Chad, 2013

Allow me,

at the outset, to congratulate the new President of the

General Assembly, Mr. John Ashe, his predecessor,

Mr. Vuk Jeremi., and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

for the work they have carried out since the previous

session.

The theme of this session, “The post-2015

development agenda: setting the stage”, is very much at

the heart of our concerns. The 2015 deadline we have

set for ourselves will soon be upon us. The general

impression is that a number of countries continue

to fall short in terms of funding the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs), official development

assistance and debt relief. It is unfortunate to note that

all of the commitments made to boost economies and

development efforts have not achieved the expected

results, despite major international mobilization.

There is a strong possibility that the 2015 deadline

will fall well short of many countries’ expectations,

especially in Africa — since poverty persists, despite

the development and implementation of national

poverty eradication strategies. That is why — drawing

on lessons learned from the shortfalls in setting and

implementing the MDGs — the African continent

intends to establish a post-2015 development agenda

that is capable of meeting its expectations and it calls

upon the international community to support it.

On top of the development challenges come

other security challenges. New hotspots and wars are

emerging all over the continent. Coupled with that, the

terrorism phenomenon has taken a heavy toll, as was

the case earlier in Mali and now in Kenya.

Terrorism is a scourge that knows no borders.

It feeds off of the blood of the poor, spreading its

recruitment tools of ignorance, poverty and fanaticism.

No good can ever come from violence carried out

against peaceful populations while using supposed

religious considerations or doctrines as a pretext.

Such violence is totally contrary to the principles of

international law, in terms of human rights and the right

to freedom of religion and opinion. Our profound belief

is that the fight against terrorism must continue to the

last breath, in order to curb proliferation and eradicate

it definitively.

Chad, for its part, has made its strategic choice.

It has decided to make its modest contribution to

the establishment of peace, security and stability

wherever necessary. That fundamental position is the

key motivation of its candidature for non-permanent

membership in the Security Council for the period

2014-2015. To that end, my country expects friendly,

active and enthusiastic support from the Assembly, to

encourage its valiant people to continue to provide their

utmost effort in supporting the cause of international

peace and security, which are indispensible to

establishing a world based on stability, development

and democracy.

Since restoring its stability, Chad has remained

mindful of all crisis situations in Africa and in the

world. It intends to fully cooperate with the United

Nations on all positive initiatives aimed at peace and

security, wherever the need may arise.

My country provided a clear indication of its

unshakeable resolve through efforts with the United

Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and

Chad (MINURCAT) in the eastern part of Chad, from

2008 to 2010 protecting Sudanese refugees from Darfur

and Chadian internally displaced persons and ensuring

the security of humanitarian personnel and associated

United Nations personnel.

True to its philosophy, Chad sent the largest armed

contingent to Mali, with more than 2,000 men, and 900

to the Central African Republic. Some 1,800 Chadian

soldiers will join the new United Nations force in Mali.

Chadian peacekeepers are now present in Côte d’Ivoire,

the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti as part

of United Nations peacekeeping missions.

We take this solemn opportunity to formally

commend the successful completion of the transition

process in Mali, with the holding of free, regular

democratic elections unanimously hailed by the

entire international community. Our wish is for that

fraternal country to restore peace, unity and stability

so that its sons and daughters can focus their energies

and intelligence on progress and the well-being of the

population.

However, the situation in the Central African

Republic remains alarming. The insecurity and the

political, economic and financial difficulties that

continue to face the transitional Government represent

major challenges of concern to everyone. The countries

of the region, through the Economic Community of

Central African States, have made their utmost effort

to mobilize military, financial and human resources to

support peace and security in that country.

I wish to welcome the establishment of the

Mission internationale de soutien à la Centrafrique

sous conduite africaine, of which the Central Africa

Multinational Force comprises the core. Its troop

level will increase from 2,000 to 3,600, thanks to

the participation of Central African States and other

friendly countries that have shown an interest in joining

that noble cause. In spite of all those efforts, we must

recognize that the needs on the ground clearly highlight

the need for swift intervention, admittedly in the spirit

of regional solidarity but also with the vital support of

the international community. To that end, we expect

the Security Council to adopt a firm resolution that

provides for logistical and financial support modalities

for the mission.

Turning to the Sudan, as the Assembly knows,

we signed a peace accord on 15 January 2010 and

established a joint force that has allowed us to stabilize

our common borders. As a result, my country will

continue to actively strive for peace in the Sudan, as

a member of the follow-up committee for the Darfur

Peace Agreement.

Nevertheless, I think it would be timely to draw the

attention of the Assembly to the humanitarian situation

in Darfur as a result of the new hotbeds of tension that

are emerging and which lead to a constant flow of other

refugees and internally displaced persons towards

eastern Chad. Currently, there are more than 400,000

refugees and 200,000 internally displaced persons,

compared to 290,000 and 180,000 in past years. All

efforts made since the outbreak of that crisis to foster

the return of refugees and internally displaced persons

to their regions of origin have been in vain thus far. It is

our duty to advocate from this rostrum for the energetic

pursuit of assistance from the international community

to all those people as political and ethnic tensions

continue to divert them from their path to return.

Chad condemns the rampant instability in the

eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

We urge the Government and the members of the

rebellion to reach a negotiated solution to their dispute

to allow that great African country to focus on its

development.

Our profound belief is that the solution to all

the crises I have just listed cannot be military. A

lasting, definitive solution to the ills that are hobbling

the development of Africa requires a constant

struggle against poverty, marginalization and youth

unemployment. It also requires the establishment of

constructive dialogue among the various sectors of

a country, on the one hand, and permanent dialogue

among different cultures and religions, on the other.

Addressing the situation outside Africa, I must first

mention the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which persists

and for which the international community has not yet

found the appropriate solutions. We urge and encourage

the efforts made by the Organization and the United

States Government to conclude a peace agreement that

allows for the peaceful coexistence of two sovereign

States.

The situation in Syria troubles us all since it has

reached a particularly grave stage. We have no right

to allow a whole people to be cast adrift. The use of

chemical weapons, which marks a dramatic escalation

of the civil war in that country, is an affront to the

human conscience and to the ideals present at the birth

of the Organization. While welcoming the agreement

between the United States and the Russian Federation

on the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons, my

country wants to see the perpetrators of those crimes

identified and brought to an international tribunal.

However, we are greatly saddened to see Syria tear itself

apart and Syrians killing each other. The international

community must do its utmost to stop that tragedy.

Allow me to turn to Cuba. The embargo against

Cuba, which has been in place for decades, unjustly

penalizes that country. We call for the lifting of the

embargo in order to allow the country to resume the

place it deserves in the comity of nations.

At the national level, Chad, which has definitively

turned the painful page of wars and divisions, is now

fully devoted to its development by exploiting its

mineral and energy resources through daring strategies.

To do that, it has just adopted a national development

plan that will soon be the subject of a round table

on its funding and implementation. At the political

level, we give pride of place to dialogue. We have

established a permanent political dialogue framework

that brings together the majority and the opposition and

has the power, inter alia, to create structures for the

organization of future elections. With the assistance of

Chad’s partners, in particular the United Nations, we

have taken all the necessary steps to prevent and put

an end to the recruitment and use of children in armed

conflict.

In conclusion, allow me to reiterate a major concern

for my country. It is our ardent wish to finally see the

long-awaited reform in the United Nations, particularly

the Security Council. That reform, which has become

an issue of justice and equity, is a top priority for

Africa. Keeping Africa, as well as other key actors on

the international scene, outside that universal forum

appears shocking today to hundreds of millions of

human beings throughout the world. The awakening of

the peoples of Africa, the role of the continent in the

world and its indispensable contribution to preventing

and settling conflict means that our continent can no

longer be sidelined from the prestigious institution that

is the Security Council.