Senegal, 2012

I should like

to begin by extending my congratulations to His

Excellency Mr. Vuk Jeremić on his election as President

of the Assembly at its sixty-seventh session, and I

wish him every success. I would also like to commend

Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of

the Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, for his positive

contribution to the proceedings of the Assembly. I

would like to reiterate to Secretary-General Ban Ki-

moon the encouragement and support of Senegal in

the conduct of his delicate mission at the head of our

Organization.

On 25 March 2012, in a two-round, keenly contested

presidential election, the Senegalese people, inspired

by its values of democracy and freedom, calmly and

serenely voted massively, by more than 65 per cent, for

change and the respect of republican norms. We were

supported by friendly countries and organizations

in that great undertaking, which was aimed at the

consolidation of our democratic tradition, especially

through the improvement of our electoral institutions

and the monitoring of the various stages of the process.

I would like to express here my deep gratitude to all

those who supported that process.

In my capacity as Senegal’s newly elected President,

let me reiterate our faith in our shared values and in

the mandate of the United Nations to promote, through

cooperation, the advent of a better and friendlier world

for all.

Building a better world entails, undoubtedly and

above all, working together for peace to reign among

and within our peoples, as suggested by the theme of

this session: “Adjustment or settlement of international

disputes or situations by peaceful means”.

Born out of the ashes and ruins of war, the United

Nations is the expression of the dream of and hope for

a world free from the spectre of antagonism and of any

Manichaean view whereby the good are on one side and

the bad on the other.

Sixty-seven years on, through mediation efforts

and good offices, conciliation, arbitration and peace

missions, the United Nations has made a considerable contribution to the pacification of international

relations. Yet, although commendable progress has

been achieved, threats to peace and security remain

worrisome and have radically evolved.

That is the case in northern Mali, where organized

and heavily armed terrorist groups, living off

trafficking of all kinds, are occupying, in complete

illegality, two thirds of the country, sowing despair

among the population and destroying symbols of the

world’s cultural heritage. Northern Mali has become a

lawless area, used as a safe haven for recruitment and

training by the international terrorist nebula, which

wrongly uses Islam as a pretext to disguise its criminal

activities and seeks to attack foreign interests as well

as extend its reach to other countries of the subregion.

As the guarantor of the collective security of

Member States under the Charter of the United Nations,

the Security Council has an obligation to act in order

to bring an end to such a situation. If it does not do

so, it will have failed to live up to its responsibilities.

Therefore we call once again on the Council to authorize

all actions required to combat those terrorist groups

and restore the country’s territorial integrity.

In addition, I reiterate our firm rejection of any

partition of Mali and our condemnation of the 22 March

2012 coup d’état. It is our conviction that in Africa as

elsewhere, the place of the army is in the barracks,

under the command of a civilian authority.

As for Guinea-Bissau, we, like other Economic

Community of West African States member States,

appreciate the efforts made by the transitional

Government towards national reconciliation, the

re-establishment of the country’s institutions, the

holding of credible elections and the definitive

withdrawal of the army from the political arena.

Already ravaged by years of institutional and

economic instability, Guinea-Bissau also faces the issue

of foreign drug traffickers. The country deserves the

attention and support of the international community.

The same holds true for Palestine.

In its capacity as Chairman of the Committee on

the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian

People, Senegal restates its support for the creation of

a viable and independent Palestinian State, with East

Jerusalem as its capital and with a seat here among

free nations. A viable and independent Palestine, living

in peace with the State of Israel, each within secure and internationally recognized borders, is one of our

longest-standing unfulfilled promises, even though

its fulfilment is the only guarantee for a peaceful,

fair and lasting settlement of the Middle East crisis.

In the interest of all the peoples of the region and the

world, it is high time that the Holy Land of the three

revealed religions no longer be a land of fire, blood and

tears. The light of wisdom emanating from its spiritual

legacies requires it instead to be a land of peace and

human fraternity.

In Africa, as in the rest of the world, Senegal

welcomes and supports the progress of democracy

and fundamental freedoms. We are deeply concerned

because some leaders deny the obvious fact that the

destiny of humankind is to live free, and respond to

the legitimate aspirations of their people with appalling

violence against innocent civilians.

The adjustment or settlement of international

disputes or situations by peaceful means, the apt theme

of this session, should not overshadow other emergencies

and unmet needs. More than ever before, we live today

in an era of paradoxes and unanswered questions.

The greatest paradox of our time is that never before

in human history has the world accumulated so much

wealth even though never before in human history has

the world counted so many poor. So what will the world

of tomorrow be like? The question is indeed difficult,

but to govern is to foresee and we cannot dodge it.

What kind of world do we want when, 20 years after

the Rio Earth Summit, it is a proven fact that continuous

environmental degradation as a result of human activity

threatens to jeopardize the conditions for life on Earth?

What kind of world do we want when, according to

estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization

of the United Nations, more than 900 million people

suffer from undernourishment even though agriculture

has the potential to feed more than twice the planet’s

population? What kind of world do we want when,

in our towns and villages, millions of human beings

have no access to basic social services and millions of

women die in childbirth?

What kind of world do we want when millions

of young people, after years of study, hard work and

sacrifice to escape their misery, rather than realizing

their dreams are rewarded with nothing but the

nightmare and indignity of unemployment? What

kind of world do we want when millions of fathers

and mothers working for the minimum wage wake up one morning unemployed because the company has

gone bankrupt, while those responsible enjoy generous

golden parachutes?

In a time of so many old and new challenges, history

has shown that paradigms have changed and that old

solutions will definitely not work. We need to redefine

our priorities, invest in the real economy and agree on

a new and fairer world order. The African continent,

having endured centuries of slavery and exploitation,

cannot afford to accept yet another Trojan Horse and be

duped into forfeiting its resources in a contest hobbling

its progress and well-being.

We call for new relations with Africa, not acting

upon Africa and Africans but acting with Africa and

Africans, in a spirit of cooperation and fairness, taking

into account all parties’ priorities and interests. That

is the hope we declare here in the United Nations. It

is also what we call for in the relations between the

New Partnership for Africa’s Development, on the one

hand, and the Group of Eight, Group of 20 and other

partnership mechanisms, on the other hand.

As for Senegal, beyond the demands of democracy

and good governance, about which we agree, our national

priorities must more than ever focus on agriculture,

infrastructure and energy. That is the only path to the

progress that will improve people’s day-to-day lives,

the sine qua non of development and democratization.

With respect to the reform of the Security Council,

Senegal reaffirms its belief in the African position

expressed in the Ezulwini Consensus. It is only justice

and common sense that Africa, the continent with the

largest number of countries at the United Nations, and

whose problems take up most of the work of the Council,

should be fairly represented in that body. Indeed, the

democracy required of States should also be required of

the Organization to which they all belong.

To conclude, on behalf of the Organization of

Islamic Cooperation, currently chaired by Senegal,

I hope to renew our common faith in dialogue and

the peaceful coexistence of religions, cultures and

civilizations. Entering into dialogue and learning to

live together depends on recognizing and respecting

our differences as a source of richness rather than as a

springboard for confrontation. It requires rejecting the

defamation of religions and violence in all its forms.

It demands renouncing any thought of domination by

one culture or one civilization over others. It is about

promoting mutual understanding in order to overcome unfounded feelings of suspicion and fear that deform

our common humanity.

If humankind embraces the “civilization of the

universal” advocated by my illustrious compatriot,

the late President and poet Léopold Sédar Senghor,

man will no longer be a wolf to man, as Hobbes said.

Instead, as the saying in our country goes, man will

become a remedy to man. We owe that to ourselves and

to future generations.