Mozambique, 2005

Allow me to

congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of

the General Assembly at the sixtieth session. We are

delighted to see a distinguished son of Sweden and a

friend of Mozambique in the stewardship of this body

and wish to express our confidence that, under your

able leadership, our deliberations will produce

successful results. I would like to take this opportunity

to pay a well-deserved tribute to your predecessor, His

Excellency Mr. Jean Ping, for the remarkable manner

in which he spearheaded the deliberations of the fifty-

ninth session of General Assembly. May I also

commend the Secretary-General for his continued

vision and leadership in our collective efforts to pursue

the fundamental ideals of the United Nations, in

particular the implementation of the international

agenda for peace and development highlighted in his

report (A/59/2005). We encourage him to continue his

outstanding work.

We gather here today inspired by the spirit of

togetherness and collective vision on the path that we

should strive to continue to travel in order to achieve

our common aspirations, as underscored throughout the

deliberations of the High-level Plenary Meeting. We

must seize this momentum to reinforce multilateralism

as a guiding principle upon which the international

community should rely to adequately face today's

challenges. We believe that the emphasis of the World

Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1) on the vital

importance of an effective multilateral system and our

determination to fulfil the commitments we set for

ourselves will generate and galvanize good momentum

for action aimed at tangible results.

As we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the

United Nations, we should reflect on what we want the

Organization to be and on what role each country and

region should play in these collective endeavours. In

recognizing inclusiveness and the equal rights of men

and women and of all nations, the Charter of the

United Nations builds on our diverse cultural and

traditional values to unite us around our common

humanity. Our failure to overcome the poverty trap in

which developing countries are caught, as well as the

constant threat posed by terrorism, indicates the need

for an international system that is more inclusive and

democratic and that conforms to the Charter of the

United Nations and the relevant provisions of

international law. It is our firm belief that the United

Nations continues to be an indispensable instrument for

achieving those objectives. Thus, the strength of the

Organization must be high on our agenda. We ought to

improve its performance by reforming its organs and

structures.

Therefore, it is our sincere hope that United

Nations reform will help to foster strong relationships

and cooperative links of coordination among all its

principal organs, in particular the General Assembly,

the Security Council and the Economic and Social

Council.

Security Council reform should be aimed at

building transparency, democracy, openness and

consistency with regard to all regions represented in

the Organization. In that regard, the growing political

commitment and involvement of Africa in the

international agenda for peace and stability calls for

enhanced representation on the Security Council.

We hope that the recently proposed Peacebuilding

Commission will help to keep sustained international

attention on countries in transition from post-conflict

situations to recovery and long-term development and

ensure continued support for them. Indeed, the

experience of Mozambique's transition from a post-

conflict situation to reconstruction and development

testifies to the valuable contribution and impact of the

concerted support provided by the United Nations and

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the international community for peace and

development efforts.

The adoption of the Millennium Declaration and

the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) gave new

momentum to our quest to fight poverty, accelerate

human development and facilitate the gradual and

effective integration of the developing world into the

global economy. Despite the less ambitious outcome of

the recently concluded summit, the time has come to

build a genuine international partnership and to

reaffirm our political will to fully implement

internationally agreed commitments.

We need to work diligently to implement the

commitments made in Monterrey. In that regard, the

establishment of a detailed calendar for the

implementation of the goals set on financing for

development is vital to generate access to additional

financial support for developing countries. To that end,

we welcome the decision by the European Union to set

collective and specific targets with a view to reaching

the internationally agreed target of devoting 0.7 per

cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to official

development assistance (ODA) by 2015.

The sustainable development of low-income

countries, particularly in Africa, depends upon a more

open, equitable and rules-based multilateral trading

system, as trade constitutes an engine for growth and

development. In that regard, we view partnership

agreements such as the Cotonou Agreement and the

African Growth and Opportunity Act as important

steps towards fulfilling some of the development

objectives. We strongly believe that the completion of

the Doha round by 2006 will help to establish an

international trading system consistent with

development goals and policies.

While developing countries are striving to

finance the MDGs, debt servicing has been diverting

significant amounts of their limited resources, at the

cost of social and economic development. In that

context, we reiterate the calls for more radical action

by the international community, in line with

recommendations that debt relief should cover

multilateral and bilateral debt and reduce debt stock

and debt servicing by up to 100 per cent. To that end,

we support the continuation of the Heavily Indebted

Poor Countries Debt Initiative and other relief

measures, particularly those addressing the special

needs of African countries.

In that regard, we commend the debt-cancellation

decision made by the ministers for finance of the

Group of Eight (G-8) in favour of 18 developing

countries, including Mozambique. We encourage the

G-8 and other development partners to continue with

such important initiatives and to address the

unsustainable debt burden of many developing

countries, so that new resources can be invested in

pursuit of poverty reduction.

The Government of the Republic of Mozambique

is now fully engaged in the implementation of its

programme for 2005-2009 that incorporates our vision

of development based on continuity and renewal. That

approach is founded on past experiences and

programmes pursued in the quest for development and

the well-being of all Mozambicans. The eradication of

poverty requires new dynamism and vigour, as clearly

pointed out in the New Partnership for Africa's

Development (NEPAD), the Brussels Programme of

Action for the Least Developed Countries and the

Millennium Development Goals. In that context, our

five-year programme focuses on integrated rural

development and the expansion of basic economic and

social infrastructure, with the aim of reducing absolute

poverty through the promotion of rapid, comprehensive

and sustained economic growth and job creation. In

addressing social and economic development, the

programme seeks mainly to reduce regional imbalances

and to expand the supply of basic services such as

health, education and access to electricity and safe

drinking water. The programme also gives due

attention to the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and

other infectious diseases, as well as to the special

needs of young people in terms of training,

employment and housing.

Through the implementation of sound political

and macroeconomic policies and strategies for

development, we have registered economic growth

rates that have averaged 7.5 per cent annually from

2000 to 2005. Poverty levels have declined

significantly, from 69.5 per cent in 1997 to 54 per cent

in 2003. That has been possible due to our focus on our

nationally owned poverty eradication strategy. That

strategy has not only mainstreamed the MDGs and

adapted them to our own realities; it also embodies a

clear pro-poor and people-centred development

strategy.

The consolidation of peace, democracy and

national unity continue to be high on our national

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agenda, as we recognize that peace and stability are

sine qua nons for securing sustainable development in

our country.

We continue to build self-confidence around

Africa. The continent counts on NEPAD to raise the

spirit of ownership of African leaders, and thus bring

about significant changes in our development. The

adherence to date of 28 countries to the African Peer

Review Mechanism has bolstered the credibility of

participating States, as it ensures that their policies and

practices comply with agreed political, economic and

corporate-governance values, codes and standards.

We are seeing good examples of conflict

resolution in Africa. However, conflicts continue to

cause unbearable human suffering, which deprives a

large number of our fellow Africans of their

inalienable right to live in dignity. We commend the

efforts of the Secretary-General and the international

community at large to address both humanitarian crises

and the root causes of conflict in Africa.

With regard to Western Sahara, we urge the

parties concerned to work together with the Secretary-

General with a view to finding a political solution to

the long-standing conflict in that country.

We are following with keen interest the latest

developments in the Middle East. We continue to

believe that a lasting solution to the question of

Palestine ó the core of the conflict in the region ó

must be in accordance with international law and

relevant United Nations resolutions and must fully

recognize the right of the Palestinian people to self-

determination.

We welcome the decision to conclude a

comprehensive convention on terrorism not later than

June 2006, for that will constitute a further effort to

strengthen the international community's resolve to

face the challenge of eliminating the scourge of

terrorism. Similarly, we would like to stress the

importance of regional agreements and declarations to

combat and eliminate terrorism in all its forms as a tool

to strengthen cooperation among Member States and

provide a platform for the effective implementation of

international legal instruments to suppress terrorism.

We support the calls for a transparent verification

mechanism that can help to prevent the use of nuclear

weapons against non-nuclear States. In that regard, we

also share the view that all States parties to the Treaty

on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, without

discrimination and while undertaking their

responsibilities for nuclear disarmament and non-

proliferation, should have the right to use nuclear

energy for peaceful purposes, as well as to engage in

research on nuclear technology in conformity with the

provisions of the Treaty.

We would like to conclude by reaffirming the

commitment of Mozambique to the principles and

purposes enshrined in the Charter of the United

Nations, as well as our belief that the United Nations

reform process will strengthen the Organization with a

view to providing more and better assistance to all

Member States, in particular with respect to addressing

the special needs of Africa.