General Assembly Session 63 meeting 27

Ms. Greenaway (Antigua and Barbuda)

I have the honour to deliver this statement to the General Assembly on behalf of the Group of 77 and China as the Assembly reflects on implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). We have indeed had a number of opportunities this year -- and we will have others to come -- to reflect on the situation and challenges of the African continent. Sadly, the Secretary-General's report on this item reminds us that our "attention reflects the fact that most African countries remain off-track with respect to achieving the Millennium Development Goals" (A/63/206, summary).

The Group of 77 and China thanks the Secretary-General for his report for this session entitled "New Partnership for Africa's Development: sixth consolidated progress report on implementation and international support" (A/63/206). The Group also thanks him for the report he made available for the high-level meeting in September and for the recommendations of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Africa Steering Group. These reports and recommendations all remind us that Africa knows what it wants, what is required to achieve its goals; and it has begun to take significant steps in the right direction. Indeed, the Secretary-General reminds us that "The New Partnership for Africa's Development is both a vision and a policy framework for Africa in the twenty-first century" (A/63/206, para. 3).

The Secretary-General's report before the Assembly lines up the actions taken by African countries and organizations and the response of the international community, including the United Nations system, to support Africa's development. Mr. John Ashe, Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, delivered the address of the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, the Honourable Mr. Baldwin Spencer, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China to the high-level plenary meeting on Africa's development needs on 22 September 2008. The address summarized the situation as follows:

"The development needs and challenges confronting the African continent are well known, deep-seated and fundamental. The international community has focused on those needs and challenges in a number of international conferences and summits, including the Millennium Conference, the International Conference on Financing for Development, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the 2005 World Summit. There have also been a number of plurilateral and bilateral initiatives directed to Africa. Africa itself has undertaken many initiatives to further its development.

"We have recognized that addressing Africa's development needs and challenges requires internal action and very significant international cooperation and facilitation in the form of resources, technology and a supporting international environment. We have committed ourselves in declarations, resolutions and plans of action to stand with Africa in the struggle to meet those needs and overcome the challenges." (A/63/PV.3, p.10)

The Prime Minister's address included six questions to be asked of the international community with regard to delivery on its commitment to Africa.

All the information available indicates a large gap between promise and delivery by us as an international community. That gap persisted when the global economy was in one of the longest and strongest periods of economic growth. The Group of 77 and China can only urge that the current crises, in particular the financial and economic crises with their central initial impact in the developed countries, will not divert attention from the long, deep and persistent plight of Africa.

The Group urges us to remain conscious that the other crises -- the food crisis, the energy crisis and the climate change crisis -- are having some of their worst impacts in Africa. The global financial and economic crises themselves will also have profound adverse impacts on African development. Poor African countries, with their high dependence on agricultural commodity exports, including cotton, are among the most adversely impacted by the failure of the global trade negotiations and the continued application of massive subsidies by developed countries.

The Group of 77 and China shares the view contained in the summary to the Secretary-General's report that turning the vision -- the New Partnership for Africa's Development -- into concrete action requires firm resolve and clear leadership from both African countries and international development partners. The Group renews its call, made through its Chairman to the high-level meeting on Africa's development needs (see A/63/PV.3), for urgency, certainty and comprehensiveness in our response to Africa's development needs. The Group also expressed the hope that, by the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly, there will be a strong mechanism in place to monitor our commitments to support and assist Africa.

The Group of 77 and China is convinced that what the Assembly does during the sixty-third session will have a profound impact, not only on the success of Africa's vision but also on its development prospects for a very long time. Let us find the resolve and do the right thing.

Mr. Wurie (Sierra Leone)

As this is the first time that I address you, Sir, in your capacity as President of the General Assembly, allow me to join preceding speakers in congratulating you on your election to your new position. Let me also express my delegation's confidence in you and assure you of our unreserved support in successfully conducting the work of this session.

My delegation aligns itself fully with the statements made by the Ambassadors of Antigua and Barbuda and the Republic of Kenya, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and the African Group, respectively. My delegation would like nonetheless to highlight a couple of issues of national interest. Before doing so, however, I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive reports (A/63/206 and A/63/212) on the progress in the implementation of and international support for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and on the recommendations of the 1998 report of the Secretary-General on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa.

A decade ago, the then Secretary-General submitted his report on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa (A/52/871). It is good to note that, despite the challenges identified in the report, there has been significant improvement in the areas of security and governance in Africa. In that regard, the continent is exploring ways and means to restore and consolidate peace and stability as a prerequisite for the achievement of internationally agreed development goals and Africa's integration into the global economy.

Fortunately, many volatile regions have attained sustainable levels of stability, and others have witnessed a reduction in the level of conflict. That has been due to, among other things, the United Nations multidimensional approach to peacekeeping and the renewed commitment of the international community to confront the scourge of conflict; the transformations in the African Union and its peace and security architecture; the establishment of the African Union Panel of the Wise; the deepening of cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations and subregional organizations; and the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission to provide support to countries emerging from conflict.

The continent is aware of the need to strengthen democratic governance and to pursue legitimate interests and respect for human rights and the rule of law. To that end, the African Peer Review Mechanism is providing innovative safeguards to improve governance and promote accountability. Recent developments in the West African subregion have given us cause for hope. The highly acclaimed democratic transition in post-conflict settings such as in Sierra Leone, among other places, is evidence of the improvements that have been made. We are further encouraged by the developments in the Great Lakes region and the recent post-election mediation efforts in Kenya and Zimbabwe, which were encouraging signs for the nurturing of durable peace and a stable environment for socio-economic recovery in Africa.

Barely three weeks ago, heads of State or Government, who came together here, highlighted the special needs of Africa and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as high points of the sixty-third session. That was largely due to the many unmet commitments and pledges to the continent over the past decade. The current global economic meltdown and the skyrocketing costs of food and energy are seriously compromising the strides that conflict and post-conflict societies are making in the areas of peace and sustainable development. Notwithstanding those difficulties and obstacles, my delegation remains highly hopeful that the declarations, pledges and renewed commitments emanating from those high-level discussions will be translated into concrete action by those leaders.

My delegation has consistently reminded this House of the need to support and step up actions and strategies that promote the prevention of conflict rather than engaging in expensive peacekeeping operations, which are often undertaken after massive destruction of lives and property in the countries concerned. In that regard, we welcome the Secretary-General's appeal to the international community to support the development of additional strategies, including mediation, early warning systems and other normative mechanisms for the prevention of conflict. I wish to further appeal for the strengthening of the continent's peacekeeping capability through the implementation of the African Union-United Nations Ten-Year Capacity Building Programme, which aims at ensuring effective planning and implementation with regard to the complex and multidimensional peacekeeping operations involved.

This leads me to the issue of the illicit trade in, and transfer of, small arms and light weapons, which remains crucial to those endeavours. We urge the international community to intensify efforts to restrict arms sales and arms transfers to conflict zones by providing support for the Economic Community of West African States Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons. We also appeal for adherence to, and implementation of, the Nairobi Protocol for the Prevention, Control and Reduction of Small Arms and Light Weapons, as well as stepped up support for the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa.

Experience has shown that peace and stability constitute vital components for development, and vice versa. Members may also agree with me that confronting the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons is a prerequisite for effective conflict prevention. In that regard, the United Nations and the international community should work together to strengthen the human and institutional capacities of Africa in order to complement the continent's efforts to resolve those problems. In particular, the continent should be assisted in addressing its unsustainable external debt burden to enable it to generate and better reinvest its own resources to help itself.

While recognizing the need for good governance to create conditions conducive to lasting peace, my delegation would also like to reiterate the need to provide predictable and innovative sources of financing and to ensure market access through the framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development.

In conclusion, on behalf of the Government and the people of Sierra Leone, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Peacebuilding Commission, the Peacebuilding Fund and the wider United Nations for their continued engagement on Sierra Leone. I encourage them to deepen their collaboration with my country, especially in implementing the Sierra Leone Peacebuilding Cooperation Framework.

Mr. Al-Najem (Kuwait)

My delegation is pleased to participate in the discussion of this important item on the General Assembly's agenda, The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). The importance that the international community attaches to the issue of Africa's development was embodied in the high-level meeting held on 22 September 2008, with the participation of heads of State or Government, to discuss Africa's development needs and ways to overcome challenges and difficulties hampering the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015.

We support the content of the Political Declaration issued at the meeting (resolution 63/1), particularly the renewed commitment by the heads of State and Government to strengthen their support for the implementation of NEPAD and their emphasis on the importance of quickly developing sustained economic growth on a large scale. That is in addition to their realization, among other things, of the need to respond to Africa's special needs in order to set the pace for the timely achievement of the MDGs.

Seven years have elapsed since African leaders adopted NEPAD, an initiative that aims to achieve balanced large-scale growth so that Africa can reduce its level of poverty and blend better into the world economy.

We are hopeful that the numerous international conferences and resolutions aiming to achieve sustainable development will help lay the foundation of partnerships between developed and developing nations. We also hope that those conferences will contribute to the growth and stability of economic relations, as well as provide a just and equitable basis for international trade, in which each side bears their respective responsibilities in fulfilment of Africa's special needs.

NEPAD has firmly established a principle that Kuwait has always believed in, namely, that there is a close connection between political stability and successful development. In this regard, we wish to commend the efforts of African States to incorporate the priorities of NEPAD into their national policies and development planning as well as their efforts to create a coherent institutional mechanism.

We also commend their efforts to apply the concepts of good governance, rule of law, combating corruption and establishing transparency with a view to consolidating democracy, since those concepts reflect directly on a country's ability to achieve security, stability and sustainable development.

During the past months, the world has witnessed the emergence of new international challenges and threats that hinder efforts to achieve sustainable development in numerous countries. Most significant among them have been the increase in the price of food and basic commodities, energy prices, disarray in financial markets and the negative effects of climate change. The danger of these challenges lies in their global impact, which transcends national borders.

These recent developments will put the international community behind in achieving the MDGs. We have, indeed, started to note the negative effects of these challenges on the African continent, which has not achieved significant progress in the eradication of poverty, hunger or in combating dangerous infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS or malaria. These recent challenges have exacerbated the suffering of the majority of African States.

In order to face these challenges, the State of Kuwait has not spared any effort in continuing to provide development assistance to developing countries, especially to countries in Africa, through its official and non-official institutions. This assistance has been a steady part of Kuwait's foreign policy, emanating from our conviction that advancing the economic situations of developing countries and helping them achieve their development goals will be beneficial to all and will expand the horizons of partnership and cooperation, further strengthening international trade and economic systems.

Since its establishment in 1961, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has been providing

grants and loans to finance infrastructure projects in many developing countries. The gross total amount of

easy loans and grants has exceeded $12 billion and has benefited more than a hundred countries, 40 per cent of which are African countries. Two years ago, Kuwait

contributed $300 million to the Islamic Development

Bank for combating poverty in Africa. The Fund has also contributed to numerous rehabilitation

programmes and is given credit for its participation in making the first phase of the programme to combat river blindness a success, with a total contribution of

$100 million. This is in addition to Kuwait's

contributions to many development funds in Africa, such as the African Development Fund, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa and the African

Development Bank.

In response to the suffering in many developing countries resulting from difficult economic conditions in particular increases in food and energy prices, the State of Kuwait established the Decent Life Fund with a capital of $100 million to develop and improve agricultural production in developing countries. Kuwait also announced the donation of $150 million to the fund that was established at the most recent Summit Conference of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Riyadh, dedicated to conducting research and studies in the fields of energy, environment and climate change.

In this regard, we stress what was mentioned in the Secretary General's report (A/63/206), that while the recent increase in food prices is threatening the progress that has been made in fighting poverty, it nonetheless offers an opportunity for African countries to increase their spending on agricultural and rural development to 10 per cent of public expenditure in line with the Maputo Declaration and to launch an African green revolution within the framework of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. It can also provide an opportunity for further regional integration.

Before concluding, I would like to make the following observations. First, it is of vital importance that African countries make more efforts to promote this initiative on a global scale and not merely focus their efforts on a number of donor States on a specific continent. Secondly, we should endeavour to create worldwide awareness in order to assist these African countries, as well as to incorporate NEPAD in the structures of the African Union, provide more support for the private sector and increase awareness activities targeting civil society.

This partnership is not a temporary operation, but rather a lasting endeavour that requires patience and constant evaluation. We welcome the leadership role of the United Nations in mobilizing global support for this initiative.

African countries have exerted noticeable efforts to achieve stability, so as to encourage the donor countries and the private sector to provide them with the needed economic and technical support. It is time for the international community to achieve greater progress in fulfilling its commitments and for the African countries to take the necessary steps that will lead to the effective implementation of the numerous projects and programmes included in NEPAD in order to create the peaceful atmosphere needed for development to thrive.

Mr. Liu Zhenmin (China)

The United Nations high-level meeting on Africa's development needs held on 22 September evaluated the needs and challenges of African development. The Political Declaration (resolution 63/1) adopted at the meeting reflected the common will of all countries to enhance cooperation and help Africa achieve development at an early date. The United Nations high-level event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) held on 25 September also devoted special attention to Africa's achievement of the MDGs.

Today, we are gathered once again to review the agenda item on African development. This review will give us a more comprehensive understanding of the issue and put the Political Declaration on the fast track towards implementation.

In order to implement the political declaration, the key is to remain focused and to do that, we must listen to African voices, respect African views, accommodate African concerns and support Africa's efforts to implement its own programmes. The New Partnership for Africa's Development shows African countries' determination to gain strength through unity. The support of the international community should go hand in hand with the efforts of African countries.

There are myriad ways to provide international support, but the following considerations are of great importance: first, it is essential to deliver on the commitments of assistance to Africa. The international community, the developed countries in particular, should fully honour all assistance commitments to Africa and increase their official development assistance to 0.7 per cent of their gross national income. The developing countries should continuously deepen South-South cooperation and strengthen mutual assistance with Africa.

Secondly, it is essential to effectively address new challenges. In recent years, climate change, the food crisis, financial turbulences and rising energy prices have not only increased uncertainties in global economic growth, but have also eroded the achievements of African countries and made it harder for them to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. As the international community explores ways to respond to various crises and new challenges, it is important to better appreciate African countries' concerns and desires and to take more substantive action.

Thirdly, it is essential to help African countries build their capacity. African countries have made tremendous efforts to take development into their own hands by improving their governing capabilities and increasing their capacity and potential for independent development. The international community should offer African countries favourable conditions in debt relief, market access and technology transfer to help them overcome development obstacles. In the fields of global economy and finance and trade, it is important to provide African countries with an enabling external environment for their development.

Fourthly, the United Nations should continue to give priority attention to Africa. The United Nations has played an important role in urging the international community to assist Africa. It should continue its input in terms of political mobilization, resource allocation and progress monitoring to ensure that the relevant international consensus is truly implemented.

Peace is the foundation of development, and without development, peace will be fragile. The reduction and even the elimination of conflict in Africa are indispensable to the security and happiness of the African people. Over the past decade, with the support of subregional, regional, and international organizations, African countries have made tremendous efforts to promote peace and stability. The United Nations should continue to play an active part in promoting dispute settlement through consultation and negotiations between the parties concerned and in safeguarding and maintaining peace and stability in Africa. The international community should bear in mind its overall interest in Africa's stability and prosperity and continue to help African countries develop their economies, eradicate poverty, improve the environment, promote social progress and remove the root causes of conflicts and instability in Africa.

Mr. Liu Zhenmin (China)

China is a friend and partner of Africa. It is our strong resolve to enhance friendly cooperation with African countries and to take concrete measures to support Africa in achieving peace and development. At the high-level meeting on Africa's development needs, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi outlined how China had strengthened its cooperation with Africa and provided various forms of assistance to African countries under the framework of South-South cooperation. He also expressed China's readiness to take continued and effective measures to support African development and promote a new type of strategic partnership between China and Africa. We will continue to provide assistance and support to African countries in areas such as agriculture, education, health care, medical care and clean energy. We will also continue to support African countries in conflict prevention and settlement and peacebuilding.

African people are industrious and talented. Africa is a promising continent with huge potential. China is ready to work with the rest of the world for lasting peace, prosperity and development in Africa.

Mr. Davide (Philippines)

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