Ivory Coast, 2014

Like the

other Heads of State and Government who preceded

me at this rostrum, I, too, would like, on behalf of the

delegation of Côte d’Ivoire and on my own behalf, to

extend to you, Sir, our warmest congratulations on

your well-deserved election as President of the General

Assembly at its sixty-ninth session and to assure you of

our full support throughout your mandate. Your election

to this post does honour to your country, Uganda, and,

beyond its borders, to the entire African continent.

My congratulations also go to His Excellency John

Ashe, President of the General Assembly at its sixty-

eighth session, for his outstanding guidance of the work

of the Assembly throughout the past year. I should

like in particular to commend the Secretary-General,

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his dedication to the objectives

and ideals of the Charter of our Organization.

Now that the stage has been set and the ground

prepared, as we were urged to do at the sixty-eighth

session, the time is now ripe to translate into reality our

commitment and our vision of a world free from the

ravages of the poverty and vulnerability that still affect

millions of individuals.

I welcome, therefore, the relevance and the scope

of the theme of this session, “Delivering on and

implementing a transformative post-2015 development

agenda”, which is taking place in the framework of

the continuation of the previous session and reflects

our commitment to meet together the challenge of

development.

Since the adoption of the Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs), in September 2000, and one year before

the deadline for their implementation, it should be

noted, as rightly stressed by the Secretary-General in

his recent report, that the main objectives have been, or

are in the process of being, achieved on a global scale

and that considerable efforts will be needed in order

for regions such as sub-Saharan Africa to in their turn

succeed in doing so.

At the national level, thanks to the efforts of my

Government, the implementation of the Millennium

Development Goals is tirelessly being pursued within

the framework of the implementation of the national

development programme and the strengthening of

cooperation with our partners. We will use the time

between now and the deadline of the end of 2015 to

accelerate efforts to reduce poverty, improve maternal

and child health, consolidate the remarkable progress

made in the fight against HIV/AIDS and concerning

access to primary education, and, finally, ensure access

to clean drinking water for all of our compatriots.

In the past three years, Côte d’Ivoire has

made a significant qualitative leap forward in the

implementation of the MDGs and intends to continue

with that same dynamic process. We entered the

twenty-first century determined to conquer poverty

and inequality, and to build a world of opportunity. The

MDGs have been the vehicle for this great ambition and

the impetus for a solidarity of the kind rarely expressed

in this forum. At a time when the world that we wish to

see post-2015 is taking shape, the MDGs are becoming

clearer. We must finally give the most vulnerable

peoples a decent life; we must also give our planet a

reprieve and the opportunity to exist for centuries to

come.

The post-2015 agenda should pay particular

attention to the priorities of the developing countries,

particularly those of African countries, as set out in the

African Common Position, which my country supports.

The intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015

development agenda should therefore be inclusive and

balanced and achieve specific, measurable objectives

so as to facilitate their ownership by States and regions.

The adoption of the post-2015 development

programme next year will take place in a favourable

economic context for Africa. Indeed, Africa has become

one of the most attractive regions for international

investors and one of the most dynamic in the world,

with the annual growth rate of its gross national product

at 4.5 per cent on average over the past 15 years.

Africa offers unique opportunities in the areas of

infrastructure, energy, agriculture, employment and the

capability of ensuring food security for the continent.

The health sector and that of combating climate change

are also active.

Africa is entering an era of progress and development

that will depend on its security environment. Indeed,

the unprecedented spread of terrorism from the Horn

of Africa to the Sahelo-Saharan area, the explosion of

maritime piracy, various types of criminal trafficking,

and, more recently, the resurgence of pandemics such

as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, which has been ravaging

certain countries in West Africa, are threatening the

African continent and risk making it lose a decade of

human progress and economic growth. Unlike the wars

of yesteryear, these trans-border threats will in the long

term spare no State and no region. That is why we must

face them collectively.

The current international mobilization against

terrorism and extremism is very positive. However, it

would benefit from being extended to Africa in order

to sustainably destroy the terrorist movements that are

now active at the doors of Europe. Africa must not be

the forgotten continent in the fight against terrorism.

I know that Africa is not alone in facing these

threats. I would like to reiterate here my sincere

gratitude to our bilateral and multilateral partners,

including France, the United States of America, the

United Nations, the European Union and the African

Union, which all are by our side. I should like in

particular to thank President François Hollande for the

decisive role played by France in the resolution of the

crises in Mali, Guinea-Bissau and the Central African

Republic, as well as for the convening of the Elysée

Summit for Peace and Security in Africa and the recent

conference of heads of State on the question of Boko

Haram in Nigeria.

I wish to thank President Barack Obama for the

important measures he announced in August at the

United States-Africa Summit, which will help to

strengthen African capacities to combat terrorism. I

also wish to thank him, and, through him, the American

people for the bold, outstanding measures taken by the

Government of the United States of America to help

West Africa to overcome the Ebola epidemic. Those

measures, in addition to those taken by the World

Health Organization, non-governmental organizations,

France, the United Kingdom, the World Bank, Japan,

the European Union and other countries, must serve as

an impetus for an international mobilization.

In the same spirit, I would like to acknowledge

the support provided by the international community

to the brotherly country of Nigeria in its fight against

the terrorist group Boko Haram, and commend the

African Union for its decisive involvement in Somalia.

The fact remains that, with respect to the Sahel and the

fight against Boko Haram, the major Powers and the

United Nations need to go further in their support for

the continent and show the same determination as that

has been demonstrated by France against the terrorists

in northern Mali.

For Africa, security is the primary sustainable

development goal that must be achieved. In the quest

for stability and security, the consolidation of the

continent’s various partnerships is a true lifeline to

the future. Those partnerships also provide solidarity,

openness and development. They must ultimately enable

us to pursue together the fight for the eradication of

poverty, while taking into account the three dimensions

of sustainable development: the economic, social and

environmental dimensions.

Sustainable development is inclusive, and that is

what we want for our people. In that respect, I recall

the need to focus on developing methods for cleaner

production and for reversing the current trend of global

warming. In the light of the pronouncements we made

at the Climate Summit, held on 23 September here in

New York, a final effort will certainly be needed to

reach an ambitious climate agreement in 2015 at the

Paris summit.

I would like now to turn to the situation in Côte

d’Ivoire. My country is at peace and at work. It has

regained its partners’ trust, as shown in particular by

the definitive return of the African Development Bank

to Abidjan. Thanks to the unity of Ivorians, the strength

of our national institutions and the reforms undertaken

by the Government, economic growth continues to be

strong and is close to reaching double digits.

At this stage in my country’s path towards

economic transformation and inclusive development,

the major work that remains is that of strengthening

national reconciliation and caring for and protecting the

most vulnerable of my countrymen. That will involve,

fundamentally, restoring meaning to the concept of

solidarity and the national pact underpinning the Ivorian

nation. Today, Côte d’Ivoire is an ambitious nation that

has set a course towards democratic institutions and

exemplary governance.

Let me conclude by highlighting that a better world

for all is possible. We all need to believe in it and

work with determination to achieve it. The sustainable

development goals will be achieved if national efforts are

supported by the expected level of official development

assistance, the level to which the developed countries

have committed. The post-2015 development agenda

will be an asset that will enable our countries to meet

the challenges our people and especially our youth will

face in a changing world.