Niger, 2007

Allow me at the outset to congratulate Mr. Kerim most

warmly on his outstanding election to the presidency of

the General Assembly at its sixty-second session. We

are convinced that his professional qualities and his

vast and rich academic, diplomatic and business

experience will lead to the success of our work. I

therefore assure him of my delegation’s fullest support

in the discharge of his mandate.

With respect to outgoing President Sheikha Haya

Rashed Al-Khalifa, I wish to express our great

satisfaction at her dynamic and skilful handling of the

work of the previous session.

As to the Secretary-General, I take this

opportunity to reiterate the Niger Government’s

admiration and encouragement on his assumption of

the leadership of our collective Organization.

Two years after the 2005 World Summit, which

gave our leaders an opportunity to address the

challenges and threats confronting humankind, we

cannot help feeling optimistic despite the

persistence of such scourges as international terrorism

or the slow progress towards fulfilling the Millennium

Development Goals as we consider the unflagging

willingness of the international community resolutely

to seek solutions consonant with the threats that have

been identified.

In the field of international peace and security,

one element of the significant developments in certain

parts of the world is, without a doubt, the positive

impact of the Peacebuilding Commission, in particular

in Burundi and Sierra Leone. That alone makes the

creation of that new body worthwhile. In Africa, such

positive and encouraging trends can be witnessed in

the hope raised by developments in certain conflict

areas.

In West Africa, Liberia continues to move ahead

with national reconstruction and consolidation of

peace.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the peace process has shown

great promise since the Ouagadougou agreement was

signed in March 2007 and a “flame of peace”

ceremony took place. Those two major events bear

witness to the parties’ will to put a permanent end to

the crisis that exploded in that country five years ago.

Sierra Leone, for the first time, and after a long

period of instability, has organized free and transparent

legislative and presidential elections, bearing witness

to the resolve of the suffering people of that country to

move beyond tragedy and to resolutely build a bright

future.

In Central Africa, the adoption by the Great

Lakes countries of the Pact on Security, Stability and

Development leads us to expect, in the medium term, a

meaningful improvement in the troubled situation that

has prevailed there for some years now. It is

encouraging to note that Burundi is already at the point

where it can do without the international community’s

supervision in peacekeeping efforts within its borders

and to devote itself fully to the task of economic and

social development.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is another

case in which we will allow ourselves to have great

hopes if all the parties join in the peace movement and

take part in the ongoing democratic process.

In Darfur, the situation remains worrisome to be

sure, but thanks to the agreement between the

Government of the Sudan and the United Nations and

the adoption of Security Council resolution 1769

(2007) on 31 July, we hope that there will soon be a

return to peace and security in that part of the Sudan.

In Western Sahara, we are gratified by the

initiation of direct negotiations between Morocco and

the POLISARIO Front, including the two meetings

held under the aegis of the Personal Envoy of the

Secretary-General subsequent to the adoption of

Security Council resolution 1754 (2007).

Finally, with regard to Somalia, we earnestly

hope that the national reconciliation conference and the

efforts of the international community will yield

positive results and enable that brother country to

emerge forever from the crisis that has prevailed there

for years.

The situation in the Middle East, dominated by

the Israel-Palestine conflict, requires more focused

attention by the international community. My

delegation feels that the resumption of the political

process remains the only way to move towards a just

and lasting solution, on the basis of the relevant United

Nations resolutions and the principle of two viable

States living side by side in peace and security. The

Quartet Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative remain

frames of reference in this regard.

Generally speaking, the coherent subregional

approach employed by the United Nations and the

subregional organizations seems well suited to

handling conflicts, and also to responding to other

concerns, such as international migration, trafficking in

human beings, trafficking in drugs, transnational crime

and the proliferation and spread of small arms and light

weapons. From this perspective, in particular as

regards the African continent, the capacity of

subregional organizations and the African Union

should be reinforced.

The United Nations Ten-year Capacity-Building

Programme for the African Union is to be commended,

as it opens new possibilities for conflict prevention and

the maintenance of lasting peace on the continent, in

particular through the creation of an African

intervention force. Along these lines, the open debates

of the Security Council on strengthening the role of the

Council in conflict prevention and resolution, in

particular in Africa, are of great importance.

Conflicts are not the only threats to international

peace and security. Other phenomena, sometimes more

devastating and unforeseeable, threaten the ability of

peoples around the world to enjoy their legitimate right

to peace and security. Those phenomena include

international terrorism, transnational crime and all

types of trafficking.

In this connection, the Sahara, a geographical

zone that the Niger shares with several other African

countries, is becoming a den of drug and arms

traffickers, fuelling and perpetuating insecurity in the

region. The Niger intends to participate intensively in

any effort to enhance the international community’s

efforts to eradicate that scourge, which undermines the

economies of the countries concerned and threatens the

foundations of democracy.

In that regard, my delegation considers

international cooperation and assistance for affected

developing countries to be indispensable if we are to

succeed in combating drug trafficking and trafficking

in small arms and light weapons, including anti-tank

and anti-personnel mines. These are used by armed

groups to continue to inflict untold suffering on

innocent civilians, obstruct trade and hinder all

development activities in infested areas. The scope and

gravity of the phenomenon truly require that the

international community give it all due attention and

firmly condemn the criminal acts being carried out by

these networks of traffickers, in particular in our

region.

The linkage between peace, security,

development and human rights, spelled out in the 2005

World Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1), has lost

none of its relevance and continues to fuel our

thinking. That is why the Niger continues to feel a

sense of solidarity for all initiatives, present or future,

designed to give new momentum to development

efforts.

Niger welcomes the initiative of the informal

thematic debate entitled “Partnerships towards

achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Taking

stock, moving forward”, held on 27 November 2006

and the first in a series of three debates organized by

the General Assembly in the context of its

revitalization process. On that occasion, some

development partners were able to undertake concrete

commitments, such as that of the Islamic Development

Bank, which announced the creation of a poverty

mitigation fund endowed with a $10 billion budget.

The Government of the Niger, through me, would like

to commend that exemplary initiative, which is part of

an ever more effective development partnership.

The Niger sees the General Assembly’s adoption

of resolution of 61/16 on strengthening the role of the

Economic and Social Council as a great step forward.

The resolution names the Economic and Social Council

as a principal body responsible for economic and social

development and, in particular, for the implementation

of the international development goals agreed at the

major United Nations conferences and summits,

including the Millennium Development Goals.

We congratulate the State of Qatar on having

hosted the preparatory meeting for the Monterrey

Consensus review conference, to be held in Doha in

2008. Moreover, the unparalleled commitment of the

Government of Qatar to international development led

it to host the Conference on Consolidating Food

Security in Niger, which was held in Doha with the

support of the Organization of the Islamic Conference

and proved most successful. I therefore take this

privileged moment at the rostrum of the General

Assembly at its sixty-second session to reiterate the

profound gratitude of the people and Government of

the Niger to that friendly country, the entire Islamic

ummah and all other partners who kindly supported

that initiative.

The international community should pay

particular attention to one category of countries that is

even more vulnerable. I am referring to land-locked

developing countries, whose geography puts them at a

great disadvantage. In 2003, the Almaty Conference,

having considered their situation, adopted a

Declaration and Programme of Action, the

implementation of which is soon to be reviewed. The

time has therefore come to launch an urgent appeal to

all development partners to resolve to take the

necessary measures not only to help those countries to

achieve the Millennium Development Goals, but also

to enable them to mitigate the negative impacts of

desertification, environmental degradation and climate

change.

Desertification and the deteriorating environment

are two problems that seriously affect the countries of

the Sahel, including mine. The combined efforts of the

international community effectively to combat those

scourges should be stepped up. The action taken by the

Niger, based on the experience gained through the

special programme launched by the President of the

Republic, has allowed us to achieve spectacular

successes that deserve to be consolidated and

strengthened.

Thanks to the work to restore degraded soil,

remove sand and reforest the landscape undertaken

over the past few years and stepped up in the

framework of that programme, 3 million hectares have

been reclaimed from the desert, according to satellite

monitoring undertaken in 2006 and transmitted by the

regional Agrimet centre. Large expanses that were

desperately arid have now become productive

agricultural areas and pasture land thanks to water-

retention and infiltration activities that have raised the

water table. It is worth noting that such activities are

being carried out by several thousand young people

being paid through a cash-for-work programme.

The public debate in the Security Council and the

thematic debate in the General Assembly dedicated to

climate change highlighted the scope and gravity of the

phenomenon by emphasizing the need for urgent

collective action. The eloquent statements made at the

high-level meeting organized by the Secretary-General

on 24 September lead us to believe that the parties are

willing to move to achieve essential objectives, which

is the only way to secure a wholesome and reliable

environment for present and future generations. The

Niger resolutely supports that momentum and, within

its national strategy and plan of action for climate

change and viability, has drafted a national programme

of action for adaptation to climate change.

All such questions, which fall within the context

of a comprehensive vision of sustainable development,

are covered in our revised poverty reduction strategy,

which is the reference framework for my country’s

overall economic and development policy. I take this

exceptional opportunity solemnly to invite all our

development partners to participate in the international

conference on the Niger’s revised poverty reduction

strategy, to be held in Brussels in October. The

conference has been called, inter alia, to harmonize and

coordinate the contributions of our development

partners.

Harmonization and coordination are topical

issues in the United Nations. They are essential to

increasing the Organization’s effectiveness in

collective action to address global challenges and

threats. My delegation agrees that system-wide

coherence in United Nations activities should be a

principal focus for the implementation of reforms

advocated in the Outcome Document of the 2005

World Summit. We must therefore find the means to

implement them. I note that we see such reforms as a

way of better helping developing countries to achieve

lasting economic growth, develop sustainably and

eradicate poverty.

That is the vision that leads me to reaffirm the

Niger’s conviction that coherence and coordination

must be inspired by the cardinal principles of

ownership, national leadership and respect for national

development priorities.