General Assembly Session 57 meeting 11

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Carlos Ruckauf, Minister for Foreign Affairs, External Trade and Worship of Argentina.

Mr. Ruckauf (Argentina)

It is an honour for Argentina and for me to make a statement at this important debate to consider the issue of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Argentina fully supports this new initiative aimed at eradicating poverty in Africa and helping its peoples in the path of the rule of law, growth and sustainable development. My country shares NEPAD's fundamental premise: the link between peace and development. In other words, economic and social development is not possible without an adequate framework for peace and stability. The reality in Africa and other parts of the world shows us daily that, as long as the basic needs of the individual remain unsatisfied and vast inequality persists, the threat of conflict will always be latent.

For centuries, the African continent has been part of the world economy as a supplier of unskilled labour and raw materials. Colonialism, post-war bipolar confrontation, the decolonization process, the end of the cold war and globalization brought with them specific trends, to which Africa tried to adapt, with a majority of the countries failing, regrettably, to achieve the expected development results.

However, we are not here to blame the past, but rather to help overcome structural weaknesses that have impeded development in Africa. NEPAD represents a new vision and responsible awareness by African leaders regarding regional and international politics and economics. Argentina values the political, economic and social objectives that the African leaders have pledged to achieve through NEPAD. Among those objectives, we wish to underscore conflict prevention, the protection of democracy and human rights, economic stability, the revitalization of the education and health sectors, with emphasis on the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other communicable diseases, the promotion of the role of women, the development of infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing, an equitable solution to the external debt issue and integration of the African continent into international trade.

The NEPAD objectives deserve the support of the international community -- the international community at large, the donor countries, the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The United Nations particularly must be the spokesperson for the least developed, smaller and weaker countries.

We live in a world of contradictions. Integration and globalization coexist with fragmentation and marginalization. The unprecedented economic prosperity achieved in recent years coexists with extreme poverty in parts of Africa and other areas of the world, including Latin America. The only option for one fifth of humankind is to survive on $1 per day. In spite of that, official development assistance has steadily diminished. We believe it must be increased. We also believe that the relationship between official development assistance and policy implementation is a key to achieving sustained economic growth in Africa. Fighting inflation and the fiscal deficit and encouraging savings and investment are measures that are directly related to the effectiveness of official development assistance.

In our view, support must not be limited to official development assistance; it must also be translated into liberalization of trade that would allow for real integration of the African countries into international trade. Tariff barriers are assuming new forms, such as establishing labour and environmental standards and anti-dumping measures, sending a message of little encouragement to African countries that are making considerable efforts to modernize their economies and conquer export markets. The issue of the external debt also deserves a sustainable solution that is not detrimental to the allocation of resources to priority areas of development, such as health and education.

In matters relating to peace and security, we are pleased to note the significant progress achieved in the peace processes in Angola, Sierra Leone, between Eritrea and Ethiopia and in the Great Lakes region, with the active involvement of African regional and subregional organizations and the clear, effective and decisive involvement of the Security Council through its resolutions. We think that the relationship between regional organizations and the Council must be reinforced and that we should explore the possibilities for cooperation set out in Chapter VIII of the Charter.

We are aware of the efforts being made by the majority of African Governments to settle their pending disputes peacefully, strengthen their democratic institutions, promote human rights and reform their economies. Today we want to renew our commitment to Africa. Argentina has always been present in Africa. From the beginning, we supported the decolonization process and the fight against apartheid.

Consistent with an approach that links peace and security, Argentina has contributed to peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, good governance and technical cooperation for development.

In the 1960s, Argentina participated in the peacekeeping operation in Congo. Subsequently we have been present in Angola, Mozambique and in the United Nations Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia. At present, Argentina is participating in the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara and in the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With electoral observers, Argentina participated in the first free and fair elections held in South Africa, in the referendum for self-determination in Eritrea and in the 1997 legislative elections in Algeria.

Argentina provides humanitarian assistance either directly or through the "White Helmets" initiative and promotes development cooperation through a programme of cooperation funds. Likewise, with the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic, which brings together three Latin American and 21 African countries, an action coordinated by my country since 1998, Argentina has presented several proposals to deepen cooperation among members of the Zone.

In recent years, Argentina has strengthened its political, cultural and commercial ties with Africa. We want this mutually beneficial trend towards dialogue and cooperation to continue and further deepen in the future.

I would not wish to conclude my intervention without expressing the gratitude of the Argentine Republic towards Africa. Virtually no changes could have been possible in this Organization in areas of paramount importance such as decolonization, disarmament, the law of the sea, human rights and development, just to name a few, without the substantial contributions and clear commitments made by Africa to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.

The President

Before giving the floor to the next speaker, I would like to remind all representatives about the agreed five-minute time limit on statements. I appeal to all speakers to really, genuinely respect it.

I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalghem, Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Mr. Shalghem (Libya)

I am pleased to express my deep appreciation to you, Sir, for presiding over this very important meeting. I would also like to express our thanks to Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his keen interest in African causes and his continuous efforts for the establishment and consolidation of peace in the continent and for African development in all fields.

African leaders have reaffirmed their determined will and full commitment to guarantee complete success in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and have stated the need to take all genuine and effective measures to transform the Partnership into reality, especially because it is African-led and should respond to all of Africa's aspirations to comprehensive development.

This meeting, which is devoted to considering how to support NEPAD, is a clear indication of the international community's desire to respond to Africa's special needs. Those needs have been underlined in several international forums and, particularly, in the Millennium Declaration.

Africa fully realizes that the main responsibility for the implementation of NEPAD falls on the shoulders of the African peoples. However, international support is essential. That is why we urge the agencies of the United Nations system and the international community to help in achieving NEPAD's objectives through practical and concrete measures: by mobilizing financial resources, by increasing official development assistance and direct investment, by easing the debt burden and by embarking on new initiatives to improve the access of African exports to world markets, especially those of developed countries. There is also a need for assistance in the fields of human resources and capacity-building through investment in health, education, drinking water and the infrastructure projects needed to achieve economic development.

In order for NEPAD to be a true and truly new partnership, the partners should observe the following points. First, they must respect the will, history and culture of the Africans, with all that this entails: the exclusion of any political conditions or biased positions that would ignore the specificity and innate character of a society. Development should be recognized as a historical process that cannot be achieved through political decisions.

Secondly, donors should realize that the extent to which they contribute to the financing of NEPAD is the extent to which their own societies will benefit both materially and socially. Limiting or preventing immigration through legislative and administrative measures will not achieve the desired effect. The expansion of development projects in countries whose people are emigrating could keep people in their homeland and drastically and definitively remove incentives to emigrate.

Thirdly, priority should be given to infrastructure projects, especially in the fields of communications and road-building. This could help all sectors to achieve development, production and stability at lower cost.

Fourthly, special importance should be attached to water projects in order to make maximal and optimal use of all water sources in Africa for diverse purposes, especially agricultural, in order to solve food problems and eradicate poverty throughout the continent.

Fifthly, all restrictions on the transfer and dissemination of technology should be eliminated; this would further development in various economic and social fields.

Sixthly, consideration should be given to Africa's long suffering over past centuries, to the fact that its resources were plundered without compensation and to the role played by those resources in the development that certain countries have attained.

Finally, it is essential to deal with one of the most important phenomena in Africa, the brain drain, which affects its finest human resources, who emigrate to developed countries due to the pressure of several interconnected causes. The creation of a suitable environment for African minds and expertise plays a role in the countries that have prepared and educated such minds. This would greatly benefit the Partnership and save everyone huge costs in terms of the loss of talent.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Inam ul Haque, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.

Mr. Haque (Pakistan)

My delegation would like to begin by commending the African leadership for their vision of launching Africa on the path of sustainable growth and development through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). We are happy that this Africa-led, Africa-owned and Africa-driven programme is an integrated and comprehensive framework for Africa's development.

During the past decade, many initiatives were evolved and launched. Yet the overall situation on the African continent has not improved over the last two decades. Some 80 million more people live in poverty in Africa today than did at the dawn of the decade of the 1990s.

Cognizant of these realities, most African Governments have undertaken important structural reforms, reflected in improved macroeconomic management, trade liberalization and the encouragement of greater and enhanced private sector participation. However, overall, the results have not reversed the economic decline in Africa. NEPAD offers hope. It sets out a broad vision for Africa's future, outlines a strategy for achieving that vision and spells out a programme of action focused on a number of key priority areas.

Many elements of New Partnership for Africa's Development, such as peace and security, poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, good governance and infra-structural development directly correspond to ongoing programmes of the United Nations in African countries. The United Nations can, and must, play a tangible supporting role in this important project.

The primary objective of NEPAD is to eventually eradicate poverty in Africa and place African countries on the path of sustainable growth and development, thus reversing the marginalization of Africa and integrating it into the globalization process. This is a gigantic and formidable challenge that Africa cannot overcome on its own. It needs meaningful international support and assistance, which will entail action at two levels.

First, the international community should help in dealing with the underlying political and security causes of instability in the African continent. At the same time, the economic and social problems afflicting parts of Africa must be tackled through a comprehensive assistance programme comprised of adequate resources. Such a programme should be complemented by: improved market access for African exports; accelerated and increased debt relief, including complete debt cancellation; enhanced official development assistance (ODA) without conditionalities; conscious efforts to increase the flow of foreign direct investment to African countries; transfer of technology to African countries on concessional and preferential terms; human resource development, particularly in health and education; and a special and focussed endeavour to halt and eradicate HIV/AIDS.

Pakistan, for its part, has consistently supported the political and economic aspirations of Africa. We are proud of our participation in several United Nations peacekeeping operations in that Continent. Our military and civilian personnel have been part of United Nations operations in Somalia, Namibia, Liberia, Western Sahara, and, lately, Sierra Leone. Pakistan will continue to lend its moral and material support to African countries.

Our technical assistance programme for Africa is an on-going process of training young professionals in diverse fields. Today, I would like to affirm that Pakistan will extend full support to NEPAD in all possible ways.

African people have suffered for a long time. Challenges faced by Africa are colossal. NEPAD represents a realistic framework to meet these challenges. Commitments are there, so are the plans. It is time to turn words into deeds. This is our moral obligation as well as a political imperative.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Joseph Deiss, Federal Counsellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.

Mr. Deiss (Switzerland)

I am particularly pleased that it is on the subject of Africa that Switzerland is participating for the first time as a Member State in a substantive debate in this Assembly.

A long-standing partner of the African continent, Switzerland welcomes this initiative designed by Africans for Africa, through which the African countries are expressing their determination to control the destiny of their continent. I wish, here, to congratulate our African colleagues on this new shared approach to the economic and social development of their continent and on the very ambitious and demanding strategy their countries have set up for themselves.

The massive support being given to this new partnership by the African States constitutes its greatest strength and the best evidence of its potential for success. The priority areas identified by NEPAD, in particular the development of human resources, will make it possible to act on the key factors of sustainable economic and social development on the continent.

I am also delighted that NEPAD places the principle of partnership at the heart of its efforts. As we already considered, the establishment of genuine partnerships among all parties concerned was an indispensable condition for the success of development cooperation.

We believe that the improvement of surrounding conditions will play the most critical role in allowing optimal action by all development players and in particular the private sector, to which NEPAD, correctly, attributes the fundamental role as the driving force of economic development.

It is therefore our hope that concrete steps can soon be taken in the areas of good management of public and private affairs, democracy and peace and security. In this regard, the rapid and systematic implementation of the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance seems to us to be an indispensable factor in increasing the confidence of all partners, including private investors, both African and those from outside the continent.

The implementation of an effective and credible review mechanism by peer countries, a major innovation promised by NEPAD, seems to us, therefore to be crucial.

Switzerland strongly encourages the clearly affirmed will of NEPAD to strengthen the role of African civil society in the design, planning and implementation of programmes.

The assistance that Switzerland has been giving to Africa for a long time is granted not only in a spirit of solidarity with the neediest populations, but also with the objective of intensifying, over time, our economic and commercial partnership. The programmes we support on the continent focus on the fight against poverty and support national strategies to combat poverty. Our programmes include action in the fields of health, education and training. We also focus on good governance in the public sector, decentralization and reforms in justice, as well as on the promotion of economy and investment, in particular, through measures for budgetary assistance.

Lastly, we attach growing importance to measures for peacekeeping and human rights. Moreover, we have always been strongly on the side of Africa in multilateral institutions. Switzerland has long been actively in favour of reducing the indebtedness of the least developed countries in the framework of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative. Toward that end, we have entered into many financial assistance programmes and debt reduction programmes with our African partners.

We are determined to support NEPAD fully, within our means, and in particular with our longstanding partner countries. Coordination among partners is one of the fundamental concepts of NEPAD. I can assure you that Switzerland will participate fully. Nonetheless, a little more than a year before the launch of the initiative, we believe that the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) still needs to clarify its role with regard to the existing African institutions and to multilateral and bilateral partners, both internationally and at the subregional and country levels. In this regard, it seems essential to us that NEPAD avoid becoming an implementing structure, and that it be able to focus on its role as an advocate and a promoter.

Furthermore, we will continue to use our experience and our expertise in our traditional areas of intervention, in order to support NEPAD priorities. On the basis of our official development assistance (ODA) budget, we are prepared to envisage an increase in that support. Lastly, Switzerland will continue its resolute commitment, in the United Nations and international financial institutions, to programmes of cooperation and increased investment in Africa, in line with NEPAD priorities. We will also continue to work for the fair treatment of the poorest countries in international trade negotiations.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Koffi Panou, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Togo.

Mr. Panou (Togo)

On behalf of the Togolese delegation, I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for giving me this opportunity to speak in this debate concerning the New Partnership for Africa's Development, NEPAD. There is no need to mention how important and timely this debate is, given the great importance that Africa attaches to this new initiative and the role that the international community is called upon to play in its implementation.

According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, our continent had a growth rate of 4.3% in 2001, as compared to 3.5% in 2000. That is a good performance, one is tempted to say, but in fact we must acknowledge that the economic situation in Africa is still very precarious and disturbing. It requires strong action by the international community, and above all by the Africans themselves, especially if we want to achieve the priority development goals set forth in the Millennium Declaration.

NEPAD today is Africa's reply to the challenge of economic and social development in the continent. Africa is gradually getting organized and is assuming its own destiny with conviction, and welcomes the reception given NEPAD by development partners, primarily the United Nations, donor countries and international financial institutions. Africa welcomes the commitments already made at the summit meetings in Genoa, Monterrey, Kananaski and Johannesburg.

Our countries, by making the necessary efforts, strongly wish that the promises made at those meetings to help Africa attain NEPAD goals will be respected within the given deadlines. We are counting on the support of the United Nations and the entire international community. It is my hope that, following this debate, we will together undertake specific activities that answer the expectations of our peoples and their hopes for well-being and progress, so that one day we can say that NEPAD was not just another programme, but a project that delivered for Africa. It is high time for us to move from words to deeds.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by Her Excellency The Honourable Lilian Patel, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Malawi.

Mrs. Patel (Malawi)

Allow me to join the other African delegations in thanking the United Nations for arranging this special high-level session as a platform to introduce the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). NEPAD is the flagship of the African Union, designed to create conditions for economic recovery and sustainable development on the continent, within the context of the United Nations Millennium Declaration and the Millennium development goals. It is first and foremost a partnership among the African countries themselves, and secondly a partnership between Africa and the international community, based on shared responsibility and mutual respect.

Through NEPAD, Africa wishes to demonstrate its determination to break with a long past, characterized by strategic missteps on the part of our leadership that resulted in immeasurable waste of the continent's precious resources and in a lamentable loss of opportunities for progress on the continent.

The NEPAD initiative would not have come at a better time than now, when Africa is plagued by deepening poverty, the debt burden, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, in addition to armed conflicts, famine, and other human crises. If only these problems could be overcome, Africa would be integrated into the world economy and have a role in the process of globalization. This would be not only for Africa's own benefit, but also for the benefit of all mankind.

As an African-owned and African-made development strategy, premised on collective self-reliance, NEPAD seeks to unlock the development potential of the continent's vast natural resources. However, this ought to be complemented by external capital inflows in the form of official development aid (ODA), trade and investment. In this respect, I would like to thank the Group of Eight (G-8) countries for leading the way in supporting NEPAD through the creation of the G-8 Africa Action Plan. This will serve as a rallying point for the initiative.

I would like to emphasize that increased ODA alone will not ensure the success of NEPAD. It is critical that the international community should also deliver on long-standing commitments on debt-relief, market access for African exports, and foreign direct investment.

For our part, we African Governments will ensure that good political and economic governance becomes the norm through the determined promotion of pluralist democracy, accountability and transparency, and respect for the rule of law and human rights. Actually, Africa is already on an irreversible course of democratization. There may be problems here and there, but this should not be the basis for judging the whole continent. Naturally, different countries move at a different pace. What is necessary is the support of all, including our external partners, to overcome the problems. After all, NEPAD is intended to resolve such problems and to ensure the development of the African continent.

Let me take this opportunity to call upon the United Nations, and the world international community, to work in partnership with Africa to ensure the success of NEPAD.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Celso Lafer, Minister for External Relations of Brazil.

Mr. Lafer (Brazil)

It is a great honour for me to represent Brazil at this high-level meeting of the General Assembly dedicated to fostering African development.

The ties joining Brazil and Africa run deep. The contours of Brazilian culture and civilization owe much to their historical nexus with the African peoples. Brazil's support for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) highlights this awareness of our inextricable connections to Africa.

We have taken a keen interest in the African continent and have been engaged in many recent developments there. We are convinced that a new era is being ushered in, one that offers renewed expectations for peace, democracy and prosperity. NEPAD is one of the reasons for optimism, for it embodies the recognition that Africa itself holds the key to its own development. It is an African-born initiative based on a profound understanding of the daily realities of the continent. Moreover, it contains mutually reinforcing aspects that allow for the creation of a virtuous circle of socio-political inclusion, development and peace. NEPAD also offers new opportunities with regard to development assistance. Resources to support NEPAD could be usefully channelled through multilateral institutions to foster triangular, as well as South-South, cooperation.

Since 1996, Brazil has adopted a debt alleviation policy with regard to African countries that contributes to the success of initiatives such as NEPAD. In recent years, we have written off more than $1 billion in debts in the hope of fostering, within our possibilities, development in Africa.

NEPAD is not an isolated proposal: it forms part of a wider effort for regional renewal enshrined in the establishment of the African Union. The first signs of these new times are already visible in the strengthening of democracy and the peaceful settlement of regional conflicts. Such is the case, for example, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Angola. Those developments underscore the affinity between the new African initiatives and the core principles of the United Nations. NEPAD and the African Union are significant steps on the road to making the African renaissance a reality.

Brazil shares many of the concerns of African countries. The zone of peace and cooperation of the South Atlantic and the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries bring us together. Those forums offer further opportunities for coordination and cooperation on issues such as environmental protection, cultural exchange, trade liberalization and the fighting of the illicit traffic in small arms. The Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, created in the 1990s, provides a powerful tool for political action and cooperation in realizing the common aspirations of our peoples.

Beyond the cultural and linguistic links, we are united in the struggle to overcome shared problems and in the struggle for a more equitable international order. The Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries is fundamentally committed to the primacy of peace, as enshrined in the Brasilia Declaration, adopted last August.

Brazil has sponsored other initiatives aimed at fostering cooperation and understanding between the two shores of the South Atlantic Ocean. In May and June of 2003, in Brasilia, we will host a wide-ranging Brazil-Africa seminar that will aim to put into perspective the array of ties that unite us on our common path to development.

Brazilian cooperation with Africa encompasses many areas from agriculture to infrastructure, from trade to public administration. The main thrust of these projects is to develop human resources and to strengthen capacity-building. Let me highlight two essential areas: education and health.

Brazil is sharing with African countries its experiences in the field of education, such as the Bolsa Escola programme, a scholarship for poor families, aimed at increasing their income and keeping children in school. The initiative has proved to be a useful tool in promoting basic education, decreasing dropout rates and promoting income redistribution and poverty reduction. Brazil has already started a cooperation project with Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe aimed at establishing a Bolsa Escola programme in those countries.

Another area where Brazil and African countries have joined efforts is that of the fight against HIV/AIDS. We do not need to dwell on the devastating impact of the epidemic. Based on an integrated approach of prevention, treatment and human rights policies, Brazil has halted the spread of the epidemic and has enabled people with HIV or AIDS to live normal and dignified lives.

Brazil has already initiated cooperation projects with African countries, in particular the Portuguese-speaking ones. Those projects are focused on capacity-building, human resources development and technology transfer. We also believe that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an essential tool in providing assistance to African nations. Brazil has already actively participated in the Fund and has stated its readiness to contribute to it through technical assistance.

To conclude, in working to overcome common challenges, our partnership takes its cue from the vitality of our peoples, the creativity and determination of our leaders and the growing role of civil society. That partnership gives form to a mutually supportive relationship between a country and a continent which share the ideals of democracy, peace and development and which have found in NEPAD a new source of inspiration. NEPAD means African leadership and African ownership. That is an idea Brazil wishes to commend and support.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Vilayat Mukhtar ogly Guliyev, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

Mr. Guliyev (Azerbaijan)

I am pleased to address, on behalf of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to consider how to support the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

I should also like to express our heartfelt congratulations to the countries of Africa on the occasion of the establishment of the African Union. We are certain that it will be a solid foundation for achieving greater unity and solidarity among the countries and the peoples of Africa, while accelerating the political and socio-economic integration of their continent.

We warmly welcome and support NEPAD, a truly African initiative that should lead African nations to the progress, prosperity and development of the entire African continent. We expect a more active and more visible role for NEPAD in advancing the interests of African nations in the international arena. It is within the power and the capability of African States to jointly promote and defend the cause of Africa and to speak up for those who have been abused or oppressed. The fact that some 30 per cent of all refugee populations forcefully displaced as a result of conflicts and tensions throughout the world are Africans dictates as a necessary goal the strengthening of relevant NEPAD functions. Always speaking with one voice and translating declared unity into practical work will allow African values to be upheld successfully and with dignity. As has been stressed by the majority of delegations, the unresolved conflicts on the African continent remain serious obstacles to establishing durable peace and security, stability and prosperity in Africa.

As a reflection of Azerbaijan's long-term contribution to Africa's development, I am proud to state that, since 1960, my country has been actively engaged in educating young men and women from various parts of the African continent. Approximately 10,000 young people from 25 African countries, among them eminent statesmen and leaders, have had the opportunity to receive their higher education in Azerbaijan.

I should like to reaffirm our commitment to supporting African development activities in the spirit of true partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation. We are certain that, with concerted efforts by the international community, NEPAD will be a real success for Africa.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by The Honourable Mr. Tom Butime, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Uganda.

Mr. Butime (Uganda)

There is no doubt that the African countries will take responsibility for the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). In order to achieve the objective of eradicating poverty and other targets identified in the millennium development goals, however, NEPAD recognizes the need for key, mutually supportive, strategic partnerships. These include partnerships between African countries at the subregional and regional levels; partnerships between African Governments and the private sector, which were launched at the Conference on the Financing of NEPAD, held at Dakar in April; and partnerships between Africa and the international community, including the United Nations and donor countries, and within the framework of South-South cooperation.

Uganda is committed to the implementation of NEPAD, like many other African countries; it is also committed to constitutionalism, democracy and good governance. Uganda has established a national focal point for NEPAD, and it is envisaged that the national steering committee will involve the private sector and civil society. We feel that it is in Africa's own interest to build strong democratic institutions and to ensure the establishment of peace and security as prerequisites for development.

But how can the international community assist Africa in the implementation of NEPAD? That is a question on which I should like to concentrate. Since this morning, much has been said about the need for greater enhancement of the partnership between Africa and the international community, especially the donor countries. Uganda appreciates the effort led by Canada to support NEPAD, reflected in the Group of Eight (G-8) Africa Action Plan of June 2002. Initiatives such as the European Union's "everything but arms" initiative, the African Growth and Opportunity Act of the United States and The Canada Helps Build New Partnerships with Africa programme are a significant step forward. Equally useful are the proposals by the Secretary-General on future United Nations engagement with NEPAD.

In order to adequately support the implementation of NEPAD, Uganda calls upon the international community to take concrete and deliberate measures to implement the G-8 Africa Action Plan, including: allocating at least $6 billion per annum in new and untied bilateral resources for NEPAD programmes in Africa; meeting the objective of duty-free, quota-free market access for Africa's processed and semi-processed products as well as eliminating agricultural subsidies in the developed countries; increasing resources committed to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative to ensure debt sustainability based on realistic export earnings of African countries; enhancing Africa's capacity to attract public- and private-sector investment from within and outside Africa for the development of human capacity, institutions, infrastructure -- railways, roads and ports -- and cheap and renewable energy sources, including hydroelectric power; facilitating the financing of private investment through the increased use of development finance institutions, export credits and risk guarantee agencies; supporting Africa's initiative to ensure efficient regional financial markets and domestic savings and financing mechanisms, including microcredit schemes; and supporting efforts aimed at higher agricultural productivity in Africa, including agricultural research institutions, sustainable land management, reliable central water systems, rural development and the integration of food security into poverty eradication strategies.

Finally, I hope that, when the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole meets on NEPAD in October, the General Assembly will agree on an action plan to ensure an integrated United Nations response to NEPAD through improved coordination and collaboration among its various bodies and agencies; coherence among the United Nations system, multilateral monetary and financial institutions and the World Trade Organization in support of NEPAD; and identification of selected indicators and targets, in consultation with the NEPAD Steering Committee and the African Union, to monitor the United Nations response to NEPAD.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency The Honourable Keliopate Tavola, Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of the Republic of the Fiji Islands.

Mr. Tavola (Fiji)

The final review and appraisal of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF) is fostering the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). NEPAD is a home-grown African initiative that is taking off with new momentum in terms of ideological and strategic rethinking on development.

We are confident in the knowledge that long-term sustainable development solutions for Africa can be replicated in other developing countries. It is therefore my great pleasure, as a developing country in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group, to contribute to this debate on the final review of the United Nations Agenda. Fiji, as the Group's current President, warmly embraced the concept of NEPAD at the Group's last meeting, which my Government hosted last July. The Nadi Declaration, which was adopted at that meeting, was issued as document A/55/1015.

Three decades ago the developing countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions formed the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group, of which the African continent forms an integral part. Our common vision was born out of the constituents' shared aspirations for socio-economic advancement, in partnership with the European Union. Market access was the usual substantive object of the trade agreements between the ACP and the European Union. The current preferential arrangement under the Cotonou Agreement continues this form of development assistance to the three regions in the Group until the end of 2007, when a new trade arrangement will need to be put in place.

The evolving global economic landscape has long challenged the ACP vision, today more than ever as our members find themselves immersed in and surrounded by the forces of globalization. NEPAD offers Africa a new opportunity to respond to these challenges. For NEPAD to deliver on the carefully targeted set of actions, its policy framework and aspirations have to be liberating and self-sustaining. Africa must control and feed its own development and growth mechanisms.

Indeed, this presupposes several levels of shifts and stances. Internal investment bases and saving mechanisms need to grow to be able to sustain domestic development programmes. Fundamental infrastructure is critical to long-term development and growth. Africa needs its dams, bridges, roads, schools, hospitals and communication facilities. Today Africa's future can leapfrog with information and communication technologies (ICT). While aid and official development assistance has its proper place, it has also entrenched the dependency mindset and so stifled growth. No country can be built on aid, debt or credit alone. While these resources are essential for development, we need new possibilities.

We have learned many lessons on development in Africa. The ravages of the HIV/AIDS pandemic threaten to roll back development gains in the continent. Notably, however, peace and security are gaining ground, while political stability increasingly is taking hold in the continent, with its new and emerging democracies. For its part, the international community has set up new mechanisms to help shape our options in this new partnership for the immediate future. The Monterrey Consensus and the Johannesburg action plan are pillars for, and are in place to help us deliver, the Millennium Development Goals. NEPAD can be built and strengthened on this foundation. It is incumbent on the United Nations to reorientate its modalities for partnership engagement with the African continent. In doing so, the United Nations must support the African ownership and leadership of NEPAD.

Once NEPAD is firmly rooted, Africa can favourably match its national and regional initiatives with external assistance. The avenues for such assistance would need to be transparent and solicited externally with the purposes of building democratic governance and sound political bases from the perspective of the African countries themselves. For too long, developing countries, including those on the African continent, have been shackled by the hands that feed them.

NEPAD cannot be built in a day. In future, we can look forward to a robust Africa, free of conflicts; an end to corruption and political instability; and a reduction in poverty in keeping with the development levels set by the Millennium Development Goals.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by His Excellency Mr. Hassan Wirayuda, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.

Mr. Wirayuda (Indonesia)

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