Niger, 2010

At the outset,

on behalf of the Republic of the Niger, I would like to

extend to Mr. Joseph Deiss my sincere congratulations

on his outstanding election as the President of the

General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. His

country, the Swiss Confederation, is known for its long

tradition in the area of international relations, and his

own career reveals proven skill and a wealth of

personal experience. Because of that, we believe that

under his leadership the work of this session will be

crowned with success. I can assure him of the full

support and complete cooperation of my delegation in

carrying out his noble and lofty mission.

To his predecessor, Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki,

representative of the great Socialist People’s Libyan

Arab Jamahiriya, I would like to pay particular and

fully merited tribute to him for the exemplary way and

the talent with which he led the work at the Assembly’s

last session.

Finally, with consideration and admiration, I

commend the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, a

promoter of peace, for his tireless investment in the

search for the most appropriate solutions to the many

challenges that assail the world today and cry out daily

to the individual and collective consciences of its

leaders. The particular attention he gives to the

situation of the most vulnerable countries, his constant

advocacy for achieving the Millennium Development

Goals and his recent journey to Africa deserve to be

commended.

The world will recall that on 18 February 2010,

in the face of an anti-constitutional drift imposed on

democratic and republican institutions of my country

by the Government in place, and the grave and certain

risk of the disintegration of national cohesiveness, the

defence and security forces of the Niger were obligated

to intervene on the political scene.

This was not the intervention of an army hungry

for power, but that of officers who were concerned

with safeguarding the unity and integrity of their

country, which had been endangered by the Head of

State at the time, who, through sheer self-interest, had

decided to ignore, by undertaking a civilian coup

d’état, all of the laws of the Republic, beginning with

the Constitution itself, which was replaced with

another that would have generously extended the

presidential mandate for three years, which was to have

ended on 22 December 2009. It was therefore for good

reason that our arrival was welcomed by national and

international opinion.

Having headed the country since 18 February

2010, the Supreme Council for the Restoration of

Democracy, over which we have the great honour to

preside, immediately set itself the primary goal of

taking all decisions necessary to bringing peace to the

socio-political life of the country. It was precisely to

that end that it drew up its programme for governing

on the basis of three pillars: the restoration of

democracy; cleaning up the country’s political and

economic situation by fighting against impunity,

10-54833 44

corruption and bribery; and the reconciliation of the

people of the Niger.

With a view to restoring a normal constitutional

regime, the National Independent Electoral Commission,

which was created to that end, drew up and proposed a

schedule for general elections and a draft budget for

organizing seven planned elections to the Government

and the Supreme Council for the Restoration of

Democracy, which accepted them after slight

modifications. According to that timetable, the electoral

process will take place from 31 October 2010 to 6 April

2011 and will include a constitutional referendum as well

as local, legislative and presidential elections.

I am pleased to recall here that, by an ordinance

of 11 March 2010, we decided to make ineligible

members of the defence and security forces, as well as

members of the transitional Government. I should

therefore like to take this opportunity to make an

urgent appeal to the international community to

continue to assist the Niger and its National

Independent Electoral Commission in the organization

of the programme of elections that I have just

elaborated. This assistance is crucial if we are to

achieve within the established time frame the core goal

of the Supreme Council and the transitional

Government of restoring constitutional order in the

Niger, following the outcome of the electoral process.

Moreover, with a view to guaranteeing free, fair,

transparent and credible elections, the Supreme

Council for the Restoration of Democracy and the

Government of the Niger, solemnly request through me

the participation of the United Nations and all

interested international institutions in observing the

various elections.

I was determined to make this trip to New York,

despite the many urgent needs and constraints

associated with the transitional agenda under way in

the Niger, to solemnly reaffirm before this august and

honourable Assembly that the commitments we made

following the events of 18 February 2010 are now at a

very advanced stage of implementation and that, God

willing, they will be upheld within the established time

frame and with international support. In this respect, I

note and welcome the fact that, in the report he

represented to the Security Council on 13 July 2010

(S/2010/324), the Special Representative of the

Secretary-General for West Africa stressed that the

transitional authorities in the Niger have fully

respected their commitments.

In accordance with the second commitment made

by the Supreme Council for the Restoration of

Democracy, on 11 May 2010 we established a

commission to combat economic, financial and fiscal

crime and to promote good governance, which is

currently implementing a programme to restore the rule

of law in the Niger. In parallel, a high authority for

reconciliation and consolidation of democracy has been

created. This new institution is working with all the

necessary care to achieve the third goal, which is to

consolidate our national unity.

Finally, at the international level, since

18 February we have clearly reaffirmed the Niger’s

commitment to the universal values of peace, security,

good-neighbourliness, human rights, the rule of law,

democracy, international solidarity, strict compliance

with the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of

the African Union, the statutes of the Economic

Community of West African States and all other

relevant international legal instruments.

Poor economic and financial governance and the

political and institutional crisis were, unfortunately, not

the only threats facing the Niger. Sadly, there was

another scourge that was even more dangerous and

called for urgent countermeasures, but whose existence

was long concealed by the authorities of the time. I

refer to the very serious situation of food insecurity in

which my country finds itself.

On 10 March, an urgent appeal was made to the

entire national and international community for major

support to be given to our country in its efforts to

address this disaster. With the prompt and concrete

support of the Niger’s development partners and

through the national mechanism for the prevention and

management of food crises, action to mitigate the crisis

has been diligently undertaken. Of particular note

among these efforts are the cash-for-work operations,

the sale of reasonably priced grain, the free distribution

of food, seed and livestock feed assistance, and care

for malnourished children.

I take this opportunity to convey to all our

generous donors the profound gratitude of the people

of the Niger, the Supreme Council and the transitional

Government for that commendable and unforgettable

show of solidarity. We hope to see it continue so that

we can address the emerging situation resulting from

45 10-54833

floods wreaking havoc in several regions of our

country. We are also pleased to see that food security is

high on the list of issues on which the General

Assembly will focus during its current session and

among the priorities set for the Organization in 2010

by the Secretary-General.

At this stage, I welcome the initiative of Under-

Secretary-General John Holmes to come to the Niger

and visit isolated rural areas in order to see for himself

the desperate situation into which the people and their

livestock have been plunged. During his visit, he was

able to assess the scale of the crisis and its impact on

people — in particular on children — and livestock.

The appeal he made to the international community,

advocating the mobilization of $130 million to provide

urgent assistance to the populations affected, remains

highly urgent. We know, however, that we can count on

the understanding and ongoing concern of our

development partners, which have already been

reflected in the gradual resumption of their cooperation

with the Niger.

It is obvious that my country has serious

socio-economic problems, but the people of the Niger

are determined to overcome them with the support of

the international community. My country is young. It

has just celebrated its fiftieth year of independence

without fanfare because of the food crisis. Its people

are young, but they are also dynamic and resolved to

begin their march on the path to development.

This sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly

is taking place in an international context of strong

contrasts. Indeed, while tangible progress continues to

be made daily in many areas of concern, we face many

numerous and varied challenges in many other areas.

In Africa, positive developments have been

recorded. I welcome the holding of free, transparent and

fair elections, in particular in the Sudan and Burundi. I

welcome the decision of the authorities of Côte d’Ivoire

to organize presidential elections very soon. It is my hope

that the electoral process under way will be a success.

Indeed, that is the only way that Côte d’Ivoire will restore

the stability and calm that will allow it to fully play its

role as a driving force in West Africa.

Finally, I note that the peace and security

architecture of our continental organization is being

strengthened with the support of our partners, such as

the European Union and the United Nations, in

particular with imminent operationalization of the

African peace force and the early warning mechanism.

It is my ardent hope that significant progress shall soon

be made on the political front in other friendly

countries, such as the Central African Republic, the

Comoros, Somalia and Madagascar, in the Great Lakes

region and Darfur.

In the Middle East, the launch of direct bilateral

negotiations should, we hope, lead to comprehensive

peace based on the two-State solution, with an

independent and viable Palestine living side by side in

peace and security with Israel and other neighbouring

countries. From this rostrum, I wish full success to the

direct negotiation process among officials of those two

countries, sponsored by President Barack Obama of the

United States of America.

Other threats to international peace and security

continue to confront us on a daily basis. I refer above

all to terrorism, drug trafficking and the proliferation

of small arms and light weapons. West Africa — and in

particular the Sahelo-Saharan region, of which the

Niger is an integral part — is currently suffering the

bitter nexus of terrorism and trafficking of all types. In

spite of the efforts made, it must be recognized that

national and regional authorities continue to have

difficulty neutralizing these armed groups. The

abduction last week of foreign nationals in northern

Niger reminds us of the gravity of the situation and of

the urgent need for the measures necessary to deal

effectively with this threat to peace, security and

development in our country.

Indeed, with each passing day, terrorism grows in

scale in our subregion and threatens to tarnish the

image of the Sahel countries, compromise tourist

revenues and exacerbate our people’s poverty and

insecurity. We all know that poverty and desolation are

fertile grounds for terrorists. We must therefore

recognize the urgent need to promptly strengthen

international cooperation and economic and social

development programmes in these areas in order to

eradicate these scourges. The response to all these evils

must be coordinated. That is why the countries

concerned created a mechanism to coordinate counter-

terrorism activities following a ministerial meeting

held in Algiers on 16 March. With respect to drug

trafficking, the Economic Community of West African

States has adopted a plan of action to combat it, and

urgently appeals to the international community to

assist in its implementation.

10-54833 46

It has been widely understood since the 2005

World Summit that peace, security, development and

human rights are interdependent and mutually

reinforcing. In other words, peace, security and human

rights cannot be effective in a context of

underdevelopment and poverty. It is clear that the

Secretary-General fully shares this view because he has

made sustainable development one of his highest

priorities throughout 2010 through the achievement of

internationally agreed development goals. In this

respect, the High-level Plenary Meeting on the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), held from 20

to 22 September, was a real opportunity for the

international community to address many subjects of

major concern more thoroughly.

As the participants in the High-level Meeting

firmly highlighted and I would note, there is a clear

link between the availability of resources and the

achievement of the MDGs. From my point of view, the

achievement of the MDGs remains possible for the

Niger, as I emphasized at the Meeting, but only to the

extent that substantial financial resources are made

available, in particular through an expanded and

enhanced partnership with the international

community. That is why I appeal for the mobilization

of the resources necessary through compliance with

commitments made in the Millennium Declaration

(resolution 55/2), the Monterrey Consensus

(A/CONF.198/11), and in the Outcome Document of

the Doha International Conference on Financing for

Development (A/CONF.212/L.1/Rev.1*).

The terrible earthquake that struck Haiti with

such force on 12 January; the deadly floods that

continue to affect Pakistan, India and the People’s

Republic of China; the terrible droughts and floods in

the Sahel; and the heatwave in Russia have all made us

aware of our collective vulnerability to natural

disasters and their underlying causes, such as

environmental degradation and climate change.

In this respect, as highlighted by the participants

at the 20 September high-level meeting on the

International Year of Biodiversity, the protection of the

environment should be everyone’s priority. It is

necessary to follow up on the voluntary commitments

made in the Copenhagen Declaration, in particular with

respect to financing adaptation and mitigation

measures.

With respect to United Nations reform, it is

encouraging to note the significant progress made in

the empowerment of women, governance and financing

activities to operationalize development. Let us not

forget that, on 30 June, the General Assembly

established the composite Entity for Gender Equality

and the Empowerment of Women, which, as of

1 January 2011, will be responsible for addressing

gender issues in place of the four institutions that have

hitherto worked to promote gender equality and the

empowerment of women. This is an important act

which we dare to hope will lead Member States to

advance in other sectors of United Nations reform, in

particular reform of the Security Council.

I am convinced that this will strengthen the

Organization’s legitimacy and capacity for action in the

service of international peace and security. Indeed, if it

is to be up to this immense and delicate task, the

United Nations must be just, representative and

democratic.