Ivory Coast, 2012

His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara, President of

the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, who was not able to

be here today, wishes me to express, on behalf of the

people and Government of Côte d’Ivoire, the warmest

congratulations to His Excellency Mr. Vuk Jeremić

on his well-deserved election to the presidency of

the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session. I

would like to assure Mr.Jeremić of the full support of the Ivorian delegation for the success of his mandate.

I would also like to convey to his predecessor, His

Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, my

delegation’s satisfaction with the work undertaken and

the encouraging results achieved under his presidency.

His commitment to our common cause has allowed the

Organization to fully play the role conferred upon it

by the United Nations Charter. I wish to reiterate to

His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon my

sincere thanks for his determined commitment and for

his persistent quest for peace throughout the world.

I reiterate to him once again the infinite gratitude of

my President and the entire nation for his unfailing

commitment to Côte d’Ivoire. Through the Secretary-

General, I would like to pay tribute to all the civil

and military personnel of the United Nations for their

tireless efforts on behalf of peace and security.

The theme chosen for this session, “Bringing about

adjustment or settlement of international disputes

or situations by peaceful means”, follows on from

the theme of the previous session. In particular, it

reflects the essence of the ideals of the San Francisco

Conference, which led to the birth of the Organization.

The purposes ascribed to the United Nations in its

Charter can be summarized by the triptych of peace,

liberty and development. To achieve those Charter

purposes, the founding fathers of the Organization

established a system of collective security on the basis

of two major principles: the prohibition of recourse

to the use of force in international relations and the

obligation to settle disputes peacefully.

Now more than ever, we must enhance our collective

security system and ensure that it has all the necessary

resources to be effective. For his part, the President of

Côte d’Ivoire is committed to strictly following a policy

of peace and dialogue. These are principles that were

enshrined as cardinal virtues, through trial by fire,

by the late President, Mr. Félix Houphouët-Boigny,

who won a place in the history of Côte d’Ivoire, and

indeed of the African continent, through his pragmatic

approach to the settlement of conflict through dialogue.

For that reason, President Allassane Ouattara spares

no efforts in seeking lasting solutions, both nationally in

the post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, and regionally,

especially with regard to the situations in Mali and

Guinea-Bissau. Indeed, the security of West Africa is

seriously challenged by military and political crises

orchestrated by military, rebel or terrorist movements,

particularly in Mali and Guinea-Bissau. The Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS), which has always promoted the path of

negotiation highlighted by the theme of this session, is

working tirelessly to ensure a positive outcome to those

crises and to ensure the restoration of constitutional

order and democracy in Mali and Guinea-Bissau.

While the situation has considerably improved in

Guinea-Bissau, the one in Mali continues to be of major

concern. Rebel movements linked to terrorist networks

continue to occupy the main towns in the north of that

country, which they are now pillaging and destroying

with total impunity.

Determined to put an end to this abusive occupation

of the north of Mali, ECOWAS plans to deploy a

military force at the request of the Government of Mali

to help the Malian army efficiently fulfil its sovereign

mission of defending the territorial integrity of the

country. The establishment and deployment of such a

force requires major support from the African Union,

the United Nations and all development partners.

Indeed, the presence of groups with links to terrorists

in northern Mali is a genuine threat, which could lead,

if nothing is done, to the implosion of the entire West

African region and the Sahel.

When we look at the non-State players involved

in the current conflicts in Guinea-Bissau and Mali,

particularly the terrorist networks and armed groups

linked to transnational crime and piracy in the Gulf

of Guinea, we note how incomplete the current

instruments for resolving these crises are, based as

they are on negotiation and mediation. Today, there is

no questioning the fact that the resurgence of terrorism

in the Sahel region in general and in northern Mali

in particular has created a sanctuary, a lawless zone.

Western Africa faces other dangerous threats to the

security of not only the region itself but also other

regions, perhaps even Europe.

Eradicating these problems requires concerted and

diligent action by ECOWAS, the African Union and

the United Nations. I am pleased to note the creation of

the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre, which is

financed and hosted by Saudi Arabia. I also welcome

the proposal made by the Secretary-General to appoint

a United Nations counter-terrorism coordinator, and I

would like to assure him of Côte d’Ivoire’s full support.

Transnational crime, drug trafficking, human

trafficking, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and the

destruction of the environment are threats to the world in general and to Africa in particular. The International

Maritime Organization, in its 2010 annual report, quite

rightly said that the West African coast is one of the six

main centres of piracy in the world. Responsibility for

the measures to be taken to deal with these scourges

lies first and foremost with the States of the subregion

and the principal subregional organizations.

In that regard, I welcome the fact that the fortyfirst

ECOWAS Summit, held in Yamoussoukro on

28 and 29 June, decided to convene a joint summit of

West African and Central African States to take joint

measures on piracy and organized transnational crime

in the Gulf of Guinea pursuant to Security Council

resolution 2039 (2012).

However, despite the goodwill of the countries of

the subregion, they cannot, on their own, deal with the

threats facing maritime security. My country welcomes

the proposal of the Secretary-General to facilitate the

organization of a summit of heads of State of the region

to enable them to draw up a regional strategy to combat

maritime piracy, together with the African Union.

Côte d’Ivoire, like many other African and

non-African States, sincerely hopes that the

Organization will be able to adopt in the near future

a legally binding arms trade treaty, following the

efforts made by all parties to reach a consensus. The

international community must not lose the historic

opportunity it has to better regulate, if not outright

prohibit, a trade that causes 500,000 deaths each year

and that is the main cause of violations of human

rights and the destabilization of our States, as well as

worsening conditions for our people, and, above all,

poses a constant threat to regional and international

peace and security. With respect to the links between

economic development and the environment, the United

Nations Conference on Sustainable Development,

held in June in Rio de Janeiro, shows what we can

accomplish when we work together to build a better

world for current generations and those to come. The

combined crises in food, energy and the environment

threaten the peace and security of all humankind. Yet

we have the means to achieve a world free of famine

and hunger. It is within our capabilities.

Allow me to stress that, with respect to the

international system, Côte d’Ivoire urges all delegations,

as we take up the eighth round of intergovernmental

negotiations concerning the reform of the Security

Council, to show flexibility and a spirit of compromise. It is important to act quickly, because the composition

of the Council is the keystone of our collective security

system, and in that light its composition should be

designed to maximize efficiency.

In order for the Security Council to be truly

effective in its decisions, since it devotes two-thirds

of its time to the African continent, we consider it

more critical than ever for Africa to hold a permanent

seat with the right of veto, in accordance with the

recommendations defined in the Ezulwini Consensus.

Taking duly into account the wishes of African heads

of State and Government, the reform of the Security

Council could represent a historical opportunity that

the international community should seize in order to

repair an anomaly in international relations. With that

in mind, I hope that the forthcoming negotiations on

Security Council reform will be crowned with success,

yielding a Council that truly represents the realities of

our shared history and our contemporary world.

I would like now to make some remarks about the

situation in my country. Thanks to the most valuable

support of the international community, especially the

United Nations, Côte d’Ivoire has emerged from the

military and political crisis that rocked the foundations

of its economic and social development for nearly

a decade. Resolutely committed to the path of postconf

lict reconstruction, and with the aim of national

cohesion, Côte d’Ivoire has made considerable

progress in the political, economic, social, security

and humanitarian spheres since 21 May 2011, the

official date on which President Ouattara assumed

the presidency of the Republic. Those results were

made possible by the determination of the Ivorian

Government to implement the three central priorities

defined by the President when he took office.

First, on security and stability, significant joint

efforts by the Government and the United Nations

Operation in Côte d’Ivoire lead to improvements in the

situation, even in the west of the country, which has

been the most problematic area.

Secondly, national reconciliation has been effected

through the National Commission for Dialogue, Truth

and Reconciliation, which has been serving as the

standing body for maintaining political dialogue.

Reconstruction and economic renewal are already

off to a good start, with an estimated growth of more

than 8 per cent in the gross national product for 2012.

The economic situation has greatly improved, thanks

to the support of our development partners, especially after we met the goals of the Heavily Indebted Poor

Countries Initiative in June.

The resulting drop in our foreign debt and the

adoption of our national development plan for the period

2012-2015 allow Côte d’Ivoire to hope that we can reach

the double-digit economic growth rate necessary for

our country to become an emerging country by 2020,

as envisioned by President Ouattara.

Before concluding, I would like to say that Côte

d’Ivoire notes that the President of the General Assembly

at the previous session opened an informal interactive

dialogue, at the level of the United Nations, on the issue

of the responsibility to protect. In the aftermath of that

useful forum and in the light of the lessons learned,

Côte d’Ivoire, following the example of the Secretary-

General, believes that the principle of the responsibility

to protect has achieved sufficient maturity and that

what remains to be done now is to implement it.

On that basis, the Economic Community of

West African States and the Global Centre for the

Responsibility to Protect jointly held a regional forum

in Abuja devoted to that concept. A similar meeting is

scheduled to take place in Côte d’Ivoire at the end of

this year.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the gratitude

of President Ouattara, his Government and the Ivorian

people to the United Nations and the entire international

community for their commitment to peace and stability

in Côte d’Ivoire. That constitutes to be the precondition

for development.