Gabon, 2011

Allow me, first of all, to warmly congratulate the

President on his election. His human qualities, along

with his experience, will be invaluable throughout this

sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly. To his

predecessor, His Excellency Joseph Deiss, I wish to

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express our gratitude for his extremely skilful

presidency. I also take this opportunity to congratulate

the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban

Ki-moon, on his unanimous re-election, and reiterate

Gabon’s full confidence in him.

Allow me to recall that Gabon has always striven

to contribute to peace and the peaceful settlement of

conflicts through dialogue and mediation. We firmly

believe in the link between peace and security, on the

one hand, and development and democracy, on the

other. Because the people of Gabon enjoy peace at

home, as well as with their neighbours and the world as

a whole, we are able to achieve new development

goals.

This firm belief, which I proposed to my

compatriots when I was elected as head of

Government, lies at the heart of Gabon’s future vision

for development. Since my last statement before the

General Assembly a year ago, my Government has

moved to take action. We are humbled by the scale of

the task and the time required to ensure further

progress.

We are already building strategic infrastructure,

including preparations for the African Cup of Nations,

which Gabon will host in 2012 together with

Equatorial Guinea. We are also moving forward with

industrial processing projects, beginning with wood,

manganese and gas. In addition, we are also making

progress with policies to support the service sector. In

terms of agriculture, we intend to develop agro-industries,

and to support food production and sustainable fishing,

which are both so valuable for our food security.

Finally, we are working on a daily basis to

implement our steadfast commitment to sustainable

development in the context of a green Gabon.

With regard to international peace and security in

Africa and throughout the world, Gabon has reiterated

its commitment and has contributed according to its

means. Since 2010, we have had a non-permanent seat

on the Security Council. Last June, Gabon held the

Presidency of that body, a role that we discharged with

responsibility and commitment.

Turning to Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon has endorsed the

actions taken by the United Nations, aimed at

respecting the will of the Ivorian people and ensuring

the return to a peaceful political environment. We must

now support the efforts of the new Government to

achieve national reconciliation and reconstruction in

our sister country.

With regard to Libya, Gabon has recognized the

National Transitional Council and welcomes Libya’s

return to the African Union and to the international

community at the United Nations. In the Security

Council, along with the other two African members, we

approved resolution 1973 (2011). It was incumbent on

the international community to prevent the bloodbath

that threatened to take place in Benghazi. We also

needed to cut short a conflict that posed great danger to

the civilian population. Today, it is important that

Libya emerge from this crisis in order to begin

reconciliation for all Libyans and the reconstruction of

the country. It is with this aim in mind that we took

part in the conference of friends of Libya in Paris. We

welcome the role played by the United Nations. It is

important to work together with the African Union and

other stakeholders. We are ready to contribute to the

efforts of the international community in Libya.

South Sudan has also joined the international

community. Gabon congratulates the authorities of that

newborn sister country and assures it of our support.

We welcome the clear determination of Sudan and

South Sudan to seek a peaceful way to settle their post-

referendum issues.

In Somalia, we must act resolutely because of the

serious and urgent nature of the situation. Everything

must be done to deliver humanitarian aid to those who

need it in the towns and villages in Somalia itself.

Gabon responded to the appeal of the international

community and has made a contribution.

The issue of Palestine affects us all, so far-

reaching are its implications for peace in the Middle

East and throughout the world. It is important to stress

that we all share the goal, which is the existence of two

States, Palestine and Israel. On this question, I wish to

express my desire, as I did here in this Hall last year

and do this year with even greater hope, namely, to see

soon a Palestinian State that exists in peace alongside

Israel, within secure and recognized borders. The

Israeli and Palestinian peoples, both friends of Gabon,

aspire to live in peace and security. The peaceful future

of these two peoples is essential for the future of the

Middle East and for peace in the world.

Syria represents a new situation that requires

efforts on all our parts. We hope that the Arab League’s

23 11-50871

mediation efforts will ensure a peaceful and democratic

outcome as a matter of urgency.

Gabon will be particularly attentive to the priority

issues throughout this sixty-sixth session of the

General Assembly. Gabon is, of course, in favour of

reform of the Security Council and reform of the

United Nations system in general. We must enable our

Organization to better discharge its mission of peace,

cooperation and justice throughout the world.

Africa should, in a manner that remains to be

determined, have a permanent seat in the Security

Council. Africa’s voice must be heard more on the

international stage. This expectation on the part of

Africa and even other regions of the world is part of

our aspirations for a true democratization of global

political and economic governance.

As you know, Gabon is fully committed,

including within the framework of the United Nations,

to protecting the environment and combating global

warming. Since I assumed the highest office in my

country, Gabon has taken major steps to reduce its

carbon dioxide emissions and to increase the carbon

sequestration rate of our forests. My Government has

committed itself to modern ways of preserving our

tropical forests and biodiversity within our 13 national

parks, which cover a little more than 11 per cent of our

territory. Gabon has thus launched an extensive

campaign to prevent the pillaging of its natural

resources and the poaching of its protected species. We

are striving to develop our timber industry, while

preserving the ecological wealth of our immense

tropical forest.

We should also recall that the issues of the

environment and international security will face us in

the future. At the coming United Nations Climate

Change Conference in Durban, in South Africa, we will

have to deal with that complex of issues in our work

and bear in mind the link that exists between the

environment and international security.

Finally, we are closely following the efforts under

way to delineate the limits of the continental shelf.

Given the potential of undersea resources, we should

ensure that their future exploitation does not lead to

natural disasters.

Gabon is concerned by the impact of the

economic crisis on countries of the South, particularly

in terms of achieving the Millennium Development

Goals. The impact of the international financial crisis

on public investment in basic social sectors, such as

education, health and the provision of drinking water

and electricity, is constraining our efforts to promote

human development.

Despite significant progress in implementing the

Millennium Development Goals, the deadline of 2015

remains for many countries, including Gabon, a

difficult challenge to meet. The Millennium

Development Goals cannot be achieved unless

additional funds are mobilized before 2015.

Development assistance is stagnating, and I see real

concern as a result of the situation. The international

community must make an effort to live up to the

commitments it agreed to in Monterey, Doha,

Gleneagles, Paris and Accra. We need a new global

partnership for development to ensure lasting economic

growth in our countries. Aid should be accompanied by

more direct investment and more fair and equitable

trade. To mobilize new resources, we encourage and

support the efforts under way aimed at

institutionalizing innovative mechanisms for funding

development.

The President of the General Assembly has asked

us to discuss the issue of mediation. This issue is at the

heart of the very raison d’être of our Organization,

which is to guarantee peace and security throughout

the world.

Mediation and conflict prevention must remain

our primary means of collective action. We all feel the

need, in a complex world, to achieve greater

democracy, a world where economic and cultural

exchanges are better balanced and where crisis

prevention, whether it be of political or other crises, is

better organized, with, in particular, better early

warning systems and mediation.

Gabon is historically attached to mediation and to

the peaceful settlement of disputes. This approach has

always been one of the bases of our relations with our

neighbouring and brotherly countries in the Central

African subregion and has played a part in our

contribution to the resolution of conflicts in Africa. My

country will never depart from that path, in particular

at the very moment when Africa is striving to achieve

political and economic integration.

Our commitment to the peaceful settlement of

conflicts is also part of the commitments that we have

undertaken under a number of conventions and treaties

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on human rights, humanitarian law, the promotion of

democracy and the rule of law, and international

cooperation and solidarity.

We are well aware that mediation has its limits,

and the international community must always be ready,

if necessary, to consider other ways of ensuring

conflict prevention and conflict resolution. Conflicts

will be more complex and multidimensional in the

future. Economic crises, environmental crises and

aspirations for democracy and freedoms, which are

taking on new forms, will worsen tensions, and we

must follow these developments closely.

Gabon will continue to support and contribute to

the mediation efforts and good offices of the Secretary-

General on several different fronts and in the various

areas of the world where there are conflicts. Those

efforts are essential. They must be enhanced by

increased resources and be carried out in an impartial

way, with full respect for the sovereignty of States. It

should also be said that the participation of women is

important in all aspects of mediation, since they are

always the first victims of conflicts, along with

children.

Finally, the United Nations must enhance its

cooperation with all the other actors playing a role in

this area. In Africa, the African Union, which continues

to enhance its mediation capacities, is an essential

player.

I would like to conclude by recalling the motto of

my vision for our society aimed at making Gabon an

emerging country: peace, development and sharing.

The climate of peace and stability that Gabon is now

enjoying will be invaluable as our country enters a new

phase of rapid modernization. More than ever before,

Gabon wishes to cooperate with other countries. We

are deeply committed to peace. The people of Gabon

are therefore ready to exchange, create and build with

the rest of the world.