Central African Republic, 2006

As you know, Madam President, there is

one African tradition, but its forms are many. That is

why the African continent is the cradle of mankind and

this African tradition universal. We can see this

universal nature here in New York within this forum of

the United Nations where the values of solidarity and

brotherhood symbolize a common desire for peace and

love.

How can we not fail today to recall the vitality

which marked the World Summit which was held in

2005 in this very Hall, following the fifty-ninth

session, which was undoubtedly the longest ever due to

the intensity of the consultations begun by His

Excellency Mr. Jean Ping, President at that session,

with a view to reaching a consensus on questions

related to reform of our Organization, including that of

the Security Council. Those questions divided, and

continue to divide, delegations and regional groups,

and finally overshadowed the discussion of other

items.

But the Summit and the ensuing sixtieth session

nonetheless had the merit of establishing the Human

Rights Council and the Peacebuilding Commission.

Despite all the differences among United Nations

Members and despite the criticism of some of its

actions, the United Nations remains the international

organization which, due to its universality,

representativity and authority, cannot be ignored. The

Central African Republic, which reiterates its

commitment to the purposes and principles of the

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Charter, would like to reaffirm its ongoing desire to

continue to contribute to all efforts to reform the entire

United Nations system.

Having said that, I should like, on behalf of His

Excellency General François Bozizé, President of the

Republic, head of State, and on behalf of the

Government and the people of the Central African

Republic, to warmly congratulate you, Madam, on your

election as President of the General Assembly at the

present session. I view it as a sign of confidence and a

well-deserved tribute to your beautiful country, the

Kingdom of Bahrain. I am also pleased to express to

your predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, my high esteem for

the remarkable way in which he led the work of the

sixtieth session. In addition, I express my warm and

sincere thanks and appreciation to the Secretary-

General, Mr. Kofi Annan, a worthy son of the African

tradition, for his praiseworthy and tireless efforts, in a

particularly difficult international context, to promote

the role of the Organization, to attain its objectives and

to promote peace and security throughout the world.

The theme suggested for the present session is

“Implementing a Global Partnership for Development”.

We should recall that, six years ago, the highest leaders

of the Organization’s Member States made the firm

commitment to unite their efforts to collectively fight

poverty and all the scourges it causes, which pose a

serious threat to international peace and security and a

major obstacle to the development processes in many

countries.

In the Millennium Declaration, which resulted

from that commitment, the 189 signatory countries —

including the Central African Republic — solemnly

pledged to do their utmost to overcome poverty, which

continues to devastate the majority of the world’s

population. To that end, several Goals were defined.

Ms. Blum (Colombia), Vice-President, took the

Chair.

As the Secretary-General has stated, the main

Goals have been implemented to varying degrees:

“Accordingly, we will not enjoy development

without security, we will not enjoy security

without development, and we will not enjoy

either without respect for human rights. Unless

all these causes are advanced, none will succeed”

(A/59/2005, para. 17).

In the case of the Central African Republic, we

must acknowledge that many challenges remain to be

addressed if we are to truly strive to achieve the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) within the

agreed time frame. Indeed, my country experienced

more than two decades of serious crises, from which

we only recently emerged by holding general elections

and establishing republican institutions and the

Government of National Reconciliation. But we must

still fight the cross-border insecurity raging in the

subregion and push back out of our territory the

aggressors, supported from abroad, who seek to

destroy our democratically established republican

institutions.

The Central African authorities are striving to

restore security throughout the territory. It goes without

saying that no development is possible unless we

eradicate the endemic insecurity maintained by those

who set up roadblocks and by the rebellion raging

mainly in the north-eastern part of the country,

bordering on the Sudan and Chad. The security and

defence forces deployed in the back country face many

difficulties — particularly logistical ones — in

overcoming that phenomenon. The proliferation of

small arms and light weapons in the subregion — due

to the long crisis in Darfur and its effects on the

Central African Republic — are hardly helping to put

an end to that scourge.

The Central African Republic supports the

proposals made by Presidents George Bush and

Jacques Chirac and by the Chairperson of the African

Union, Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, on the positioning

of United Nations troops on the border between the

Central African Republic, Chad and the Sudan.

In addition, since 2003, the Central African

Republic, one of the seven countries in partnership

with the World Bank’s Multi-country Demobilization

and Reintegration Programme, has taken a new

comprehensive, integrated approach that is integrative

and inclusive aimed at resolving the thorny problem of

the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of

former combatants. The results today reflect the

Government’s willingness to succeed in that process.

Moreover, our country has just developed a new

structure to fight the proliferation of small arms and

light weapons, namely, a national commission against

the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons

and for disarmament.

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The deteriorated state of the Central African

economy is hardly likely to encourage the

implementation of the Development Goals in order to

promote a robust fight against poverty, which for us

remains an ongoing threat to peace and stability.

In the area of finance, the Government has taken

energetic measures to restore financial health by

implementing an extensive system to monitor civil

servants and establishing a body to verify their

academic credentials.

The other challenges — just as great — facing

the Central African Republic are those of health care

and education, which are among the main MDGs. With

respect to health care, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and

other diseases, such as tuberculosis and malaria, are

sources of concern for our country.

The recent conference on AIDS, held here at

United Nations Headquarters in early June 2006,

highlighted the particularly disturbing characteristics

of that calamity among the most impoverished sectors

of the population: women and children. There is a

health emergency, and thus the Central African

Republic is requesting greater assistance and action

from its development partners.

The education and training sector — covered by

Goal 2 of the MDGs — has undoubtedly been the main

victim of the long period of political and military

crises, whose wounds are gradually healing. The many

empty years of discouragement resulting from the loss

of motivation on the part of the teaching staff, delayed

salary payments, the lack of State resources to build

schools and purchase equipment, and the continued

insecurity in some areas of the country for the past

several years — all of that has led to a decline in the

quality of teaching and a drop in the literacy rate.

However, since the burst of patriotism of

15 March 2003, the Government has been doing its

utmost to ensure that the school year will no longer be

interrupted and to restore the former credibility of the

Central African educational system. Thanks to the

assistance of certain donors — among which we must

mention the International Organization of la

Francophonie — the Central African Republic is

beginning to take up the challenge between now and

2015. Indeed, it will not be possible to ensure that

democracy and a culture of dialogue and tolerance are

firmly established unless the people have access to

quality education and are able to grasp what is truly at

stake, and thus make sound judgements in full

knowledge of the facts.

The United Nations Millennium Development

Goals Report 2005 highlights the need to ensure a

sustainable environment by intelligently exploiting

natural resources and protecting the ecosystems upon

which the survival of humanity depends. Climate

change and global warming owing to the depletion of

the ozone layer are worrisome phenomena for our

country, whose northern region is being increasingly

overtaken by desert. The initiatives set out in the Kyoto

Protocol show that progress is possible if there is

political will on the part of the major consumers.

If we are to prevent and reduce the risks related

to natural disasters and to equip ourselves with better

organization and more effective means to make the

world safer, we must support the transformation of the

United Nations Environmental Programme into a

specialized agency with a broader mandate, as

proposed by France.

Despite delays in the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Central

African Republic is determined to reach them,

especially Goals 3 and 4, relating to the empowerment

of women and the promotion of gender equality and to

the reduction of under-five mortality. Indeed,

considerable progress has been made in terms of

vaccination coverage and also with respect to the free

distribution of mosquito nets to pregnant women and to

children under the age of 5.

The Central African Republic greatly appreciates

the proposals made during the 2005 World Summit by

Presidents Chirac, Lula Da Silva and Hu Jintao

regarding the promotion of peace, security and

development.

However, the results of MDG implementation

will remain mixed until international solidarity fully

plays its part. We live in an interdependent world; the

development of the Central African Republic is closely

linked to that of the rest of the world, because the

United Nations is a community of nations.

May God bless the United Nations. May God

bless the Central African Republic.