Angola, 2014

On behalf of

the Government of the Republic of Angola, allow me

to congratulate you, Mr. Sam Kutesa, on your election

as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth

session, and to assure you of my country’s support as

you fulfil your mission. I would also like to congratulate

Ambassador John William Ashe for the competent

manner in which he led the work of the previous

session. We extend our greetings to Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon and commend him for his commitment to

finding solutions to the issues facing the international

community.

This session of the General Assembly is taking

place in an environment that gives rise to concern

due to the aggravation of international tensions, the

intensification of conflicts and the deepening of global

crises that require effective and sustainable solutions.

It is a matter of consensus that the solutions to common

challenges are to be found in multilateral negotiations

and should take into account the specificities of each

country and each people. The United Nations has

always been and will continue to be the mainstay of

Member States’ participation in decision-making on

issues of concern to the international community and

in upholding the global values of tolerance and peaceful

and harmonious coexistence of countries and peoples,

in accordance with the principles set forth in the Charter

of the United Nations and international law.

Angola would once again like to reiterate the

importance of all Member States joining in efforts

to make the United Nations a strong and effective

organization, and one that serves as the basis for a more

balanced, fair and inclusive international legal order

and global security system, while promoting confidence

among States and strengthening relations of friendship

and international cooperation. Our Organization should

pay special attention to the resurgence of armed conflicts

and their negative effects on populations, as well as to

arms flows, trafficking in drugs and human beings,

transnational organized crime, international terrorism

and piracy — all phenomena that have an adverse

impact on economic development and consequently

impede the improvement of living conditions.

Religious fundamentalism in some African

countries is taking on such violent proportions that

it poses a threat to regional security, with serious

consequences for peace, stability and development.

Angola strongly condemns the acts committed by

terrorist groups and expresses its support for efforts to

ensure the full neutralization of those groups. Angola

supports efforts to strengthen the crisis-management

capacity of the United Nations and considers dialogue

and negotiation to be the best means of resolving

conflicts.

We will continue to meet our international

obligations, with special emphasis on the African

continent and the regional groupings in which we

operate, including the Southern African Development

Community, the Economic Community of Central

African States, the African countries that use Portuguese

as an official language, the Gulf of Guinea Commission

and the International Conference on the Great Lakes

Region, with a view to defining mechanisms and forms

of cooperation with the United Nations, the African

Union, the Community of Portuguese-speaking

Countries and other international partners.

Angola assumed the rotating presidency of the

International Conference on the Great Lakes Region

in January, and in that forum continues to promote the

resolution of conflicts on the African continent with a

view to attaining stability, political and institutional

development, internal and border security, good

governance and human rights. It is in that context

that Angola is engaged in the peace processes in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African

Republic and the Great Lakes region.

The Ebola epidemic is an issue of great concern.

The position of the Security Council, which declared

the epidemic to be a threat to international peace and

security, fully reflects the seriousness of the situation.

A decisive commitment on the part of the international

community is required if the scourge is to be combated

and eradicated.

We reiterate the need to reform and revitalize the

United Nations system, in particular the need to reform

the Security Council, which should be brought into

line with the current international context and whose

membership should reflect an equitable geographical

representation through an increase in the number of

permanent members. Angola reiterates the right of the

African continent to sit among the permanent members

of the Council.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the lack of

progress in finding a lasting solution are a major cause

of widespread instability in the Middle East, and

also the root cause of the resurgence of terrorism in

the region. That situation worries the Government of

Angola. We call for political will and flexibility from

both parties, and we encourage the Secretary-General

and the United States Secretary of State to continue

their mediation efforts with a view to establishing a

sovereign and independent Palestinian State, as well as

a modus vivendi to ensure that the two States coexist

in peace and security within internationally recognized

borders.

The impasse in resolving the question of Western

Sahara continues to delay the exercise of the right

to self-determination of the people of that territory.

Angola calls on the parties to continue negotiations

under the auspices of the United Nations and the

African Union in order to find a solution in accordance

with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations

and resolution 1514 (XV) of December 1960.

With regard to the situation in the Ukraine, Angola

deplores the loss of human lives caused by instability

in the region and calls for dialogue between the parties

involved to find a political solution to the conflict.

The situations in Somalia and South Sudan

remain cause for concern. However, there has been

some encouraging progress, which is why we urge

the authorities in those countries and the international

community to continue their efforts for stabilization.

Angola welcomes the constitutional normalization in

some African countries. We welcome the holding of

democratic elections in Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar

and Egypt, and we express our solidarity with the

national reconciliation and reconstruction processes

and the economic and social development in those

countries.

The Government of Angola expresses its

appreciation for the choice of the central theme of

this session, “Delivering on and implementing a

transformative post-2015 development agenda”. It is

greatly relevance, especially for the least developed

countries. The progress made in some of those

countries is far behind the targets of the Millennium

Development Goals, due to structural issues, and is

insufficient to mitigate the persistent effects of the

economic problems.

With one year remaining until the final assessment

of the achievement of the Millennium Development

Goals, our economies continue to suffer the effects of

the international economic and financial crisis, which

create barriers to economic growth and hinder the

implementation of programmes to combat poverty and

improve the living conditions of our peoples. However,

we note with satisfaction that the African continent

has ceased to present the image of desolation it did at

the beginning of the millennium. A new reality has

emerged in which African countries boast an average

growth of 5 per cent per year and improvements in

several human development indicators. We believe that

the trend of progress will prevail in the near future,

and we will do everything to make it so by investing in

future generations on the basis of the objectives of the

New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the post-

2015 road map and the African Agenda 2063.

Angola is implementing its National Development

Plan 2013-2017, which aims to increase the supply of

social services to the population, diversify the economy

and consolidate macroeconomic stability, thus laying

the foundation for the process of graduation to a

middle-income country.

Angola reiterates the need to end the economic and

financial embargo imposed on Cuba, which limits the

right of the Cuban people to development and is a clear

violation of the principles and rules of international law.

Finally, we appreciate and have been touched by

the support that Angola has received from numerous

countries for its candidature to be a non-permanent

member of the Security Council for the 2015-2016

biennium, elections for which will place during the

Assembly’s present session. Once elected to that

important organ, we will work with partners in the

Council to seek solutions to the serious problems

facing the international community and to make a real

contribution to peace and security in the world.