Cape Verde, 2013

I would first like to salute you, Ambassador John

Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda, on your election to the

presidency of the General Assembly. Mr. President, we

are sure you will bring all your experience and wisdom

to bear in the conduct of our debates and in carrying out

the General Assembly’s important tasks.

At the outset, I would like to commend the

remarkable work the United Nations has done so that

we have the opportunity to advance the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) and to work together today

to set a new post-2015 development agenda. Indeed,

that is a global challenge that, besides inaugurating a

new era in global development, challenges us to meet

the eight Millennium Development Goals. The focus of

this session, as was declared by Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon, is fairness and dignity for all, a task that

challenges everyone and requires new attitudes and

behaviours, based on the premise that a better world is

possible.

Cape Verde, a small island developing State that

has been independent for less than 39 years, has already

achieved most of the targets envisioned and will continue

its efforts to meet all the Millennium Development

Goals. Thanks to a transformation agenda that we have

been promoting since 2001, when Cape Verde was on

the list of least developed countries, our nation has

made significant progress in the socioeconomic and

political arenas and has improved the people’s overall

standard of living. Our focus on and investment in

access to education, health care, water and food have

been clear, unambiguous and systematic, as have

our efforts to competitively integrate our economy

into the international market, with the support of our

international partners.

At the same time, the transformation agenda,

which is fully aligned with our MDG commitments

and targets, has created the conditions for Cape Verde’s

historic transition to the realm of middle-income

countries, although, owing to the strong impact of the

international crisis, which has to some extent put the

brakes on the momentum of the country’s ongoing

progress, it still falls within the lower-middle-income

scale. Our indicators show that we have reduced poverty

by half, and it is clearly on a downward trend. Our

current challenge is the close monitoring essential to

preventing any setbacks that might result from the global

economic situation and its impact on Cape Verde. In

fact, despite our graduation to middle-income-country

status, our indicators still show high rates of poverty,

inequality and unemployment, as well as insufficient

access to many goods and services, and we are still

short of our goal of achieving well-being and and a high

standard of living for all our people.

Cape Verdeans are ready to push for the evolution

of the terms of the Millennium Development Goals and

replace “reducing” extreme poverty with “eradicating”

it, leaving none behind. Moreover, we in Cape Verde

are ready to put the issue of economic sustainability

at the centre of the country’s development agenda

and have already begun to do so. We recognize

that “transformation” in Cape Verde is more than

a key word; it is an agenda for work stemming from

inclusive growth. In addition, we have been creating

accountable institutions, open to all, in order to ensure

good governance. Based on that perspective, we have

refocused our internal policy, and are thus mobilizing

our national will while appealing for support from our

international partners, towards the goal of reaching

advanced-development status by 2030. That is what it

means for us to commit to a post-2015 agenda.

We are currently in a transition period. The

instruments we have created on our own are not enough

to respond to the questions of today or to prepare for a

future moving towards advanced development, unless

that is a part of a global agenda led by the United Nations

and involving intensive international cooperation and

partnership at both the multilateral and bilateral levels.

Cape Verde is committed to that joint effort. Cape

Verdeans are deeply focused on global issues, such

as climate change, hunger and malnutrition and the

various forms of inequality, as well as the importance

of ensuring environmental sustainability and national

and international partnerships in support of global

development.

Climate change is a pressing problem of our times

that must be addressed with urgency and a great sense

of responsibility. The world has reached record highs

in terms of emissions and the concentration of carbon

dioxide in the atmosphere, which is now at about 400

parts per million. That could mean the destruction of

our development efforts and, even worse, the serious

exacerbation of social tensions, which could potentially

open the door to both national and regional conflicts.

Similarly, the effects of climate change on global food

security should be stressed. Ocean acidification is

increasing at a rate that has not been seen in 55 million

years. Ultimately, the disappearance of numerous

marine species has become inevitable. We must all

confront this issue, which endangers our common

future, and take the necessary decisions, fulfilling

our financial commitments aimed at adaptation,

particularly in the most vulnerable countries.

With respect to the post-2015 agenda, the issue of

employment dominates the concerns of Cape Verdeans.

The subject occupies the top spot among all consulted,

who identify employment as essential to achieving

economic and human development. Another serious

issue has to do with the sustainability of social security.

We need a more universal welfare system, and we must

create and introduce instruments for that purpose. That

is possible only with a more dynamic economy.

There will be no transformation agenda if we do

not create solid, sustainable foundations for social

protection. To do so, we need to grow and expand wealth,

as well as provide a greater number of decent jobs. We

need to create a wave of modernization for society and

for the competitive factors of our economy, so as to

improve the business environment and attract foreign

investment. The larger result will be economic growth

and the creation of wealth to induce the improvement of

indicators that matter. We must recognize that there is

room for improvement, particularly in terms of reducing

State bureaucracy and increasing competitiveness, as

well as in terms of making foreign investment more

streamlined and more efficient for entrepreneurship.

We urge our citizens to be productive, competitive

and prosperous, without losing the vast Cape Verdean

capacity for generosity, solidarity and responsibility.

The continuation of the international crisis and

its impact on all countries creates serious problems

for the entire world community. In the case of Cape

Verde, the situation poses serious challenges that we

must overcome, namely, obstacles to the acceleration

of economic growth, the promotion of employment and

the reduction of poverty. At this sixty-eighth session of

the General Assembly, we reiterate our commitment to

peace and dialogue, within the parameters enshrined in

the Charter of the United Nations.

Our vision of the United Nations is of a more

cohesive and united Organization in which efforts are

undertaken for the prosperity of nations. Our vision of

the General Assembly is of a great forum for dialogue

on the global challenges of our planet and humankind,

and our vision of the Security Council is of a body with

a more balanced representation that is better suited to

the geopolitical developments that the world has known

since 1945.

This is a unique opportunity for Cape Verde,

a Portuguese-speaking country, to reaffirm its

commitment to cultural diversity and, in its quest for

multiculturalism, which is its prerogative, to call for the

Portuguese language — the fifth most widely spoken

language in the world, connecting States and peoples

across five continents — to be recognized as an official

or a working language of international organizations,

particularly the United Nations.

We wish to make one more comment as we

position ourselves, following the report of the United

Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use

of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic on

the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Ghouta area

of Damascus on 21 August (A/67/997), which we have

studied with close attention. We welcome the progress

made towards dialogue, particularly the joint search for

peaceful solutions, especially at the United Nations. We

are against the use of weapons of mass destruction, and

we will continue to align with subsequent initiatives

towards their eradication. As we are against war and

belligerence, we advocate for the implementation of a

global strategy to combat violence.

We wish to express our solidarity with the

Government and the people of Kenya, as well as our

unequivocal condemnation of the reprehensible acts

of barbarism and human savagery that occurred last

Saturday in Nairobi.

We urge all the members of the General Assembly to

reach a historic agreement in favour of the environment.

The main objective is to implement the established

Goals in the outcome document of the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled

“The future we want” (resolution 66/288, annex). We

also reaffirm our resolute willingness to cooperate

with everyone to reduce regional and global tensions,

so as to broaden the understanding of sovereignties,

freedoms and human rights.

Finally, we reiterate our preference for the

joint definition of new goals that will stipulate the

fundamentals for the prosperity of countries and for the

welfare of the world’s people, crafting together a post-

2015 agenda. Cape Verde is committed to making its

contribution to the creation of a new goals scenario to

succeed and complement the Millennium Development

Goals. Our common commitment is meeting the eight

Goals and our shared responsibility is creating a new

post-2015 agenda in favour of sustainable development.

The manner in which we do it will determine our

common destiny. The importance of our decisions

and the responsibility to make them within the

United Nations framework are evident. Let us get to

work to create a new global dynamic that leads to a

joint vision for promoting progress. Cape Verde is

firmly committed to the establishment of a post-2015

development agenda; that is also the future we want.

We assure the Assembly that we will do everything in

our power in the name of a better future, filled with

freedom, equality and prosperity. The international

community can count on us.