Niger, 2009

The

delegation of the Niger — which I have the honour to

lead and which brings the message of His Excellency

Mamadou Tandja, President of the Republic — is more

than pleased to see you, Mr. President, presiding over

the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. Your

election, which the Niger welcomes with pride, is

without a doubt both recognition and endorsement of

your exceptional abilities as a seasoned diplomat,

which you have demonstrated throughout your

distinguished career. We in the Niger are well placed to

attest to your commitment to the cause of Africa and of

our common subregion, specifically through the

Community of Sahel-Saharan States, that other forum

in which our countries work together for the same

goals that are enshrined in the Charter of the United

Nations. Thus we consider ourselves to be in your good

hands, ready to advance the work of the Organization

in this time of formidable challenges.

I should like to renew our congratulations to the

outgoing President, Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann,

on his active and very full presidency, and to state that

the Niger was honoured to serve alongside him in its

capacity as Vice-President at the sixty-third session.

On behalf of the Niger, I should like to reiterate

our profound gratitude to Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon for his unflagging efforts to make the United

Nations a more just and effective Organization, able to

meet the expectations of its Members.

My delegation welcomes your decision, Sir, to

declare as the very apt theme for the Assembly’s

current session the strengthening of multilateralism and

dialogue among civilizations for international peace,

security and development. In our view, this theme has

the potential to spur Member States to greater initiative

in realizing the goals that we are pursuing, namely,

those of preserving international peace and security.

We are pleased, in this regard, by the renewed

dynamism in cooperation between the Security Council

and regional organizations, in particular the African

Union. We believe that this direction has the potential

27 09-52598

to lead to lasting solutions to the problems of peace

and security in Africa.

We are convinced that such cooperation will yield

results even on the most delicate issues, such as the

implementation of the political-legal concept of the

principle of universal jurisdiction. While my delegation

welcomes the inclusion of this topic in the agenda of

the General Assembly, we should like once again to

endorse the concerns already expressed by the African

Union and to urge Member States to avoid using this

principle inappropriately. We hope that our debate in

this common forum will make possible a better

understanding of this concept and a better definition of

the framework governing its eventual application.

We note the progress that is being made in

various areas in the prevention and management of

conflicts, both in Africa and elsewhere. And we

welcome the commitment and goodwill of all parties

carrying out concerted actions to ensure international

peace and security.

The recommendations of the special summit on

conflict prevention and management held in Tripoli

reflect the will of African leaders to take on issues that

have always slowed our continent in its march towards

progress and prosperity. It is at this level that the theme

of multilateralism — which you, Mr. President, have

selected for the sixty-fourth session — takes on all its

meaning. Indeed, the United Nations, as the common

framework enjoying the highest level of participation

by countries and other actors in the world, should serve

as a laboratory in which we work towards the goal of a

more balanced international community.

Governed as it is by the laws of globalization, the

current international scene is, as we know, much more

complex today than in the past. We must address and

manage the consequences of the international financial

crisis and, for countries in the Sahel such as the Niger,

the recurrent effects of food insecurity. We must

address climate change in a concerted and coordinated

manner, and we must constantly question the current

formulas for preventing conflict and maintaining

international peace and security.

My delegation supports such initiatives, which

must be inclusive, because they must benefit from the

contributions and perspectives of everyone, including

the most vulnerable countries. In particular, we support

the various discussions under way on this subject,

whether in the General Assembly, the Economic and

Social Council or the Security Council, or even in the

context of specific initiatives such as the discussions

being held by Canada on peacekeeping operations.

We in the Niger have made undeniable progress

in the area of combating poverty and promoting basic

development, thanks to the bold actions of the

President. Through projects designed specifically to

meet the needs of Niger’s people, he has enabled our

country to finally give meaning to development. Today,

development is palpable in every corner of the Niger

because of proactive and systematic efforts to build

classrooms and health clinics, dig wells, build local

drinking water systems and promote a microcredit

system designed specifically for the most vulnerable

rural women. The head of State is doing this to

improve the living conditions of our people, who

suffered from the political instability that characterized

our country during the 1990s, which one could

describe as a lost decade for Niger’s development. In

late August, a meeting was held in Niamey for the

second 2009 review by the Poverty Reduction and

Growth Facility of the International Monetary Fund.

The Niger’s performance in those areas was

acknowledged and commended at the meeting, which

brought together representatives of the World Bank and

of our country’s Ministry of Economy and Finance.

I recall these aspects of the situation in Niger

because, as members are aware, a referendum was held

in our country on 4 August 2009 to adopt a new

constitution. It formalizes the return to a presidential

Administration more suited to the realities of our

country and introduces new provisions such as that

establishing two chambers, Parliament and the Senate.

The referendum, held in an atmosphere of calm and

transparency by the National Independent Electoral

Commission, enabled us to adopt the new constitution,

which formalizes the arrival of the sixth Republic.

Therefore, I wish to take this opportunity to

reassure the international community, development

partners, civil society and other actors and entities that

may be justifiably concerned about the political

situation in the Niger that the country is not in a

situation of lawlessness or insurrection, as some would

have one believe, but rather is a place where all people

freely express their opinions within the framework of

the democratic process, to which we are deeply

committed.

09-52598 28

The sovereign people of the Niger have chosen to

refashion the Republic around certain values with

which they identify. In this new endeavour, President

Mamadou Tandja has solemnly pledged that no group

or structure will be overlooked. Following the

referendum, the President recalled his willingness to

work with all citizens of the Niger in the interest of the

country and its people. The forthcoming legislative

elections, to be held on 20 October, and the municipal

elections in December 2009 will be opportunities for

large-scale mobilization to ensure better representation

for the people in the conduct of State affairs. It is this

reality of a Niger marching towards development,

resolutely committed to building its future and more

determined than ever to lift its people out of poverty,

that we must bear in mind.

We fully support any joint action that can

contribute to general and complete disarmament. We

have been at the forefront in fulfilling our

commitments in this area, and we are resolved to

continue to work in that regard within our modest

means. Our most recent initiative was to ratify the

Convention on Cluster Munitions on 14 May 2009 — a

formality that made the Niger one of the very first

countries to do so and accelerated its entry into force.

We believe that this gesture, although it may seem

minor, assumes its full meaning in the context of the

difficult path towards complete disarmament. For us,

this initiative, together with our country’s ratification

of the Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons,

Their Ammunition and Other Related Materials,

adopted by the Economic Community of West African

States, is a significant contribution to disarmament at

our level.

We are following the various processes carried

out at various levels to reform the United Nations

system. This includes reform of the Security Council,

with regard to which we call for greater recognition of

Africa’s role through the Ezulwini Consensus; the

ongoing preparations to ensure the success of the

United Nations climate change conference in

Copenhagen; and the summit convened by the

Secretary-General and just concluded here in New

York, which benefited from the valuable guidance of

heads of State and Government. In addition, there is

United Nations system-wide coherence; the definition

of the new concept of the responsibility to protect,

which needs to be clearly defined and set out, as in the

Constitutive Act of the African Union; and, finally, the

follow-up to the outcome document of the Conference

on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its

Impact on Development, which the previous President

of the General Assembly wished to begin by appointing

facilitators.

With regard to all those issues and many other

important concerns, such as those referred to in the

outcome document of the Follow-up International

Conference on Financing for Development to Review

the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, held

at Doha at the end of 2008, we wish to express once

again our ongoing concern that we should develop an

inclusive and transparent approach at all levels that

takes into account the concerns of both large and small

countries.

We are following with great interest, and often

concern, the progress of the commitments made within

the framework of the Millennium Development Goals,

and we note that it remains mixed. At the same time,

adverse phenomena are placing constraints on both

developed and developing countries, such as the world

economic and financial crisis. These problems now

require that all of us redouble our efforts to keep our

commitments. In that regard, we will closely follow the

preparations for the 2010 mid-term review conference,

which, we hope, will result in efforts to accelerate the

attainment of the agreed objectives. We also take this

opportunity to reaffirm the irreplaceable nature of the

New Partnership for Africa’s Development as a

relevant African initiative that must enjoy the support

of the United Nations and of the international

community as a whole.

We welcome the decision to convene the Fourth

United Nations Conference on the Least Developed

Countries, and we salute the host country, Turkey, for

its generous initiative vis-à-vis our group of countries.

We also thank other countries and partner organizations

which have always remained sensitive to the many

constraints and concerns of our countries. We also

know that, if significant progress has been made in

10 years in recognizing our difficult conditions and

establishing useful partnerships in that regard, it is

thanks to the coordination of the Office of the High

Representative for the Least Developed Countries,

Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island

Developing States. We thank him for his initiatives,

which remain essential for least developed and

landlocked countries in the Sahel, such as the Niger.

29 09-52598

I should also like to express my Government’s

appreciation to the President of the General Assembly

for his decision to devote part of this session to the

subject of the dialogue among cultures and

civilizations. We believe that that issue is worthy of

much attention and of action throughout the sixty-

fourth session. Indeed, we must maintain the

momentum begun by eminent Member States through

the Third Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue

and Cooperation for Peace, held in 2008; the High-

Level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural

Understanding and Cooperation for Peace; and the

international conference on dialogue among

civilizations and cultural diversity, held from 2 to

4 June 2009 in Kairouan, Tunisia. We must develop

these initiatives, for which my delegation reiterates its

congratulations to the Governments of the countries

concerned.

Along the same lines, my delegation applauds the

Government of the Philippines, which has decided to

organize a special meeting at the ministerial level for

the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, under the

theme “Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation for

Peace and Development”, from 1 to 3 December 2009

in Manila. That shows that the theme continues to draw

the interest of many States and that you, Mr. President,

were aptly inspired in identifying it as a topic of

interest for the international community.

I would like to conclude my statement by

renewing my delegation’s delight at the direction that

you, Sir, have suggested for the current Assembly

session and by reiterating our full confidence in your

leadership, which promises a very fruitful and dynamic

term in the pursuit of common objectives of the

international community. As always, you can count on

the unflagging support and readiness of the

Government of the Niger throughout your term.