Guinea-Bissau, 2011

I would first like to congratulate Ambassador Nassir

Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his election to the presidency

of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, and

to express our most sincere wishes for his success in

fulfilling his mandate. Similarly, I would like to

convey to Mr. Joseph Deiss Guinea-Bissau’s

appreciation for the spirit of engagement and

dedication he brought to his successful conduct of the

work of the sixty-fifth session.

Let me also reiterate my congratulations to the

Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-Moon,

on his recent reappointment, the fruit of the excellent

11-51360 12

work he has done to help consolidate peace and

development around the world.

And I would like to take this happy occasion to

salute the Republic of South Sudan on having joined

the United Nations, becoming the Organization’s most

recent full Member.

Today, 24 September, Guinea-Bissau celebrates

the thirty-eighth anniversary of its independence. That

historic achievement was the Guinean people’s first

major victory, and from this rostrum I pay the homage

that is owed to our country’s freedom fighters, whose

courage and determination enabled us to attain the

status of a free and independent State.

As our national authorities have stated and has

been unanimously recognized by the international

community, defence and security sector reforms are

urgent priorities for us, since their implementation can

strengthen peace and stability in our country and thus

create the conditions needed for sustainable

development. With the signing of the Tripartite

Agreement Protocol or Memorandum of Understanding

between the Economic Community of West African

States (ECOWAS), the Community of Portuguese-

speaking Countries and the Government of Guinea-

Bissau, which will take place at the margins of this

session of the Assembly, we will be able to make a

major qualitative leap in the implementation of defence

and security forces reform, as well as in effectively

implementing the programmes contained in the

ECOWAS road map.

In that regard, Guinea-Bissau’s commitment to

mobilizing resources to sustain the reforms has led to a

decision to create a special pension fund, into which

we will have deposited $200,000 of the $500,000 we

pledged to the fund by December 2011, as proof of our

firm commitment to contributing 10 per cent of the

total resources required. We therefore expect to hold a

high-level meeting with our development partners this

year, in order to obtain the financial and technical

resources required to implement the reforms, and we

appeal to all our partners to participate in and commit

to the meeting.

Drug trafficking and organized crime are a

current subject of discussion in the Organization, and,

as is well known, the West African region to which we

belong cited as a hub and Guinea-Bissau is also often

singled out as a transit point for illicit drugs. In full

awareness of this reality and recognizing our known

problems, we are proud to say that we were one of the

first countries to request the good offices of the United

Nations, through the United Nations Office on Drugs

and Crime (UNODC), to help us deal with the issue

with determination and effectiveness.

In order to combat drug trafficking and organized

crime, the Government, through its Council of

Ministers, has adopted two important instruments, a

political declaration and a plan of action, which

include large-scale actions in the following three areas:

strengthening the legal system, strengthening the

criminal justice system, and combating drug use and

HIV/AIDS. Alongside such measures at the national

level, the Government is seeking to sign bilateral

agreements to strengthen the fight against drug

trafficking, keeping in mind that, without strategic

cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and

consumption of drugs, there can be no effective fight

against drug trafficking.

Therefore, from this rostrum, we reiterate our

appeal, as we have many times before, for help in

controlling our maritime borders. We address this

appeal to countries that are better prepared than we are

to do so. We are making a formal request for the

support of the United States and the European Union

and its member States, since we cannot single-

handedly fight drug trafficking, which, as we all know,

is increasingly powerful and sophisticated.

We are approaching the deadline for achieving

the Millennium Development Goals, but despite

ongoing efforts, Guinea-Bissau continues to face

challenges with regard to basic sanitation, supplies of

drinking water and energy, and the provision of

primary health services, to cite only the most pressing

issues. The high rate of poverty that still prevails in our

country has forced the Government to adopt an

ambitious agenda for the future, embodied in our

national poverty reduction strategy document and

based on the pillars of stability, peace, economic

growth and poverty reduction. That document defines

the main challenges and recommends priorities for the

next five years. As a result of serious and rigorous

implementation of this strategy, the Government that I

have the honour to lead has already successfully

reversed this negative trend.

The current economic situation is clearly

improving, the result of progress made in the last two

and a half years in strengthening public policy and

13 11-51360

improving macroeconomic performance, as our

partners, especially the International Monetary Fund

and the World Bank, will testify. As a result of our

excellent macroeconomic performance, the country

reached the completion point of the Heavily Indebted

Poor Countries Initiative, thus achieving forgiveness of

about 90 per cent of its external debt and the recent

re-evaluation of the growth rate of its gross domestic

product, which is now fixed at 5.3 per cent, which is

higher than originally predicted. We have all the

conditions needed to maintain and accelerate this trend

during the next year.

To that end, in addition to relying on our own

resources, which can now be devoted to poverty

reduction programmes, the Government will organize a

round table of donors in the first quarter of 2012 to

mobilize the necessary financial resources for the

implementation of those programmes. In that context,

we appeal once more for the participation of and

contributions by all traditional donors that are

interested in our country and that wish to support

national efforts aimed at overcoming our current

weaknesses.

Let me once again welcome the establishment of

UN-Women, an entity that reflects the firm

commitment of our Organization to the struggle for

gender equality and to ensuring that women have the

conditions necessary for a more representative and

active participation in the process of transformation

that is under way in our societies.

In the same context, my country is taking

measures to uphold the dignity of women, including

measures to promote their empowerment and the

affirmation of their autonomy. I welcome the steps

taken recently by the Guinean Parliament, which

approved the criminalization of female genital

mutilation and increased penalties for trafficking in

minors.

Guinea-Bissau’s status and credibility in the

international arena depends largely on its ability to

define and implement a foreign policy that takes into

account the great universal values of democracy,

freedom and human rights, which are our values as

well.

In our diplomatic efforts, we have to be

consistent with our historical commitments and, above

all, faithful to all who selflessly helped us in the

struggle for the affirmation of our dignity.

From that perspective, we welcome the decision

of the Palestinian Authority to submit a request for the

recognition of the State of Palestine as a full Member

of the United Nations. We encourage a constructive

dialogue on the basis of the possibility of peaceful

coexistence and mutually advantageous cooperation

between countries and peoples.

This session of the Assembly is taking place at a

time when major changes are occurring in the Arab

world. These changes call for greater political and

social rights, as well as values such as freedom and

democracy, and, for that very reason, the Arabs have

our sympathy and solidarity. We regret, however, the

cases where transition incurs high costs in terms of

human lives.

With regard to Libya, Guinea-Bissau fully

supports the position of the African Union and

expresses its full readiness to cooperate and to

strengthen the increasingly friendly relations and

cooperation with the legitimate representatives of the

Libyan people.

We urge the United States Government to draw

on the values that define that great nation and to

resume its relationship with Cuba, ending the embargo

that has lasted for more than five decades and freeing

the Cubans still being held in its prisons.

The responsibilities of the United Nations are

increasing, and the globalization of the decisions that it

is called upon to take is becoming increasingly urgent.

The historical reasons that led to the

establishment of the Security Council are no longer

current. The demographic representation of the

different regions of the world, the emergence of new

countries and new geopolitical configurations oblige us

to accept as natural the reform of the Security Council.

We deem it legitimate to want the decisions of the

Security Council to be made more inclusive and

participatory through giving our continent both

permanent and non-permanent seats, as is the wish of

the African Union, because of the large representation

of the African continent.

Under the auspices of the President of the

Republic, Mr. Malam Bacai Sanhá, the National

Assembly launched a process of national reconciliation

involving all the forces of the nation. That important

initiative has contributed to the establishment of the

11-51360 14

climate of peace and understanding that now prevails

in the country.

To conclude, I take this opportunity to thank all

friends and partners of Guinea-Bissau for their support

and solidarity and to assure them that we will spare no

effort in consolidating peace and building a more just

society to create better living conditions for the

Guinean people.