The Gambia, 2007

Let me at the outset

congratulate the President on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly and to reassure

him of the Gambia’s full support and cooperation

during his tenure in office. Let me also use this

opportunity to express our appreciation of the excellent

manner in which the outgoing President of the General

Assembly, Mrs. Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa managed the

affairs of the Assembly at its sixty-first session.

My delegation would also like to use this

opportunity to once more congratulate our new

Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, on his

assumption of the leadership of the United Nations.

The Gambia is particularly delighted that Mr. Ban had

the opportunity to address the Summit of Heads of

State and Government of the African Union during his

meeting in Banjul in July 2006. His subsequent

election, surely can only be a source of pride and

delight for us.

We also wish to commend him for the initiative

he took to convene a high-level event several days ago

on a subject that is of great concern to all nations and

peoples of the world, namely, climate change. All the

salient issues surrounding this phenomenon have been

brought to the fore. It is now our fervent hope that

action will be taken to address them in a most timely

manner.

The mid-term review of the Millennium

Declaration two years ago indicated that the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are far from

being attained in most of the developing world. This

notwithstanding, our commitment to the MDGs is

unwavering. The overarching policy objective of the

Government, under the leadership of the President of

the Republic of the Gambia Al Hadji Yahya A.J.J.

Jammeh, is to reduce poverty and achieve all the

MDGs. We have just concluded a second Poverty

Reduction Strategy Paper, which clearly sets out our

policy framework for achieving growth and poverty

reduction, despite our meagre resources and

endowments and despite the failure of several partners

to fulfil their pledges of aid, debt relief and market

access for African countries. The same mid-term

reviews also showed that the commitments that were

made in many forums by the international community

in support of the MDGs in poor countries have not

translated into real resource flows into these countries.

We therefore call on the international community

to rededicate itself to the provisions of the Monterrey

Consensus and the Paris Declaration on Aid

Effectiveness. In this regard, my delegation welcomes

the panel of eminent personalities established by the

former British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, to

monitor pledges made at summits of the Group of

Eight, including those made at Gleneagles. My

delegation considers it particularly critical to take

action to reverse the downward trend in overseas

development assistance.

We also need to re-examine the framework of key

rules that govern, inter alia, international trade and

finance, global competition, foreign direct investment

and international migration. It is important that bodies

making rules in those areas accommodate the views of

developing countries in general, and least developed

countries in particular. For Africa, where we must of

necessity move away from aid dependency, the

development of the continent must be addressed from

the crucial vantage point of trade and market access, so

as to enable our economies to be advantageously

positioned in order for us to begin enjoying the fruits

of globalization.

My delegation would like to seize this

opportunity to request the Assembly to pause for a

moment and reflect on the plight of the poor the world

over. Poverty anywhere, we will all agree, is indeed a

problem everywhere. And it is worth remembering that

the plight of the poor can affect the comfort and

security of the more privileged and affluent members

of human society. There is no doubt that poverty

engenders many economic, social and political

problems. It negatively affects global health and is a

threat to international peace and security as well.

Therefore, the need for greater international

solidarity to fight poverty in all its forms and

ramifications cannot be overemphasized. The

development efforts of most Governments, particularly

those in Africa, continue to be undermined by the

scourges of malaria, HIV/AIDS and other health

related issues, such as hunger and malnutrition. I must

thank our true friends and development partners for the

excellent support they are providing to the Gambian

people, particularly in the areas of health, education,

and agriculture. It is my fervent hope that the

international community will live up to its commitment

to support the efforts of our Government as we strive

to improve the well-being of our people. In order to

achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015,

which we should all consider to be a necessary

condition to affect people’s living standards, Africa

sorely needs significant investments in health,

education, agriculture and infrastructure.

Allow me to turn to peace and security in the

world, especially on our continent of Africa. In recent

years, we have witnessed significant improvements in

most of the continent. In West Africa, for example, we

have been consolidating peace and deepening the

democratization process as well.

The people of Sierra Leone have just gone

through a peaceful, free and fair presidential election.

My delegation would like to congratulate them and to

wish the new Government all the success in its efforts

to follow the path of rapid socio-economic

development for the Sierra Leonean people. The return

of peace to Côte d’Ivoire is a welcome and a vital

development not only for the country and its people,

but also for the entire West Africa subregion. The

Government of the Gambia fully welcomes the Ivorian

Government’s commitment to organize presidential

elections shortly, and we wish the friendly people of

that great country every success.

The situation in Somalia requires the urgent

response of the international community. Lasting

peace, stability, and reconciliation can return to that

country only when the Transitional Federal

Government is empowered to establish law and order.

The United Nations, as the overall guardian of

international peace and security, should support the

efforts of the African Union (AU) in that regard, and

Somalia’s neighbours as well, to rally the various

factions together and bring lasting peace to that

country.

As we gather here, thousands of innocent

civilians, including women and children, continue to be

victimized by the fratricidal conflict in the Sudanese

region of Darfur. My Government therefore welcomes

the commitment of the international community to

replace the existing African Union Mission in Sudan

(AMIS) with a hybrid United Nations-African Union

mission, invested, of course, this time around, with a

more active mandate to keep and enforce peace in

Darfur. We in the Gambia have been in the forefront in

the African Union’s peace efforts in Darfur, and we

will certainly continue to support the international

effort with a substantial contribution of Gambian

troops to serve in the new arrangement. At this

juncture, let me salute the Sudanese Government for

their cooperation and their manifest willingness to find

a lasting solution through a political process.

The peace and security situation of the Great

Lakes region remains a major concern. While we

welcome the successful elections in the Democratic

Republic of the Congo last year, we recognize the

fragility and precarious nature of peace in that country

and the region as a whole. My delegation therefore

calls on the international community to continue to

work to search for ways of achieving durable peace.

We also urge the international community to assist in

bringing all the parties to the negotiation table and to

move vigorously to address the humanitarian situation.

Just as the security and peace situation in Africa

preoccupies my delegation, so also do the conflicts and

turmoil in the rest of the world, especially in Iraq,

Afghanistan and Palestine. The conflict in Iraq remains

a major source of concern, not least because it now

threatens the peace and security of the entire Middle

Eastern region, if not the whole world. Within Iraq

itself, the conflict has brought untold suffering to the

civilian population especially women and children.

Furthermore, the alarming rate of civilian deaths

cannot be justified.

Also, the resultant large volume of refugee

outflows has now placed unbearable pressure on the

economies of, in particular, the neighbouring countries.

While we recognize, of course, the potential of

refugees to make positive contributions to the

economies and societies of their host countries, refugee

outflows of the magnitude that we are seeing in Iraq

can only pose a threat to social and political security.

We therefore strongly urge that as a matter of urgency,

alternatives be found in order to resolve the conflict in

that country.

A new approach to the situation in Afghanistan is

also long overdue. The country needs more political

dialogue than military engagement. We also wish to see

leaders in the region engage each other in meaningful

dialogue and, of course, renew their commitment to

good-neighbourliness as well.

The unresolved question of the self-determination

of the Palestinian people remains the most important

political and moral question of our time. A few years

ago, we all placed our faith in the so-called Road Map

for peace and hoped that the Quartet would bring about

the eagerly awaited two-state solution.

My delegation now very much welcomes the new

initiative being led by the United States of America and

very much looks forward to the convening of a

conference that would once and for all settle this

festering imbroglio. We urge all concerned to come to

the table in good faith and with a strong will to make a

positive contribution to the search for a lasting solution

to the problems of peace and security in the Middle

East and, indeed, in the peace process throughout the

world.

Allow me to highlight some issues relating to

international justice. The illegal, outrageous and

protracted embargo imposed on the friendly Republic

of Cuba has no basis. It is devoid of political and

commercial sense, and those who impose the embargo

should join our ranks in the international community in

rejecting the embargo as a colossal error of judgement

that should never have happened in the first place. We

hope to see a repeal of all laws, measures and policies

in that direction.

The Gambian delegation sincerely hopes as well

that the international community will reflect deeply on

the dangers posed by the increasing and unprovoked

militarization of the Taiwan Strait. Regional and,

ultimately, international stability are under threat from

the build-up of thousands of military warheads for use

in attacks on Taiwan. The problem of the Taiwan Strait

is one that is very serious indeed, and which calls for

urgent action by the international community. The

United Nations should not wait until it is too late to

address the situation of the Strait and its growing

militarization.

We, the Members of the United Nations, have at

this juncture abdicated our responsibilities towards

Taiwan by refusing it full membership in the

Organization. The legitimate aspirations of the people

of that dynamic, technologically developed, advanced

economic powerhouse ought to be fulfilled by States

Members of the United Nations. Let me seize this

opportunity to assure the Assembly that my delegation

is not acting against the interest of any Member State.

Rather, we speak out in the interest of peace across the

Taiwan Strait, peace throughout the Asia-Pacific region

and, indeed, peace in the whole world. It is in that

spirit that my delegation will continue to call on the

General Assembly to address this threat to international

peace and security.

Mr. Beck (Palau), Vice-President, took the Chair.

Let me conclude by putting on record the

Gambia’s frustration with the stalled reform of the

United Nations. As former Secretary-General Kofi

Annan said when the proposals were first made, two

years ago, no reform of the United Nations can be

complete without reform of the Security Council. For

us in Africa, it is just unacceptable that a body that

decides on life and death issues for millions of

Africans includes no African country at all as a

permanent member. That is why the Gambia continues

to strongly endorse the Ezulwini Consensus, which

represents Africa’s common position on reform of the

Security Council.

At a time when we are all committed to good

governance at the national level, we surely cannot

ignore good governance at the international level. The

proposed reform of the United Nations, especially as

regards the Security Council, must be seen within that

context.

I wish us all a very successful session.