Senegal, 2006

Senegal and

the Kingdom of Bahrain have had cordial relations of

friendship, which have been enhanced and

strengthened by reciprocal confidence and esteem. I am

therefore pleased that Ms. Haya Rashed al-Khalifa is

presiding over the General Assembly at its sixty-first

session, during a key time in the history of our

organization. Her election was an act of faith in the

ideals of the United Nations and a message of hope for

peoples who dream of a fairer, more equitable and

more welcoming world for all. I offer her my warmest

congratulations and assure her of the full cooperation

of the Senegalese delegation as she carries out her high

responsibilities in the service of the international

community.

I would also like to convey to the Secretary-

General a fraternal message of my greatest

appreciation and gratitude for the ability and

effectiveness with which he has always acted, enabling

our Organization to better adapt to the requirements of

the new millennium. At a time when he is preparing to

leave his high post after 10 years of loyal and good

service, it is with a sincere sense of pride that I say to

him as an African compatriot, “Mr. Secretary-General,

mission accomplished”.

Last year, in this very Hall, we renewed our

commitment to meet the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) by 2015. To be sure, since that time,

some praiseworthy initiatives have occurred along the

way, especially with measures to erase the multilateral

debt of 18 least developed countries (LDCs) and to

establish a levy on air tickets as a source of financing

for development. I salute the efforts made by President

Jacques Chirac of France and by President Luiz Inácio

Lula da Silva of Brazil for their promotion of this

innovative mechanism to mobilize resources.

The problem of debt, however, in particular the

debt of our continent, remains a hindrance to our

development. In reality, the first question we should be

asking ourselves, and which we do ask in Africa,

5 06-53005

regards the evaluation of the debt: to take a look at the

overindebtedness of Africa, to see exactly how much

we owe, because it turns out that some countries are

paying more than they owe. This is why I have long

been advocating an x-ray of African debt to see how

our countries have ended up in a situation whereby

they devote much of their export earnings to paying off

debt, contracted sometimes in dubious circumstances,

to the detriment of their economic and social

development programmes. The vicious circle of debt,

compounded by unfair imbalances in international

trade owing to agricultural subsidies in wealthy

industrialized countries, has been particularly harmful

for our farmers.

The failure of the agriculture negotiations in the

Doha round, which is still fresh in our memory, shows

how far we have yet to go in order to ensure respect by

all for the rules of the game, so that world trade can be

equally profitable for the giants of agro-business as for

the small-scale cotton growers of Senegal, Benin,

Burkina Faso and Mali, or for the small-scale coffee

planters from Uganda, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. We

say yes to free trade, but it must be fair and equitable.

The dizzying increase in the price of oil and its

by-products since 2003 constitutes a new source of

concern for non-producer countries. If the current trend

continues, many countries will see their years of

economic and social development efforts wiped out by

the cost of oil. It will then be pointless to expound on

the Millennium Development Goals on schooling,

universal health care, access to drinking water for all,

the fight against unemployment and the eradication of

poverty.

In Africa, we have decided to take up the

challenge by gathering together, on the initiative of

Senegal, in the Association of Non-Oil Producing

African Countries, in order to promote the

development of bio-fuels. This green version of the

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

(OPEC) has already been launched. With its vast

cultivatable lands and enormous fresh water resources,

Africa has, without a doubt, incomparable advantages

in this sphere, and could even aspire to become the

world’s premier bio-fuel producer.

I would call upon all interested parties to join

with us in this new green energy revolution, especially

since it respects our environment and is in perfect

harmony with the objectives of the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change and its

Kyoto Protocol. Let us be optimistic in thinking that

our planet will be a healthier place in the interest of all

peoples, thanks to a civilization based on clean energy.

Turning to the situation in Africa, Senegal

welcomes the progress made in democracy on the

continent, as well as the significant progress achieved

in the peaceful settlement of disputes. Such positive

developments, however, have been thwarted by the

persistence of some hotbeds of tension. In the Sudan,

we hope and work for the expansion of the camp of

peace, so that those protagonists who have thus far

been left out of the peace process can sign the Abuja

Agreement for a settlement of the Darfur crisis.

Yesterday, here in New York, the Peace and

Security Council of the African Union addressed the

issue of Darfur and emphasized that Africa must offer

more efforts, more sacrifices and more commitment,

but that it can find a solution only within the

framework of close cooperation with the United

Nations, for which it must indicate its readiness.

Turning to the Democratic Republic of the

Congo, Senegal welcomes the holding of elections last

July. We hope that, whatever the outcome of the second

round of presidential elections on 30 October, a

reconciled Congolese people will work in the spirit of

unity to utilize the tremendous potential of their

country for peace, national unity and economic and

social progress.

To my Ivorian brothers and sisters I would like to

solemnly state that the need for a Côte d’Ivoire, healed

of its wounds for good, has become most urgent — as

much for themselves as for all of us in the subregion. I

would thus urge Ivorian leaders of all ideologies to

show that they can get beyond their differences to

foster a return to lasting peace, more in accordance

with the history of that brother country and with its

proper destiny within the West African family and

within our continent.

With regard to the Digital Solidarity Fund, which

I proposed in December 2003 at the World Summit in

the Information Society, as information technology and

communications coordinator of The New Partnership

for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), I am pleased to

report that we have had satisfactory results. Since

being launched in March 2005 with the support of

nearly all Members of the United Nations, the Fund has

gained the formal support of the People’s Republic of

06-53005 6

China. I would like warmly to thank the Chinese

authorities for their support, which surely bolsters the

Fund’s universal nature. I request all States that have

not yet done so to formalize their previously voiced

commitment to the Fund by sending a letter to the

Executive Secretary of the Fund in Geneva. I would

recall that cities too can become members. I take this

opportunity also to recall that the Digital Solidarity

Fund is supported exclusively through voluntary public

and private contributions, the amount of which is up to

member States, cities or local governments.

We would suggest that countries commit

themselves to the so-called Geneva Principle, which

consists of, including in calls for bids in the digital

technology field, a contribution to the Fund of 1 per

cent of the value of the goods and services linked to

information and communications technology. Fund

resources are managed in strict transparency through

the Foundation Council with a tripartite membership:

local authorities, private enterprise and civil society.

The General Assembly’s recent High-Level

Dialogue on International Migration and Development

shows the extent to which we must continue our joint

efforts to address an extremely relevant and complex

problem which will be with us for a long time to come.

International migration has always been a part of the

history of peoples. What is new is the current scope

and form of illegal immigration. For a wide variety of

reasons, with North-South imbalances not the least of

them, illegal migration necessitates an approach of

joint partnership instead of unilateral solutions.

In Senegal, we have already decided to resolutely

combat this phenomenon by strengthening the

surveillance of our coasts with the support of our

European partners. We have already signed an

agreement with Spain, and we shall sign a similar

agreement with France next week. The purpose of

these agreements is to regulate migratory flows to

developed countries, thereby combating illegal

migration. The smugglers, largely responsible for this,

are constantly being hunted down and punished in

accordance with the law.

Along with the dismantling of clandestine

networks, we have launched our Return to Agriculture

programme, through which we are setting up rural

farms in order to enable our young people to engage in

modern agriculture and animal husbandry. This will

give them reasons to stay at home and avoid tragic

ventures which often end at the bottom of the sea or in

the desert. That is how we implement the principle we

have adopted in Senegal: zero illegal emigration.

The year 2006 marks a decisive turning point in

the history of the United Nations, with reforms under

way to adapt to changing world realities. These include

the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the

Peacebuilding Commission, which I hope will allow

for enhanced promotion of human rights and more

effective management of post-conflict periods.

As for Security Council reform, Senegal deplores

the deadlock in the negotiations, which is to the

detriment of regions such as ours. Africa, while it is the

focal point of the Council’s agenda, does not have a

single permanent seat. That is a historical injustice

which must be corrected as soon as possible by

granting Africa a seat, with the right to veto, apart from

the overall reform package.

The Palestinian people, too, are victims of

injustice, depriving them of a legitimate right to a

viable, free and independent State. History teaches us

that war, despite its long list of innocent victims and

the toll it takes on civilian infrastructure — bitter

experiences recently relived by the peoples of Lebanon

and Palestine — will never overcome a people’s will if

it aspires to take its rightful place in the community of

free nations. The right to freedom and

independence is part of the destiny of peoples. Its

attainment can be delayed by historic circumstances,

but destiny will always be achieved. It is better to

understand this in time than to regret it too late.

As Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of

the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,

Senegal will continue to ensure that the Organization

continues its efforts towards a negotiated, just and

lasting solution to the Middle East conflict so that all

of the suffering peoples of the region can finally live in

peaceful coexistence.

With regard to Iran, the Assembly is aware of my

position. There should be dialogue without prior

conditions, meaning that the protagonists should sit

down around a negotiating table.

Senegal has always acted in the service of peace

and continues to do so more than ever before at a time

when we face such major challenges.