Ethiopia, 2007

Allow me to begin by

congratulating you, Mr. President, on your election to

the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-

second session. I would like to assure you of my

country’s fullest cooperation in the discharge of the

responsibilities bestowed upon you. I have no doubt

that this Assembly will benefit from both your personal

and professional experience. May I take this

opportunity to commend your predecessor, Ambassador

Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for her invaluable

contributions and wise leadership during the

Assembly’s previous session.

I would also like to extend my sincere

appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He is

already fully engaged and has made an excellent

beginning in the efforts to address global challenges

since he took office a year ago. I would therefore, on

this occasion, like to underline Ethiopia’s firm

commitment to cooperate in every way in assisting him

in his demanding endeavours.

Just three weeks ago, Ethiopia began its third

Millennium. This Assembly has recognized the

Ethiopian Millennium as a world event. On 15 June

2007, it adopted resolution 61/270, designating the

year from 12 September 2007 to 11 September 2008 as

the year of the Ethiopian Millennium. The Assembly of

the African Union also declared the Ethiopian

Millennium as a part of African heritage and a unique

occasion. We thank you all for that honour and for that

expression of solidarity.

Those who have witnessed how Ethiopians of all

walks of life have received the new Ethiopian

Millennium could not have missed the new spirit that

has been on display in the country. This is a spirit of

renewal and commitment to stand in unity for a better

future for the country. The new Millennium was

greeted by all Ethiopians with a pledge to do more for

national harmony and for durable peace and stability

and to prevail against the poverty that has been the

hallmark of the country in recent decades.

Two thousand years ago, Ethiopia was the home

of one of the great civilizations of the world, at Aksum.

A thousand years ago, we could still produce two of the

world’s greatest heritage sites. One is the city of Harar,

the fourth holiest city of Islam, which by happy

coincidence also celebrates its own millennium this

year. The other is the city of churches built by Lalibela,

a saint, priest and emperor in the town that still bears

his name today.

But Ethiopia’s fortune began to change,

commencing in the second half of the last Millennium.

Though a survivor of colonialism and a representative

of the greatness of Africa’s past, Ethiopia also

unfortunately came to represent and symbolize the

poverty, dearth and destitution of Africa’s more recent

history.

Despite the formidable challenges we have faced,

all of this has begun to change in the last decade.

Hopelessness and frustration growing out of a lack of

confidence in the future is no longer an image

reflecting the reality of Ethiopia. That is perhaps the

explanation for the exuberance displayed by all sectors

of Ethiopian society in welcoming the new

Millennium. A new and strong national consensus is

being created in Ethiopia today. It is a consensus

around conviction and the resolve to make the opening

of our third Millennium a symbol of Ethiopian

renaissance.

That overwhelming optimism displayed by all

Ethiopians at the opening of the new Millennium rests

on a tangible foundation. The political, social and

economic realities in Ethiopia have been changing over

the past decade. We are making meaningful progress.

Indeed, we have no shortage of detractors. These are

non-Ethiopians determined to scuttle the progress we

are making in all areas. Their attempts include efforts

to undermine national unity and to micromanage

Ethiopia’s internal affairs. We have seen this, including

over the past few days.

Despite all this, however, we continue to make

progress. For five consecutive years now, our real

gross domestic product growth rate has averaged over

10 per cent. Our per capita income growth has

averaged nearly 8 per cent for the last seven years.

More tangible perhaps, in terms of the progress

we have been making to change the life situation of our

people, is the advance we have registered towards

achieving the Millennium Development Goals. We are

set to attain universal primary health care by 2010. We

are well on the way to achieving the goals set for

reducing child and maternal mortality well prior to

2015. We have made much progress in combating

HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. We have

managed to halt and stabilize the spread of HIV/AIDS

and reduce the incidence of malaria.

What we have been able to achieve in the area of

education has been quite remarkable as well. There is

now little doubt that we are on our way to achieving

universal primary education by 2015. Primary school

enrolment at present is 91.6 per cent. Sixteen years

ago, it stood at 19 per cent. We have also begun to

ensure that the education available will, in fact, be

quality education.

We have also committed ourselves to

environmental sustainability in a tangible manner. Our

New Ethiopian Millennium celebrations and the

preparations leading to them have underlined practical

expressions to this commitment. The slogan “Two

Trees for 2000” has been enthusiastically taken up

throughout the country. Popular enthusiasm has led to

the acceleration of the process that began earlier,

culminating, after just three or four months, in the

opening of the New Millennium and the planting of

close to a billion trees. This is a process that will

continue throughout the year and beyond.

Nor are we oblivious to the spectre of global

warming and the threat of climate change. Africa is

exceptionally vulnerable to the effects of climate

change: so many of us live on the margins that the

smallest difference in climate can mean the difference

between sufficient food and famine, survival and death.

It is a global challenge that requires a global response.

However, the need for speedy economic

development in countries such as Ethiopia, and in

Africa as a whole, should not be compromised simply

in order to reverse dangerous climatic situations for

whose creation we have no responsibility. It should,

nonetheless, be possible, through effective

international collaboration, to ensure that the

developmental process in countries such as Ethiopia is

environmentally friendly.

In this regard, we welcome the proposal of Brazil

for a new United Nations conference on the

environment and development to be held in 2012. We

are also appreciative of the European Union's (EU)

commitment to further cut its greenhouse gas

emissions and to introduce more responsible and

sustainable energy policies. We endorse the EU's

support for reforming the institutional framework of

United Nations environmental activities.

The economic and social progress Ethiopia has

made over the past decade has, no doubt, been

underpinned by the real and concrete advances we have

made in building democratic institutions and fostering

the rule of law. In this regard as well, we are entering

our New Millennium with even greater and renewed

commitment to deepening the democratic process in

Ethiopia and strengthening a culture of tolerance and

mutual understanding among our people. There is a

new spirit of tolerance, dialogue and inclusiveness and

of commitment to peace among our people.

The further democratization of the country and

the nurturing of the rule of law is a pledge that every

Ethiopian is making as we enter our New Millennium.

This commitment is rooted in the conviction that

durable peace in our country and the successful

achievement of our objectives in the economic and

social spheres can only be viable if we succeed in

advancing towards achieving the democratic

aspirations of our people. We urge those who wish to

meddle in our affairs to remember that they will be

held accountable for their action and that they should

desist from seeking to place a trojan horse in our

society.

It is that same spirit of the New Ethiopian

Millennium that must guide our foreign policy. We

have, over the last decade and a half, worked in good

faith for peace in our region. We are more prepared

now than ever and, in the spirit of the New

Millennium, to contribute our share to achieving peace

and understanding among peoples and countries, most

particularly in our own subregion.

We are indeed fully aware that the basis for the

renaissance of Ethiopia, to which we are committed in

our New Millennium, cannot be limited to what we do

in Ethiopia alone. To be true to the new spirit and to

succeed in the rejuvenation of Ethiopia, we feel we

have the obligation to stretch a hand of friendship to all

of those, near and far, who see wisdom in a positive

response to this gesture. We are well aware of the need

for a regional atmosphere conducive to the

rejuvenation of our region and of ourselves. It is not

just the absence of conflict and dispute, but the reality

of peace and cooperation, which is, we know, an

absolute necessity. Without this we cannot achieve our

aims, whether in Ethiopia, our region, or in Africa.

Allow me to express our profound appreciation to

all those who have helped us make the progress we

have made over the past decade. There are those who

have been steadfast in their support for our endeavours

and who have stood with us through thick and thin. We

are indebted to them. Our obligation is to be true to the

principles that underpin those expressions of solidarity.

Ethiopia, a founding Member of the United

Nations, will continue to be devoted to multilateralism

and the fullest cooperation with the United Nations.

Therefore, as I conclude, I wish to reiterate, once

again, our readiness to cooperate fully, and without

reserve, with our Secretary-General in all areas where

our contribution is needed and to seek friendship with

all nations in the spirit of our New Millennium.