Guinea, 2010

I have

the honour to speak before the General Assembly to

convey the warm greetings of the people and

Government of Guinea, and most especially that of His

Excellency General Sékouba Konaté, interim President

of the Republic, President of the Transition. On this

happy occasion, I would first of all like to congratulate

you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the

sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly. I wish you

every success and assure you in advance of my

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delegation’s support. Your undeniable personal

qualities, in conjunction with proven ability, will

certainly inspire our work at a time when our

Organization faces numerous challenges involving the

entire international community. I would also like to

extend our gratitude to your predecessor,

Mr. Abdussalam Treki, for the skill and dedication that

he showed in carrying out his mandate.

Here, we would like to express our gratitude to

our Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his

tireless efforts to promote the noble ideals of the

United Nations and, in particular, for his personal

involvement in settling the crisis in my country.

On assuming power on 23 December 2008

against a background of political and economic crisis,

the new Guinean authorities had to deal with many

difficulties, in particular poor governance, State

crimes, widespread insecurity and the proliferation and

circulation of small arms and light weapons. That

worrying situation led to the adoption of various

measures to restore order and security, build national

unity and establish a regime respectful of human rights

and individual and public freedoms.

In that specific context, the agreement signed in

Ouagadougou on 15 January 2010 enabled the people

of Guinea, of all inclinations, to embark on a path of

peace and dialogue and implement a political plan

ensuring the return to constitutional order based on the

rule of law and good governance. Despite pitfalls, that

process of democratization led to the establishment of

transitional bodies, specifically, a Government of

national unity, led by a Prime Minister, a head of

Government coming from the Forces vives, the

National Transitional Council and the Independent

National Electoral Commission, as well as a timetable

setting the deadline for organizing free and transparent

elections.

In a show of great commitment, following the

adoption of the new Constitution, the people turned out

in force on 27 June 2010 for the most free and

democratic presidential election that the country had

known since its independence in 1958. The second

round of that important election is planned for the

coming weeks.

Here, from this rostrum, I would like to launch an

urgent appeal to the African and international

communities to continue to support Guinea with a view

to strengthening peace, stability and security in the

subregion. I would also like to pay warm tribute to the

Facilitator, His Excellency Mr. Blaise Compaore,

President of Burkina Faso, for his tireless efforts to

promote the democratic process in Guinea. I also

extend that tribute to the International Contact Group

on Guinea and, through it, the member States of the

Economic Community of West African States and of

the African Union, the international community and all

friendly countries that are working with us at this

critical time.

Peace and security continue to be threatened in

some parts of the African continent and the world.

Somalia continues to be subject to a fratricidal and

painful war. In the Sudan, peace remains fragile despite

the huge sacrifices and the investments granted. We

urge the African Union and the international

community to continue their efforts for a prompt and

lasting settlement of those conflicts.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the recent political

developments have made it possible for that friendly

neighbouring country to move towards the presidential

election planned for 31 October. That important step

forward, in conjunction with the positive outcomes of

the peacebuilding process in Sierra Leone and Liberia,

give us real cause for encouragement and hope for the

peoples of the Mano River Union.

With regard to Western Sahara, my Government

supports the efforts of the United Nations and remains

firmly committed to the Moroccan initiative on the

negotiation of a status of autonomy for the Sahara

region. It urges the stakeholders to find a lasting and

mutually beneficial political solution.

The upsurge in threats and terrorist violence in

Africa are a source of serious concern to Guinea. My

country supports the prompt establishment of a

consultative framework for action to eradicate that

scourge.

In the Middle East, my delegation welcomes the

direct talks between the Palestinian authorities and the

Israeli Government under the auspices of the United

States of America. It hopes that those talks will lead to

the establishment of an independent and sovereign

Palestinian State, living side by side in peace with

Israel. The Guinean Government believes that peace in

that region can be achieved only in a climate of mutual

trust and with a will to implement the agreements and

relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the

Security Council. From that viewpoint, Israel must

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withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and

end its settlement policy.

Only a week ago, in this Hall, the international

community reiterated its commitment to the billions of

people who are expecting it to make a reality of the

promise of a better world expressed in the Millennium

Declaration (resolution 55/2). Guinea welcomes the

holding of that summit, which allowed our heads of

State and Government and our partners to reaffirm

their will to achieve the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) within the agreed time frame.

My country remains convinced that achieving the

Millennium Development Goals is within reach. That

is borne out by the remarkable progress made in many

areas by countries that are among the poorest on the

planet. Barely five years from the 2015 deadline, we

must step up the pace, particularly in the countries

facing major challenges, in order to consolidate the

achievements and make even more effective progress

than we have to date.

In order to take up the many challenges of the

twenty-first century, development partners and the

international community have no choice but to step up

efforts to work together to lend new impetus to

international cooperation. My country urges all

stakeholders to assume, at the national, regional and

international levels, their share of responsibility in

achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The Republic of Guinea welcomes the progress

made in recent years with regard to official

development assistance. However, it regrets that long-

standing commitments and those entered into more

recently are far from being met. It is vital to reflect on

all standard and supplementary sources of financing for

development. Innovative financing is becoming an

increasingly important means to mobilize additional,

predictable and stable resources to supplement official

development assistance.

Guinea, which attaches great importance to an

increase in official development assistance, reiterates

its proposal on organizing an African conference on

innovative financing and drawing up a draft African

declaration on transparency of financial governance

and fighting illegal capital flows. The purpose of that

conference would be to promote strategies to mobilize

innovative financing as a complement to traditional aid

and the domestic resources needed to fund the MDGs.

The draft African declaration on transparency of

financial governance and fighting illegal capital flows

would seek to stem the immense capital outflows from

Africa by redirecting them towards development of the

continent.

Those proposals were warmly welcomed by

various African bodies and the Leading Group on

Innovative Financing for Development. They also

received support at the twenty-fifth summit of heads of

State and Government of Africa and France and the

backing of the African Union at its fifteenth summit in

Kampala. My delegation hopes that those initiatives

will feature among the proposals for action on Africa

during this sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly.

Regarding international trade, we hope for a

prompt conclusion of the Doha Round negotiations on

the basis of an agreement that is both far-reaching and

fair to all stakeholders, in particular the least developed

countries. We again call for developed countries to

respect their commitment to remove by 2013 all export

subsidies that significantly distort trade and

agricultural production in developing countries. My

country welcomes the substantial progress made with

respect to debt relief and urges the international

community to continue its endeavours to effectively

implement the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Initiative.

The subject of climate change quite rightly

occupies a central place on the international agenda,

given that phenomenon’s devastating effects. That

reveals the emergence of a collective awareness and

the real threat that that phenomenon poses to

humankind.

Given that urgency, my country calls for

concerted and courageous international efforts to

alleviate the suffering of victims, particularly the

vulnerable populations of poor countries. The

commitments undertaken with regard to developing

countries in terms of financial resources, technology

transfer and capacity-building must be fulfilled, so that

the appropriate measures can be undertaken to adapt to

climate change and to mitigate its effects in those

countries. In that connection, my delegation hopes that

the climate conference to be held at the end of the year

in Cancún, Mexico, will lead to an ambitious

agreement that will commit States to concrete action.

As it is fully aware of the pressing need to act,

the Guinean Government, for its part, is determined to

assume its share of the responsibility, especially since

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Guinea plays a leading role in implementing all

policies and strategies aimed at achieving sustainable

development and restoring ecological balance in

western African. As the source of over 20 rivers that

irrigate the West African region, including the Niger,

Senegal, Gambia and Makona Rivers, Guinea is a

veritable water tower for Western Africa and the

crucible for an incredibly rich biodiversity.

The main theme of this session, “Reaffirming the

central role of the United Nations in global

governance”, is extremely timely. We acknowledge that

most gratefully. In a highly interdependent world that

is marked by the combined effects of many crises, a

new culture of international solidarity is essential.

Likewise, a profound reform of our Organization

is needed to make it more democratic, more

representative and transparent. Sixty-five years after its

creation, the United Nations does indeed need to be

reformed in order to become more effective and better

placed to meet the aspirations of our peoples. Let us

make it an effective instrument in the service of peace,

security, development and human rights. Only in that

way will current and future generations in all countries

and all regions of the world see their hopes of living in

peace realized in a world that is free and prosperous,

without fear, poverty or need.