representative to the Secretary-General for

Children and Armed Conflict (E/CN.4/2004/70), and

call for the effective implementation of Security

Council resolution 1539 (2004). Along the same lines,

Mali is working within the Human Security Network to

keep this question among the priorities of our

Organization.

In order to effectively prevent and manage these

situations of crisis and conflict — that is, to preserve

and guarantee international peace and security — the

international community must work for an international

order that is based on the rule of law, and for a United

Nations whose legitimacy is strengthened. Thus, we

welcome the establishment of the High-Level Panel on

Threats, Challenges and Change, and we anxiously

await its conclusions.

The question of development is, and must remain,

a priority issue on the international agenda, and thus

we welcome the decision to hold a plenary meeting in

2005 devoted to follow-up of the outcome of the

Millennium Summit, and to a comprehensive and

coordinated follow-up and implementation of

documents from the major conferences and summit

meetings organized by the United Nations on economic

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and social topics. We hope that that meeting will

enable us to conduct an objective and candid review of

the way in which commitments have been met,

including the progress achieved and obstacles

remaining in the implementation of the Millennium

Development Goals.

Defeating poverty is a major objective for the

Government of the Republic of Mali. As part of that

endeavour, the adoption in 2002, and the

implementation, of a strategic framework, has made it

possible to achieve important results in the areas of

education, health, rural development and basic

infrastructure. I take this opportunity to express Mali’s

support for the initiative launched by Presidents

Jacques Chirac and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which

led to the New York Declaration on Action Against

Hunger and Poverty adopted on 20 September 2004.

On trade negotiations, Mali attaches great

importance to the round of trade negotiations under

way within the World Trade Organization (WTO): the

Doha development round. We hope that those

negotiations will lead to an economic system which

will enable all countries, especially developing

countries, to fully maximize their potential. We hope to

see a true breakthrough in agricultural negotiations,

which should lead to the elimination of subsidies and

other production and export support mechanisms,

particularly with respect to cotton. Indeed, cotton is

one of the commodities where we, African producer

countries, offer true comparative advantages, since

production costs are one fifth those in developed

countries. At present, however, our countries are

seriously harmed by production and export subsidies

for cotton.

For that reason, we reaffirm our opposition to

subsidy policies which undermine free market

competition, lead to overproduction and lower prices

on the international market and prevent our agriculture

from getting off the ground.

That is why Mali is also calling for the gradual

elimination of all tariff and non-tariff barriers, as well

as the implementation of measures on the free

movement of people, goods and services. We are

pleased with the European Union’s commitment to

facilitate the integration of least developed countries

within the multilateral trading system, including

through the adoption in April 2004 of an action plan

for agriculture that includes a proposal for an Africa-

Europe partnership on cotton.

The AIDS pandemic is progressing at such an

alarming rate that, in addition to its health

repercussions, it has today become a problem for

economic and social development, especially in Africa.

That is why we must implement, urgently and in full,

the commitments that we undertook in 2001 so that we

can mobilize the necessary energy and resources to

effectively fight the scourge. Mali has set up a

multisectoral programme to fight HIV/AIDS at a cost

of $150 million, or 73 billion CFA francs. The

implementation of that programme will make it

possible to distribute antiretroviral drugs to patients

free of charge, as well as to provide necessary impetus

to the information and awareness campaign with a

view to prevention. Pilot laboratories for screening and

counselling will be established throughout the country,

and small and medium-sized businesses for social

outreach will be set up, thus providing jobs for young

people.

With regard to the situation of people with

disabilities, Mali is pleased with the negotiations that

are under way with a view to elaborating a convention

to protect their rights and dignity. We are convinced

that the adoption of such an instrument would establish

a framework for improved social and economic

integration for people with disabilities, allowing them

to fully participate in the development efforts of their

respective societies.

I would like to conclude in the same vein as I

began — by emphatically reaffirming the faith that

Mali has in the United Nations, whose purposes and

principles, set out almost 60 years ago, remain deeply

meaningful and highly relevant. It is true that recently

the Organization’s capacity and credibility have been

seriously undermined. It is therefore all the more

important that we carry out a thorough reform of the

Organization and revitalize its main bodies. Mali

welcomes the important progress that has been

achieved in the context of the revitalization of the work

of the General Assembly. The reorganization of the

work of the Main Committees, the strengthening of the

role of the Bureau and the improvement in working

methods will certainly result in the greater

effectiveness of this important body. I would like to

pay tribute, Sir, to your predecessor, Mr. Julian Hunte,

for the remarkable work that he accomplished in that

respect.

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Mali shares the common African position that

Security Council reform is a necessary — indeed, a

priority — task if we are to strengthen the capacities

and the credibility of that important body. The Council

must be more representative and legitimate. Its

composition should reflect the realities of today’s

world and be expanded in both categories of

membership, with particular account being taken of the

representation of Africa.

The people of the world have placed their hope in

the United Nations, and they expect, in return, greater

peace, security, democracy, development and solidarity.

As the community of nations, we have the means to

achieve those goals, thanks to our collective awareness

and the safeguarding of the values we all share:

democracy, respect for the rule of law, the primacy of

human rights, the preservation of the environment and

the protection of future generations from the scourge of

war.