Madagascar, 2025

Now the Assembly will hear an address by His Excellency Andriy Nirena Rojavlina, President of the Republic of Madagascar. I request kindly the protocol to escort His Excellency and invite him to address the Assembly. Madam President of the 80th General Assembly of the United Nations, Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Secretary General of the United Nations, Distinguished Assembly, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is with sincere emotion that I represent my country, Madagascar, at our General Assembly at the United Nations in this temple of multilateralism, which is our common home. We are celebrating this year the 80th year anniversary of our organization. Eighty years. Eighty years of keeping the flame burning, the flame of unity, of establishing peace to craft a fair world with solidarity. Eighty years of the United Nations is a stage rather than an ending point. And here in this symbolic place at the General Assembly of the United Nations, it is here that we are discussing, proposing, and deciding on the main guiding lines for a peaceful and prosperous world. And it is here that we are looking for and finding solutions to conflicts and we're finding an answer to crises. It is here in this very place that we are sketching out the path of our common future. Allow me to extend my warm congratulations to Ms. Annalena Baerbock for her election as President of this 80th General Assembly. Madam President, I wish to wish you every success as you implement your mandate. Rest assured that you will have the full support of Madagascar as you carry out your mission. I also wish to hail the Secretary General of the United Nations, whose commitment and leadership remind us of our mission, which is to put human beings at the heart of all of our actions. Ladies and gentlemen, the UN has always conveyed an ideal, that of forging a world together, a world of peace, justice, and hope. The topic chosen this year, Better Together, 80 years and more for peace, development, and human rights, reminds us that for several decades the United Nations has been bringing people and nations together to promote peace, foster development, and protect human rights. Today, more than ever, we must reaffirm our collective commitment to build a future of solidarity to overcome challenges, because by pooling our efforts, we can transform the hopes of humanity into reality for everyone. This theme gets to the heart of our priorities, and this is why, since the proclamation of our independence 65 years ago, Madagascar joined the United Nations. This shows my country's belief in the ideals of peace, solidarity, and cooperation among people, the ideals championed in the Charter. Today, to further strengthen this conviction, and in order to ensure the continuity of the work of the United Nations in Madagascar, we are going to provide several thousand square meters of office space so as to host a hub for a larger presence of the United Nations on the territory of Madagascar. The challenges have evolved, but we have continued to appreciate the force of this heritage and the need to adapt to everyday realities. It should suffice to mention economic divides, inequality, and above all, the impacts of climate change. All of these threats imperil peace in our societies, and they require strong common measures. One of the challenges of our time is that of development, which is so much desired by our peoples. The mission of leaders is to set up the conditions needed for every citizen to contribute to national development. This requires a vision grounded in the understanding of the realities of the country by using its assets and overcoming its difficulties. Madagascar, like many African countries, has rich, abundant natural resources, and yet our development has been slowed for too long. It is this delay that we are overcoming today with the projects and the programs that we are undertaking to transform our country. We need to seize our destiny, and we need to be the architects of historic change. We refuse to give in to fatalism, and we are committing to act with resolve and with conviction. With this spirit of inclusivity and this spirit of sharing, I am addressing you today. I'm speaking not only on behalf of Madagascar, but I'm also speaking on behalf of a continent and our organization. I am conveying to you the voice of SADC, the South African Development Community, which has 16 countries of Southern Africa in it, and I am serving as the president of this regional organization now. Our goal is to promote industrialization, the transformation of the agricultural system, and the energy transition so as to make our countries and our peoples more resilient. Clear-sighted and forward-looking, this goal shows our common ambition to strengthen our economies, to leverage our resources, and ensure the well-being of our populations. It is a pact. It is a commitment. It is a roadmap of a region which wants to write its own destiny with its own hand and for its people. Today, in the world we are living in, wars are present in several forms. There are armed wars, which are visible and bloody, which destroy infrastructure, entire cities, and even claim the lives of innocent people. But there are also wars against pandemics, like against COVID-19, which we faced together. That was a global battle that cost more than 14 million people their lives. And at present, there is another form of war. There is an economic and trade war. This war is more silent, but it can be destructive because its impact can deprive millions of people of income, jobs, and future. What do all these wars have in common? Well, they kill people directly or indirectly. They make our societies more fragile, and they threaten peace and human dignity. This is why we need to remain watchful. Today, there's a subject that is at the very center of the news, which is of particular relevance for us, because among the 16 countries of SADC, that's the South African Development Community, 14 of those countries are beneficiaries of the AGOA program, the A-G-O-A program. The AGOA program, I'll recall, is an American initiative that allows African countries preferential access to U.S. markets by fostering duty-free exports and by fostering commercial exchange. And just for the SADC region alone, this program means 358,000 direct jobs, which are currently in jeopardy. Sixty percent of them are in the textile sector, and the rest of them are spread out among various sectors. The non-renewal of the AGOA will have serious social consequences. The employability of thousands of young people and the economic momentum of our nations will be under threat, because today, thanks to AGOA, the countries of SADC export more than 11 billion U.S. dollars annually to the United States. Behind this figure, there are more than 1.7 million people that are affected. Therefore, if AGOA disappears, then that will be over 700,000 direct and indirect jobs that will be lost in the South African, Southern African region alone. And behind every one of these jobs, there's a woman who is feeding her children. There's a young person continuing their studies, and there is a family which is maintaining hope. So AGOA, that's not only a simple trade law. It is faces, lives, entire communities that are fighting every day for their dignity. Thus, as the acting president of SADC, I want to solemnly request the renewal of AGOA so as to avoid economic and social consequences that would be disastrous. I therefore wish to sound an appeal to our American partners. Let us together choose stability, hope, and dignity. I advocate for the continuation of a sustainable partnership between the United States and the African continent. Preserving AGOA, that means preserving social peace in the countries that depend on it. It also means protecting 20 years of progress. It means guaranteeing a better future for our families and our youth. We want fair trade, we want equitable partnerships, and we want shared prosperity. We're speaking of this here in the Concert of Nations. We're speaking of peace and security. Thus, solidarity among nations should not only be promises, should not only be speeches, but it needs to be made manifest by commitments that guarantee the everyday lives of millions of families throughout the world. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Madam President, our vision is clear. Developing our country through the promotion of industrialization, producing and processing locally everything that our people need, we need to reduce imports, innovate, build factories and value chains that are capable of generating decent, lasting jobs in Madagascar over the last five years. We have moved forward by building infrastructure and semi-industrial parks throughout our territory so as to spur growth. I firmly believe that development requires investment, relying on the potential of every country, its human capital, and the political will of its leaders. Furthermore, the agricultural transformation needs to be a key part of our economy. The agricultural transformation is the key to combating poverty, for our food security is the foundation of our economic independence. Therefore, let us plant today the seeds of prosperity and autonomy so that tomorrow our people can feed themselves. In Madagascar, in the area of agriculture, we have supported the transformation and the sale of local products. We have started the process of mechanizing our agriculture, and we've provided assistance to our farmers by providing them with improved seeds and inputs. Our goal is to double or even triple agricultural yields, moving from three to nine tons per hectare so as to achieve food sufficiency. Ultimately, there is no development without reliable, accessible, and affordable energy. In Madagascar, we are in the process of accelerating the energy transition to achieve energy production that is 70% green by 2028. In order to do this, we are going to tap our massive capacity that we have in solar, wind, and hydroelectric energy. As you know today, still in many African countries like Madagascar, the production of electricity relies mainly on thermal plants. This dependency on fossil fuels has an enormous economic cost. Thus, investing in renewable energies is not only an obligation, but it is a duty for a sustainable, inclusive future. In six years alone, the rate of access to electricity in my country moved from 24% to 40%. Major headway has been made, but we are aware that much remains to be done. We're going to further step up our efforts to increase the production of clean energy so that isolated rural populations are not left behind. In this context, the collaboration with the United Nations system is playing a crucial role by prioritizing impactful projects for rural communities. These initiatives are illustrative of the desire to build an energy future that is more equitable, sustainable, and innovative. Finally, building modern infrastructure is an essential stage for the economic and touristic development of the country. From the east to the west, from the north to the south, Madagascar is transforming. We've started the project of building the first highway of our country that links Antananarivo to the large port in the east of the island. We've modernized public transport in our capital through building cable cars and by establishing urban trains. This has unburdened the city by transporting more than 40,000 passengers every day at full capacity, thus taking 2,000 vehicles out of traffic on a daily basis. Furthermore, we have strengthened the presence of the state in all of the areas of our country, above all in the hardest-to-reach areas. We've done this through building infrastructure that is close to the people and infrastructure that the people need. We have built thousands of social housing units. We've modernized health care by building public hospitals and health care centers throughout our national territory. Our country only had 16 university hospital centers in 2018, but we've tripled that number by building 30 new hospitals in only six years. We are bolstering the entrepreneurship of young people and women to ensure their empowerment. We've built stadiums and sporting facilities, which have become places for cohesion, national pride, and emancipation for young people. Furthermore, we held the Youth Connect Summit in November. We'll be doing that in November, and that will fit into the framework of this commitment for the youth through equality and inclusion. And we want to invite everyone to participate in this event in great numbers. Finally, from the standpoint of social protection, over $250 million has been transferred directly to the most vulnerable families to improve their everyday lives. These achievements convey our desire to build a country that shows solidarity, a country that is connected and looks toward the future. But the demographic issue remains a variable that needs to enter the equation. We need to change the structure of the population because the current demographic growth is out of proportion to our economic growth. In some regions, young girls who are under the age of 18 are already mothers, and the majority of women have an average of five or even eight children to take care of. They have more difficulty feeding them, bringing them up, caring for them, and educating them properly. This is why we have intensified a family planning program in order to get the birth rate under control and transform a population which is currently dependent into a population that is active and economically productive. Demography is thus becoming an asset for Madagascar and not an impediment to development. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Madam President, we need to offer a better future to our children. So we need to protect the planet that is their home. Madagascar is a sanctuary of nature with 5% of its global biodiversity and 80% of endemic species. We absolutely need to protect this biodiversity. Unlike other areas of the world, these treasures are in jeopardy. Faced with deforestation and climate challenges, island countries like ours are undergoing the consequences of planetary warming. Cyclones have become increasingly frequent, coming one after another, and they're more and more devastating. Flooding has destroyed our fields and it has threatened our harvests and the incomes of our farmers. Madagascar is one of the countries that is the victim of the repercussions of climate change. Our planet is burning. Our ecosystems are degrading while action and financing is not forthcoming. It is high time to move to action. We all know the facts. Right now, let us act together. This is why we wish to sound a call once more for climate justice so that polluting countries can live up to their responsibilities and so that the promised financing for adaptation is actually provided so these promises are kept. We reaffirm our commitment to the preservation of this common heritage with a program of massive reforestation by planting millions of trees every year. Thus, Madagascar joined the coalition of carbon-neutral countries known as GZERO, and we are positioning ourselves as a model actor. We've also strengthened the protection of our protected areas. Our ambition is to restore our forests and develop the green and blue economy. Excellencies, dear leaders, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Madam President, here and now from this august rostrum, I call for unity and action. This is not a time for reflecting. It is a time for concerted strategies. This is not the time for dependency, but rather for sovereign affirmation. This is not a time for sluggishness, but rather for acceleration, for boldness, and for effectiveness. Our mission. This is our reason for being. It is our destiny, a destiny that aims to improve the everyday lives of citizens and which affects every life, every child, every mother. Therefore, we need to ask a question. What world will we choose for our children and for the future of succeeding generations? For my people, for progress, I will never stop bringing to bear all the ways and means possible to accelerate the transformation of my country. We need to go farther. We need to go faster with courage and hope. Yes, the task is huge and the aspirations of the population are great, but we know one thing, division is not a solution. Conflicts brings rise to instability. So let's choose unity, solidarity. Let us choose to build rather than to destroy, because every child has the right to dream and every people has the right to hope. So let's move together, united, upright, together. Let's move toward the world that we want. I have a dream for my country, for Madagascar, for Southern Africa, for the African continent and for all of the voices that are not heard very often. The dream of a future where peace always wins out over war, where development benefits every human being, where fundamental rights are never up for negotiation and where nature is preserved as our most sacred heritage. So, yes, we will be better together for peace, for development and for future generations, because history has shown us that when we choose unity, we combat instability. When we cultivate solidarity, we plant the seeds of prosperity. So may the eight next decades be marked by a global governance that is more fair, more inclusive and more effective. Long live the United Nations, long live cooperation among peoples and long live Madagascar. May God bless us. I thank you for your attention. On behalf of the Assembly, I wish to thank the President of the Republic of Madagascar.