Mali, 2013

Allow me at

the outset to convey to President Ashe the heartfelt

congratulations of the delegation of Mali on his election

to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-

eighth session. His election is quite clearly a recognition

of his qualities as a seasoned diplomat, as well as a

tribute to his country, Antigua and Barbuda. He may be

assured of the full readiness of my delegation to work

to ensure the successful outcome of our efforts.

I should like to take this opportunity also to

congratulate his predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi. of

Serbia, for the outstanding manner in which he led the

work of the Assembly at its sixty-seventh session. Allow

me also to reiterate to the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban

Ki-moon, our deepest appreciation for the praiseworthy

efforts he has made to achieve the lofty objectives of

our Organization.

A few weeks after my accession to Mali’s highest

office as the third elected President of the Republic

since the advent of democracy, it is for me a badge of

honour to address the Assembly.

At the outset, let me assure the Assembly of my

unshakeable determination to defend the ideals of our

Organization, which are based on the values of peace,

security, justice and development, all values contained

in the oath that I swore to the people of Mali.

I come here before the Assembly to express the

gratitude of my people to the whole of the international

community for the invaluable support it showed to my

country, Mali, which today has recovered its sovereignty

over the whole of its territory. From this lofty rostrum,

and on behalf of all the people of Mali, I pay tribute to

the work of the United Nations, and especially to the

Security Council, which through four resolutions and a

number of statements condemned the jihadist terrorist

aggression suffered by my country and reaffirmed its

attachment to the unity and territorial integrity of my

country. The Council authorized the deployment of

international forces to assist the armed forces of Mali in

the difficult task of recovering the areas of its territory

that were controlled by terrorist groups.

Allow me to convey my gratitude to UNESCO

for formally condemning the destruction of the

global heritage sites and mausoleums in Timbuktu

and Gao. At that time, Morocco was President of the

Security Council. I would therefore like to thank His

Majesty King Mohammed VI for the very significant

contributions made by the Kingdom of Morocco, which

right from the start of the occupation of Mali condemned

the act of aggression to which we had fallen victim, and

offered our people emergency humanitarian assistance.

This is also the right time and place to thank France

and its President, François Hollande, for launching

Operation Serval, a life-saving operation, that halted

the advance of jihadists towards the south of Mali. Had

it not been for that intervention, I would not be standing

here before the Assembly today.

Allow me to also convey my gratitude to the

Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS), the African Union and to the Organization

of Islamic Cooperation for their concern and continuing

commitment to seeking a lasting solution to the Malian

crisis. In particular, I would like to commend the

leadership of Mr. Alassane Ouattara, President of the

Republic of Côte D’Ivoire and current President of

ECOWAS, for his ongoing commitment to supporting

the Malian people. I also thank President Blaise

Compaoré of Burkina Faso, mediator during the Malian

crisis, as well as Mr. Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria,

co-mediator during the crisis, for their ongoing efforts

aimed at finding a solution to the crisis that struck our

country. We also thank President Boni Yayi of Benin,

who during his mandate as head of the African Union

devoted all his energy to resolving the Malian crisis.

I would also like to thank the President of Chad,

our brother Idriss Deby Itno. His country deployed

2,000 men in Mali, many of whom died. Our thoughts

and sympathy are with all the sons and daughters of

Chad who died in Mali. They sacrificed their lives

for Mali. I would also like to pay tribute to President

Mahamadou Issoufou and the brave people of the Niger

for extending a fraternal welcome to our people, which

eased a great deal of suffering. I would also like to take

this opportunity to pay my respects to the memory of

all of our Nigerien brothers who died in the battlefields

during savage attacks on Agadez and Arlit in the Niger.

I also pay tribute to the President of Algeria,

Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and to our brothers the

people of Algeria, who have always stood by Mali.

There is a long-standing history of friendship between

our peoples, something that was confirmed again when

Algeria recently helped Mali during the humanitarian

crisis. I would like to take this opportunity to state that

Algeria and Mali are two brotherly States. They are

linked by a solid friendship and a shared history.

To the people of Mauritania and President

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, I would like to express

my gratitude for their troops, who stood by us in our

pursuit of the jihadists who ran amok in the north of

Mali for so long. To Mauritania, which has also been in

mourning because of jihadist attacks, I would also like

to extend our heartfelt condolences and our sympathy

to those who perished fighting for our country. Many

of our Mauritanian friends and brothers died in the

Timbuktu region.

Finally, to the European Union and all bilateral and

multilateral partners, I would like to say that the people

of Mali are grateful for the wonderful international

mobilization to help our country, which enabled us to

overcome the crisis, making it possible for me to stand

here today. I also believe that the restoration of peace

in Mali today allows us to look to the future in a calm,

reasonable and confident way. Furthermore, I would

like to assure them that the fight against drug traffickers

and jihadists, in all their guises, is an ongoing struggle,

one to which we are committed. I thank you very much

for standing by us in this continuing fight.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thoughts to all

those friends of Mali who perished on the battlefields

to safeguard the future of our country and the future

of our children. There were many heroes, anonymous

civilians, men and women alike, who suffered in Mali.

Our thoughts are with all the injured, the women who

were raped, those who were maimed, those who suffered

under the yoke of barbarity, enduring endless months of

suffering yet remaining steadfast, standing up for Mali

despite all the intimidation rained down upon them.

It would be heartless of me to move on without

a thought of compassion for all the families of the

Algerian, French and other hostages still held by jihadist

groups in the Sahel region, including northern Mali. I

can assure the Assembly that we will spare no effort in

working to speed up their release, in close cooperation

with the States concerned, of course.

Mali is back. Yes indeed, with the support of

friendly States, Mali stands tall, ready to turn a page

on the darkest periods of its history, one marked by

nine months of grave human rights violations, looting,

the destruction of unique historical and cultural

monuments and sites, and its cultural heritage. Mali has

recovered its sovereignty and national integrity, backed

by its cultural diversity, and now is setting off on the

path towards national reconciliation.

A process of dialogue for peace and national

reconciliation has been launched through the

preliminary Ouagadougou Agreement signed on

18 June. The transition, which was launched in March

2012, following the coup d’état, ended last August,

following presidential elections that were deemed

credible and transparent by the entire international

community. Through that exemplary election process,

Malians recalled and demonstrated their commitment

to democracy and constitutional order. To finalize that

process, my Government has made a commitment to

holding, without any further delays, the first round of

legislative elections on 24 November and the second

round on 15 December.

As a President who enjoys the trust and confidence

of the Malian people, I understand the huge scope of the

challenges. Malians have a deep-seated yearning for

peace and national reconciliation, as well as economic

and social development. As soon as I became President,

I took the initiative to meet with the heads of armed

groups from the north of the country in Bamako to

remind them of the sacrosanct principles of respect for

the territorial integrity of Mali and the secular nature

of our State. I made them aware of our readiness to

organize candid, inclusive political dialogue where

everything, except for any form of independence or

autonomy, could be discussed openly. Our message

has been heard, and we will commit to dialogue in the

future in order to find a lasting solution to the crisis in

northern Mali.

At this point, we would like to revive the inter- and

intracommunitarian dialogue to recreate conditions

conducive to enabling all Malians to live together. A

general meeting for decentralization will be convened

to create the conditions necessary for an effective

transfer of governance and resources to local authorities

throughout the country. Thereafter, the Government

will hold a national review conference on the north of

Mali.

In preparing for future decisions with the armed

groups and in order to create the conditions for pacifying

the situation, confidence-building measures have been

taken, as called for in the preliminary Ouagadougou

Agreement. In that connection, it is hard to understand

why the rebel elements have decided to suspend

negotiations, which represents a flagrant violation of

the Agreement. We will have to discuss that. In that

regard, the Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission

will be turned into a commission for dialogue on truth

and reconciliation to deal with the remaining wounds of

war within Malian society.

The cyclical crisis in the northern regions of Mali

is rooted in the precarious living conditions of the local

population and poverty. I established the Ministry

for National Reconciliation and Development of the

Northern Regions upon my arrival at the helm in

order to accelerate development in the areas of health,

education and infrastructure.

I am pleased to note that the international

community has understood what is at stake, and I

take this opportunity to express my deep-seated

and heartfelt gratitude to all the friends of Mali who

committed themselves on 15 May, in a wonderful show

of exceptional solidarity to backing the implementation

of the plan for the sus,tainable economic recovery of

Mali.

With the support of the international community,

Mali is working resolutely to address peacebuilding,

national reconciliation and the reform of the national

defence and security forces, to rebuild the northern

regions devastated by the terrorist and jihadist forces,

to improve institutional governance and to launch

the economic recovery of our country. Within the

framework of good governance, pride of place has been

given to our national justice system. After the Prime

Minister, the Minister of Justice is the most senior

Minister in my Government, which clearly shows our

dedication to turning Mali into a State where the rule

of law truly prevails.

Mali has come a long way, but it has arrived. It

is here and it wishes to play its full role. However,

the situation that our country is facing, I must say, is

symptomatic of the challenges that all the countries

of the Sahel region are facing, including the worst

possible forms of transnational organized crime,

including trafficking in drugs, human beings and

weapons of all kinds, of which some very sophisticated

types have come from the Libyan arsenals since the

fall of the Al-Qadhafi regime. Despite the hope raised

following the successful military operations through

the combined efforts of Operation Serval, the troops

of the African-led International Support Mission

in Mali, now the United Nations Multidimensional

Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, and Malian

armed security forces, small armed terrorist groups

continue to make themselves felt in our subregion and

to move from one territory to another — we know

that they are present in the southern territory of one

of our neighbours — which represents for us and

the international community a serious threat to the

stability and territorial integrity of Mali and to peace

and security in the Sahel region as a whole.

It is in that context that the United Nations Mission

for the stabilization of Mali was deployed. That Mission

was successful, and we wish to congratulate the United

Nations, especially the Security Council, for that

outstanding initiative.

Our country stands at a crossroads. Just a few

months ago, no one could have thought that I would

stand in this Hall before the General Assembly. I take

this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to working

unstintingly for the implementation of the United

Nations strategy for the Sahel region. We familiarized

ourselves with the strategy yesterday at a high-level

summit on the situation in the Sahel. As a result of the

complexity and seriousness of the situation in the Sahel,

my delegation welcomes the report presented in June

by Mr. Romano Prodi, Special Envoy of the Secretary-

General (S/2013/354), which we believe accurately

reflects the regional dimension and should enable us

to extricate ourselves from the situation prevailing

throughout our country.

This is the right time for me to forcefully underscore

that finding a lasting solution to the Sahel crisis will

require a strengthened and dynamic cooperation

between all the States in the Sahel and Saharan regions

to fight against religious extremism and organized

crime. Under my leadership, Mali is determined to work

to give a new impetus to the subregional cooperation

mechanisms that we have. In that regard, the assistance

of the international community will be indispensable

in the fight against transnational terrorism in the Sahel

region as a whole.

The stakes are high and the terrorist threat is of

alarming proportions, to the point that no country is safe

from violent and barbarous acts. The attacks that took

place in Nairobi, Kenya, are the most painful examples

of that. My country, which is slowly recovering from

the atrocities carried out by jihadist terrorist groups

and the allied drug trafficking groups, reiterates its

firm condemnation of terrorism of all stripes and in

all its manifestations. On behalf of Mali, I present

my most deep-seated and heartfelt condolences to the

Government and the people of our brother country,

Kenya.

The delegation of Mali is particularly gratified by

the central theme of the general debate of the sixty-

eighth session of the General Assembly, “The post-2015

development agenda: setting the stage”. The relevance

of that theme lies in the uncertainties being faced by the

world today, uncertainties resulting from economic and

financial instability at the international level, from an

accentuation of the scourge of poverty, the continued

deterioration of the environment and the increase in the

number of natural disasters. Just a few months ago, we

suffered flooding that claimed at least 50 lives in my

country alone.

Indeed, 10 years after the adoption of the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Heads

of State and Government gathered here at the General

Assembly in September 2010 in the framework of a

mid-term review and expressed their serious concerns

about the insufficient results. It is clear at this point that

the path to be travelled to achieve the MDGs remains

a lengthy one. In that regard, it is crucial that we cast

a critical glance at the shortcomings noted in order to

pave the way for sustainable development.

One shortcoming of the MDG programme that

caught our attention was the lack of commitment

regarding MDG 8, on the setting up a global partnership

for development. Without setting up open and equitable

financial and trade systems that would respect the

promises made to least developed countries, small island

States and landlocked States — our Samoan colleague

has just referred to that — and faced with a shortfall of

assistance to those countries, we run the risk of failing.

Faced with that situation, Mali encourages the adoption

of a unique consolidated development programme for

the post-2015 period whose priority objective will,

in the long run, be the eradication of poverty and the

promotion of economic, social and environmental

sustainability. That is a vision that has resulted from

the pressing nature of the challenges and the shortage

of resources available to deal with them.

In line with my predecessors, I would like to

reaffirm here and now my firm determination to defend

the ideals of peace, security and justice that mark the

Organization. In Africa, Mali is extremely concerned

about the situation in the Central African Republic, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt and Libya,

and expresses its firm condemnation of violence as

a means of political expression. Mali welcomes the

progress achieved on the path of reconstruction and

national reconciliation in Liberia, Sierra Leone and

Guinea-Bissau.

With respect to the Middle East, we remain

concerned by the ongoing deadly violence in Syria, with

its daily lot of humanitarian disasters. Accordingly, we

condemn with the utmost firmness the use of chemical

weapons in the country. Mali urges all parties to favour

negotiated political solutions under the auspices of the

United Nations.

We encourage the Israeli-Palestinian talks currently

under way and urge all parties to take the steps

necessary to establish a climate of trust and launch

direct negotiations to achieve a just, comprehensive

and lasting peace based, in particular, on the relevant

General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. I

take this opportunity to reiterate the solidarity and full

support of the people and the Government of Mali for

the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle for

the exercise of their inalienable right to sovereignty.

I welcome the measures taken in recent years by

the United Nations to bring about qualitative changes in

the priority fields of development, peace and collective

security, as well as human rights, and to reform the

Organization. Despite the progress achieved, much

remains to be done, especially concerning the necessary

reform of the Security Council and the revitalization of

the General Assembly. We must continue our efforts to

ensure that the General Assembly, the main deliberative

organ of the Organization, occupies a central position,

with the means to implement its resolutions.

Turning now to the reform of the Security Council,

Mali reiterates its commitment to the Ezulwini

Consensus and the Sirte Declaration adopted by the

heads of State and Government of the African Union,

and supports the legitimate demands by Africa to have

two permanent seats and five non-permanent seats in

the Security Council.

The Security Council thus reformed would better

reflect the geopolitical realities of today’s world and

would repair the “historical injustice” done to Africa,

the only region of the world that does not have a

permanent seat on the Council.

Mali is back. Mali now takes back its place, its

rightful place in keeping with its rich history, in the

community of free and democratic States. The Malian

people stand ready to take part, to play a full-fledged

role in building a world of peace, tolerance, freedom,

justice and democracy. Malians remain convinced that

it is along that path that we, the leaders of the world,

will lay the milestones of sustainable development

for our peoples and will spare present and future

generations the scourge of war. That is our mission and,

God willing, we will accomplish it.