Niger, 2013

It is a great

honour for me to take the floor at the sixty-eighth

session of the General Assembly, which is being held in

the context of some rather disturbing developments in

terms of peace and security — developments that, very

appropriately, we have an opportunity to consider and

to deal with under the provisions of the United Nations

Charter.

As I begin my statement I should like to congratulate

Mr. John Ashe on his election to the presidency, without

forgetting the team that is helping him. I should also

like to thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his

tireless efforts in areas such as sustainable development,

peace, security and counter-terrorism, particularly in

our region of the Sahel.

The theme of the sixty-eighth session, “The post-

2015 development agenda: setting the stage”, leads us

to ask what measures to take, in the spirit of solidarity,

once we have established that many countries will not

achieve the Millennium Development Goals within the

time frame, as is the case with my country, the Niger.

This session of the General Assembly gives me an

opportunity to review the ongoing efforts in our country

in that area. The renaissance programme established

since President Mahamadou Issoufou was elected to head

our country makes agriculture, health and education

absolute priorities, so that we can substantially improve

our human development index performance. Resources

expended for that purpose have enabled our country

to make significant progress. We have, in particular,

reduced the proportion of the population living in

extreme poverty and chronic undernourishment. I

should like to welcome the significant assistance from

bilateral partners and from international organizations,

including non-governmental organizations, which are

assisting the Government of the Niger in its policies

and programmes for a harmonious socioeconomic

development. It is for that purpose that the Government

launched an ambitious socioeconomic development

programme. A round table of donors was held last

November in Paris, at which pledges totalling more than

$4.8 billion were announced. That amount exceeded

the expectations of my Government.

We call for the effective mobilization of those

commitments, so that we can take action in five

strategic areas:, namely, building the credibility

and effectiveness of public institutions; establishing

conditions for sustainable, balanced and inclusive

development; food security and sustainable agricultural

development; a competitive and diversified economy

designed to promote accelerated and inclusive growth;

and the promotion of social development.

Given the particular interest accorded to rural

populations by our President, we have developed

and launched the “three N’s” initiative — Nigeriens

feeding Nigeriens — with the goal of promoting

food security and food sovereignty, in order to end

the food shortages caused by recurring droughts.

The programme is intended to improve agricultural

productivity by promoting irrigation through the

judicious development of the substantial water potential

of our country, by improving production techniques

through the substantial use of inputs and machinery,

by reorganizing the farming sector, by rationalizing

distribution channels for agricultural products and by

building roads in rural areas.

Always bearing in mind the Millennium

Development Goals, our Government is paying

particular attention to the vital question of education,

including the construction of schools, the delivery of

school supplies, the extensive recruitment of teachers

and the improvement of teachers’ working conditions.

It is determined, too, to pursue a bold, consciousness-

raising policy aimed at controlling population growth,

which is currently negating the impact of the remarkable

economic growth that we have experienced in the past

two years.

As I said at the beginning of my statement, this

session is taking place at a time when the purpose and

role of the Organization are being sorely tested, owing

to an international situation characterized by persisting

or new crises and conflicts. Now more than ever, we

need to rise to the challenge, bearing in mind the

purposes and principles of the Charter of the United

Nations.

We call upon the General Assembly, and in

particular the Security Council, to continue to work

resolutely to arrive at negotiated and lasting solutions

to situations where lethal crises have the potential to

cause desolation and displacement and compromise

socioeconomic development.

For us in the Sahel the major concern in 2012 and

2013 has been Mali. The Niger is pleased with the

positive outcome in that country and the follow-up

machinery put in place by the Organization through

the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated

Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), whose

establishment was possible thanks to a considerable

mobilization of the international community. That

mobilization was driven by the Economic Community

of West African States (ECOWAS), which dedicated a

number of very high-level meetings to the subject of

Mali, and was effectively relayed by the African Union

through its Peace and Security Council. It was followed

up on a regular basis by the United Nations, whose

Security Council has adopted many resolutions on the

subject.

But today, as we take stock of that joint action, we

are duty-bound to recognize that we owe the health

of Mali more especially to the far-sighted decision of

President Hollande to launch Operation Serval, which

was able to put an end to the terrorist coalition in early

January 2013, thanks to the sizeable means put at its

disposal, making it equal to the task.We must recognize

also that, while ECOWAS rightly and promptly opted

for a military intervention, most of the States that were

supposed to mobilize troop contingents were slow

to make them available and operational. The United

Nations, for its part, sought to differentiate between

terrorist organizations, so that, against all the evidence,

it could promote a dialogue with some of them. We

who were facing the threat were made very anxious by

some of the debates at the United Nations, which could

have been avoided if only the facts had been faced and

the straightforwardness of the evidence noted. The

unjustified stalling by the international community

encouraged the terrorists to press their advantage by

adopting a new agenda and new goals, enabling them to

envisage total victory over Malian territory, and even

beyond.

If I dwell on this it is, first, because I know how

close we came to disaster, and, secondly, because it is

my deep conviction that just because our enterprise

is complex it does not necessarily mean that we are

doomed to inaction at best and to mistakes at worst.

In spite of what I have just said, the action of the

international community in Mali yielded very positive

results, thanks to the support of all. Mali, in addition

to being free, on 11 August chose its President in

an election that was in every respect remarkable. I

should like to extend once again my congratulations to

President Keita.

The international community should continue

to support Mali, adding to the troops and capacity of

MINUSMA, so that it can complete the job of eradicating

the terrorist groups. These are now in difficult straits,

but are far from having, as it were, uttered their final

word.

It is also urgent to put in place regional and

international coordination, the job of which would be

to provide security for all of the Sahelo-Saharan area.

Vigorous measures of a general nature need to be taken

against drug trafficking and cross-border organized

crime. In that regard, I wish to express my sympathy

for the plight of the hostages held by terrorists in the

Sahelo-Saharan area. I convey my condolences to

their families and call for more efforts to achieve their

prompt release.

The problems of the Sahel are not just security

problems. That part of the world is among the most

afflicted. It is subject to the effects of climate change,

desertification and recurring droughts, as well as

the resulting food shortages and malnutrition. It

needs significant investment as part of a sustained

global strategy, supported by the entire international

community, to ensure the economic progress that is

vital for its stabilization and its deliverance from the

clutches of violence.

Terrorism in Africa affects not only the Sahel, but

also the Horn of Africa. It struck the Kenyan people on

23 September in the form of the bloody and murderous

attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. I should like to

take this opportunity to express my condolences to the

Government of Kenya.

The populations in the Central African Republic

are, tragically, experiencing an unprecedented level

of violence. The Niger calls for an international

intervention, as in Mali in January 2013, to put an end

to the martyrdom of the people of the Central African

Republic.

With respect to Palestine, it is heartbreaking to

think that in today’s world, so characterized by highly

sophisticated technology and so imbued with modern

values, a people could be deprived of its most elementary

rights. The Niger is hopeful that the current initiative of

the United States Government will be successful and

will lead to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian

State beside and in harmonious coexistence with Israel.

What is happening in Syria is a veritable tragedy,

even in this topsy-turvy world. A millennial civilization

is crumbling before our eyes. We condemn the use of

chemical weapons, as occurred on 21 August, and call

upon the United Nations to reach a political solution at

the upcoming “Geneva II” conference.

For a number of decades now, the Cuban population

has endured a trade, economic and financial embargo.

We call for the lifting of that embargo.

In conclusion, I express my fervent hope that our

deliberations will help advance the cause of peace,

security and progress throughout the world.