Ethiopia, 2012

I would like to

congratulate the President on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh

session, and to thank him for the inspiring speech he

made at the opening of the general debate (see A/67/

PV.6). We are confident that the spirit exemplified in

that speech will guide him during his presidency. Let me

also take this opportunity to express my appreciation to

the outgoing President.

The reason I am here on this rostrum, making my

maiden speech to the General Assembly as Head of

Government of the new Ethiopia, is because we lost our

leader only a little more than a month ago. The passing

of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is a huge loss for

Ethiopia, and undoubtedly for Africa as well. He was a

man of prodigious intellect who was uncompromising

in his insistence that Ethiopians and Africans should

own and protect their development strategies and their

approaches to governance and democratization. The late

Ethiopian Prime Minister, and the party he led, have

facilitated the emergence of a new Ethiopia, rekindling

the hopes of Ethiopians for the future and strengthening

their confidence in their ability to overcome adversity.

Ethiopians proved their mettle, and what they are

made of, when they received the unexpected news of

the tragedy with which the nation was faced. It is an

honour and a blessing to be the leader of a people who

are generous in paying tribute to those, like Prime

Minister Meles, who served them self lessly; a people

who have the maturity and wisdom to see, and even

lucidly articulate, who has done what for the nation

and for the people of Ethiopia. That would naturally

make any human being who is given the opportunity to

lead a country ask himself what more he can do for his people — not in words but in deeds, as our late Prime

Minister often emphasized. As might be expected,

doomsday scenarios for Ethiopia’s future were bandied

about.

But the people of Ethiopia — from north to south,

from east to west, across the length and breadth of

the country — were categorical in stating in unison

how much they embrace the unity of the country,

unity that celebrates their diversity and is built on the

bedrock of their federal Constitution. Let me take this

opportunity to thank, on behalf of the Ethiopian people

and myself, all those leaders and heads of delegation

who came to Addis Ababa to be with us at our time of

grief. We cherish your friendship. I wish to reiterate my

condolences to the peoples and Governments of Ghana,

Malawi and Guinea-Bissau, who have also lost their

leaders recently.

We Ethiopians are confident that we have come

a long way. Never before in its modern history has

Ethiopia had the kind of rapid economic growth that

it has witnessed over the last decade or so. Indeed, for

the first time in its modern history, Ethiopia has begun

to see a bright light at the end of the tunnel in terms of

real prospects for economic transformation. We are, for

sure, on a hugely promising trajectory. Our Growth and

Transformation Plan, to which our late Prime Minister

was devoted, and which is now embraced by our people,

is designed to catapult our nation to a destination

thathas long eluded it but is now within reach.

We go forward with full recognition of our

responsibility, as the second most populous country

in Africa, to contribute to regional integration. We

foresee huge possibilities for bringing the countries of

the greater Horn of Africa together. We have already

gone some distance in playing a catalytic role in laying

the infrastructural basis for consolidating economic

ties with the countries of our region. The electric power

interconnections and the road and railway networks

that we have built and are in the process of building

with Djibouti, the Sudan, Kenya and South Sudan are

emblematic of our resolve to play our part in regional

integration. We are confident that Somalia and others,

without exception, will follow suit.

But our success hinges on a number of conditions

being met, none of which is amenable to our unilateral

initiative. First is the question of peace and stability

and the challenge of extremism. Here, also, we have

made much progress. Somalia is gradually coming out of the woods. We salute all those, most particularly the

contributors of troops to the African Union Mission in

Somalia, for the sacrifice they have made. The African

Union (AU) has made an enormous contribution to

laying the basis for the progress that Somalia has made.

We also acknowledge the very useful cooperation

between the AU and the United Nations, including

their two Councils responsible for security. We have to

recognize the role of partners as well. But much more

needs to be done in Somalia to ensure that the new

Government stands on its own feet. We would be naive,

however, if we believed that the enemies of peace of

Somalia and the region are completely defeated. That

is why it is so critical that the momentum is not lost

in Somalia and Somalia’s ownership of the process

of national reconciliation is strengthened. We will

continue to assist Somalia and the new President of the

country, Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and the people

of Somalia can count on that.

We are pleased that there is also major progress in

the peace process between the Sudan and South Sudan.

We are confident that the two parties will maintain the

momentum towards durable peace, which is the basis for

ensuring the viability of both. We are indeed indebted

to former President Thabo Mbeki and the African

Union High-level Implementation Panel for their

perseverance and commitment to peace between the

two sisterly countries. What has been achieved by the

two parties over the last few days, which culminated in

the signing of the much anticipated agreements on vital

matters, is a significant breakthrough, which needs to

be consolidated and used as a basis for resolving the

issues still remaining. We are confident that the two

parties appreciate how vital their joint effort for a

win-win outcome is, not only for their peoples, but also

for us all.

Peace between the Sudan and South Sudan and a

close partnership between the two, above and beyond

the benefit it has for us all, has for us Ethiopians an

additional emotional and sentimental value. That was

an issue that our late Prime Minister, even as he was

struggling for his life, was following with the same

intensity as before, and he continued to offer whatever

added value he could bring to bear on the peace

process. Let me thank both the Sudan and South Sudan

for placing their trust in us, as has been so manifest in

the deployment of the United Nations Interim Security

Force for Abyei. Indeed, we are proud of our troops in Abyei, as we are of all our people serving under the

United Nations f lag, including those in Darfur.

Before I move on to the second challenge we face, I

wish to say a few words on broader issues that help put

in perspective the challenge our region faces in securing

sustainable peace and stability. The major war we have

to win is undoubtedly the war on poverty. The most

difficult challenge we face here in developing the most

effective means to wage that war is that of ensuring that

the rule of law is observed, both in inter-State relations

and in the domestic sphere. At its most fundamental

level, the struggle against extremism is one aspect of

the struggle to ensure that the rule of law is respected

and the principles of tolerance are adhered to. Wherever

an act of intolerance or a violation of laws occurs,

sometimes in an egregious manner, as in Benghazi, it

needs to be condemned.

The second challenge we face in sustaining our

development agenda relates to a host of issues impinging

on our capacity to ensure sustainable development.

Let us be frank and admit that there is a huge deficit

in international cooperation for the development of

both low-income and least developed countries. At

the end of the day, regardless of other impediments to

development, the major bottleneck for countries such

as Ethiopia for ensuring sustainable development and

successfully achieving the Millennium Development

Goals is related to shortfalls in development finance.

We said as much in the Paris Declaration on Aid

Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action,

and, recently, in the Busan Partnership for Effective

Development Cooperation, but the results have been

few and far between. In our view, the current global

economic situation should never be allowed to detract

attention from the critical need for development finance

of low-income countries.

The challenge in this area is compounded and

made even worse by climate change, which is a global

challenge calling for responsible and wise leadership

at the international level. The response should rely

on full commitment to the principle of common but

differentiated responsibilities. However boring it may

be, something that is universally acknowledged bears

repeating. Countries such as Ethiopia which did not

contribute to climate change are nonetheless those most

affected by it. But, still, we recognize our obligation.

That is why Ethiopia has already opted for a green

growth path, and our current five-year Growth and

Transformation Plan is based on developing a green economy, the strategy for which has already been

issued and is being implemented. We seek effective

cooperation in this endeavour.

We had hoped that the United Nations Conference

on Sustainable Development would achieve more than

it did. Nevertheless, we look forward to meaningful

and effective work by the working group on sustainable

development, to which we are ready to contribute as best

we can. We are also hopeful that the intergovernmental

process under the auspices of the General Assembly

in connection with financing for development will not

turn into a filibustering exercise without any impact on

this issue, which is so critical for the development of

low-income countries.

As I conclude, I wish to express my agreement

with previous speakers that the twenty-first century

is indeed an African century. As mentioned by my

brother, the President of Ghana, out of the 10 fastest

growing economies in the world last year, six were

African countries. I should also mention that Ethiopia

was among the six. Africa is indeed changing, and

changing for the better. There is no greater human

rights violation than attempts to put obstacles in the

way of the success of the ongoing transformations of

Africa, which will have enormous salutary implications

for hundreds of millions of Africans.

Africa is no longer the marginalized continent

of the 1980s or even of the period a little later than

that. Ethiopia will continue to play its part to ensure

the success of the transformation and the success

of multilateralism under the auspices of the United

Nations.