Equatorial Guinea, 2008

First of all, on behalf of the people of

Equatorial Guinea and the delegation with me today, I

should like to congratulate Mr. D’Escoto Brockmann

on his fitting election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-third session. His election bears

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witness to the trust and credibility with which all States

Members of the United Nations view the sister

Republic of Nicaragua. We wish him every success and

assure him of our full cooperation during his time in

office.

I would also like to pay tribute to the outgoing

President, Mr. Srgjan Kerim, for the excellent work he

carried out at a crucial time in the history of the United

Nations.

The sixty-third session allows us a new

opportunity to share our views on the common

concerns of all peoples in the world. We would like to

say how pleased we are to see that the agenda of this

annual debate includes subjects such as the

democratization of the United Nations system,

including the necessary reforms in the functioning of

the Security Council and the Bretton Woods

institutions; funding for the development of Africa; the

food crisis and world hunger; climate change; human

security as part of international peace and security; and

the fight against terrorism.

The world harboured the hope that after the cold

war mankind would achieve peace and live more

harmoniously together in greater solidarity. However,

we are extremely saddened to note the differences

separating the rich from the poor countries, causing

hunger, poverty, war and destabilization. In other

words, today we are facing new challenges that

jeopardize the budding institutions of developing

countries in many ways.

For that reason, it is necessary to adopt

mechanisms and strategies that enable us to ensure that

our experiences can provide a bridge to a new form of

cooperation among peoples. Indeed, in the six decades

of the existence of the United Nations, we have seen

that only the establishment of a new, more open and

respectful global framework for cooperation will lead

to the stability, peace and progress of all nations.

We have seen that the use of force by the strong

has not only failed to solve the problems affecting the

people of the world today, but has made them worse.

We know from experience that conflicts and threats to

world peace arise from a patent lack of dialogue among

the countries making up the international community.

Not only do many peoples and nations continue to face

old conflicts, but every day new tensions and threats to

world peace emerge.

In addition to those challenges are the issues that

are the focus of our debate, such as injustice, poverty,

the energy and food crises, climate change, inequality

and poor access to the education, health care and new

technologies needed for poor countries to develop.

Thus, Equatorial Guinea believes it appropriate

that the new strategy the world needs today must start

not only with the reform of our multilateral

cooperation institutions, but also with a change in the

mentality and behaviour of those who today hold

economic power, so as to achieve a manifestation of

democracy that fosters dialogue and cooperation

among peoples.

In the recent past, our efforts to bring about a

better world have been based on the Millennium

Development Goals, which were intended to strengthen

international cooperation towards universal and

sustainable development. Achieving those Goals

requires, inter alia, the reform of the world economic

system, based on respect for different development

models, so that each may choose what is most

historically, politically, socially and culturally fitting.

Clearly, that troubled global situation affects all

countries to different degrees and with varying impact.

In that regard, the African continent is the most

vulnerable in terms of economic and social

development, and it is not surprising that its peoples

are more affected by the widespread crisis threatening

the world.

That which is presented to us today as a world

food crisis is not merely temporary but is one of the

many paradoxes of our time. For it seems

inconceivable that in an era of abundance the

underdeveloped countries of the South are confronted

by a deficit in a right so crucial to human beings,

namely, the right to food. Statistics published by the

Food and Agriculture Organization indicate that nearly

900 million men, women and children suffer from

hunger, with almost 80 per cent of them living in

developing countries.

The supposed food crisis and other current

phenomena in our globalized world are the result of the

impact of the neoliberal policies that have been applied

on a global scale for more than four decades. I am

speaking in particular about the prescriptions advanced

by institutions of the international commercial and

financial system, namely, the World Bank, the

International Monetary Fund and the World Trade

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Organization. In fact, they act as the voice of their

masters in erecting discriminatory barriers that impede

our ability to produce and trade.

One of the consequences of the food crisis has

been the no-holds-barred liberalization of trade

imposed by those institutions. That has permitted the

flooding of African markets with highly subsidized

food products, which is destroying agriculture in our

countries. In that regard, Africa today is a continent

that produces and exports things that it itself does not

consume, while at the same time it imports from the

countries of the North things that it could produce for

its own use but does not.

If there is any good in the food crisis it is the fact

that none of the countries of the South, and especially

those in Africa, has any interest in continuing to

depend upon food imports in order to ensure the

survival of its citizens, either as food aid or through an

unfair trading system. In that connection, what Africa

needs today is development based on solidarity and the

strengthening of its socio-economic fabric. A large part

of Africa’s fertile land is still not cultivated, but

statistics on Africa’s productivity are among the lowest

in the world. That is due to the exodus from the

countryside and the few incentives available to farmers

because of the high cost of agricultural inputs and the

relative prices of agricultural products on the

international market.

With regard to the New Partnership for Africa’s

Development and the delay in its implementation,

Equatorial Guinea would like to propose the

establishment of an international steering committee

made up of experts from both donor and African

countries. The purpose of the committee would be to

identify mechanisms and projects that could contribute

to the economic integration of African countries. The

committee would also be in charge of implementing

projects and programmes at the continental, regional

and subregional levels, including the programme to

combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other

diseases endemic in Africa; identifying and financing

of energy resources in order to electrify countries in

landlocked regions; building a trans-African network

of roads and railways so that countries that are

enclaves and without access to the sea can transport

their goods; launching a satellite that ensures

communications for Africa; establishing an African

university to train our human resources; establishing

industries in countries experiencing emigration to

developed countries in order to create jobs for their

workforce; and granting low-interest loans in order to

promote development in Africa’s least favoured

countries.

I should like to conclude my statement by

recalling the commitment of the international

community to preserve the environment and protect

ecosystems that have an impact on climate change,

which today poses a threat to humankind. Equatorial

Guinea is among the countries of equatorial Africa

making great efforts to preserve the forest ecosystems

of the Congo River basin, which, along with the

Amazon, serves as the lungs of humankind.

Moreover, Equatorial Guinea would like to

reiterate its commitment to combating international

terrorism and organized crime in all their forms and

manifestations.

With regard to national policy, Equatorial Guinea

is experiencing an unprecedented period of freedom

and development. Our people are flourishing and

developing in an atmosphere of peace, democracy and

stability. We look forward to a future of well-being and

justice for all our citizens.

From this podium, I would like to reiterate the

commitment of my Government to promote and protect

human rights. We do not need anyone to give us

lessons about elections, or to attempt to usurp the

sovereign will of the people of Equatorial Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea is proud to be part of the

United Nations. We believe this universal Organization

is today, and will continue to be, the sole option for

strengthening peace and stability and for achieving

development, to which we all aspire.