Mali, 2009

At the outset,

Sir, it is a pleasure for Mali to congratulate you on

your election as President of the General Assembly at

its sixty-fourth session and on your outstanding

management of our work. The trust placed in you does

honour to the whole of Africa and is a brilliant tribute

to the great Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and its leader,

whose commitment to African unity and just causes is

acknowledged by all. I assure you of our full support in

your new responsibilities and congratulate your

predecessor, Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann of

Nicaragua, on his excellent work throughout his

mandate.

I also congratulate Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon on his strenuous efforts to strengthen the role

of our Organization, and reaffirm our desire for his

success in his assigned missions.

The current general debate is a timely opportunity

for us to consider together the urgent problems facing

the international community, to share our worries and

concerns about the challenges that affect the world, and

to find sustainable solutions pursuant to the heartfelt

aspirations of our peoples.

While the financial and economic crisis that burst

onto the scene last year has spared no country, it

undoubtedly weakened the economies of the

developing countries, especially in Africa, a continent

that has long been marginalized. Fluctuations in food

and oil prices have decreased revenues and exacerbated

inflation in many developing countries.

The current multifaceted crises in the realms of

finance, food, energy and the environment have

plunged hundreds of millions of people into poverty

and aggravated circumstances already straitened by

unemployment and the high cost of access to basic

services. The plight of the most vulnerable strata of

society in developing countries, especially women and

children, calls for action by the international

community and should be at the heart of international

concerns.

Even as this year we celebrate the twentieth

anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the

Child, hundreds of millions of children still live at risk

and in extreme poverty. More than 26,000 children

under the age of five die each day in developing

countries of diseases that for the most part could have

been avoided if adequate resources had been mobilized

and effective measures put in place to respond to

immediate needs.

The breadth and complexity of the challenges that

must be met cannot distract the international

community from its responsibilities. It goes without

saying that the resolution of the world financial and

economic crisis requires a democratization of the

international monetary system, notably the institution

of a new international financial architecture based on

the genuine participation of all nations, including

developing countries. Only a global and cooperative

effort will succeed in laying the groundwork for a

lasting recovery. It is also essential to strengthen global

development partnerships in order to create conditions

favourable for the reduction of poverty, the

improvement of health and education, gender equality

and environmental protection, as set out in the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In this regard, the Government of Mali has

launched an innovative project to focus the MDGs on

the 166 Malian municipal districts most vulnerable to

food shortages. That initiative, inspired by the

Millennium Village approach, is part of the economic

and social development project instituted by the

President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Amadou

Toumani Touré. The project’s principal aim is

“to assure robust and sustainable growth that

produces opportunities and prosperity for all

citizens; to open the way to the achievement of

the MDGs by 2015, thus allowing all Malians to

enjoy the fundamental rights of all human beings

to have enough to eat, to have access to potable

water, to enjoy basic services within a radius of

five kilometres and to send their children, both

boys and girls, to primary school; and to create

good working conditions for the majority of the

country’s young people”.

As part of that initiative, the Forum on Initiative

166, organized by the Malian Government in the

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margins of this session of the General Assembly, has

increased awareness among development partners and

donors alike of the need to support the efforts of the

more than 2.5 million people living in nearly 3,000

villages in the 166 districts to raise themselves out of

extreme poverty and launch their own social and

economic development process.

Despite the progress made in developing

countries with regard to the MDGs, the 2015 deadline

looms on the horizon and much remains to do. We dare

believe that the pledges made by the industrialized

countries, notably at the Group of 20 summits held in

Washington, D.C., London and Pittsburgh, will be

honoured.

We also urge donor nations, international

financial institutions and development organizations to

give full attention to the special circumstances of the

group of landlocked developing nations. Given their

lack of access to oceans, their isolation and their

removal from international markets, those countries

face great difficulties in their endeavours to ensure

their economic growth and social well-being and to

participate in the global economy and international

commerce. We remain convinced that pushing forward

the implementation of the Almaty Programme of

Action for landlocked countries will greatly contribute

to the realization of the goals identified.

Climate change remains one of the greatest

challenges of the day. We welcome the Secretary-

General’s initiative to convene a summit devoted

exclusively to climate change and environmental

degradation. We believe that the international

community must intensify its efforts to reach an

international accord at the Conference in Copenhagen

this December.

The maintenance of international peace and

security is a prerequisite for all development. That is

why Mali remains firmly devoted to the ideals of peace

and stability both inside and outside its borders. In that

spirit and at the initiative of the President of Mali, a

regional conference will shortly be convened in

Bamako on peace, security and development in the

Sahelo-Saharan region. Our most ardent wish is to

transform that area into a haven of peace, stability and

prosperity.

Mali welcomes the progress made in Africa in

restoring peace, stability and post-conflict

reconciliation under the auspices of the African Union

and the United Nations. We reaffirm our active

solidarity with the peoples of the Middle East and will

continue to support the relevant United Nations

resolutions on the Middle East and the Palestinian

question.

International terrorism is yet another serious

threat to international peace and security. Mali

therefore firmly and unequivocally condemns terrorism

in all its forms and manifestations, and applauds the

General Assembly’s adoption of the Global Counter-

Terrorism Strategy (resolution 60/288), as promoted by

our heads of State and Government at the 2005 World

Summit.

Today more than ever, our nations must

coordinate their efforts to overcome together the great

challenges faced by humanity. The strengthening of

international cooperation demands greater solidarity.

That is in the interest of us all, because humanity needs

to harness all of its potential if it is to achieve

harmonious and sustainable development in an

environment of peace and security.