A/64/PV.22 General Assembly

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. Turkey, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Serbia align themselves with this statement. We welcome this opportunity to jointly discuss development and health, as well as peace and security in Africa. Africa is a major partner of the European Union (EU). Through globalization our two continents’ opportunities and challenges are becoming increasingly intertwined. The EU wants to make common cause with Africa in tackling problems and making the best of our joint opportunities. The EU-Africa Joint Strategy agreed in 2007 is a very good basis for our increasingly deepening cooperation. Last week, the ministerial troikas of the EU and the African Union (AU) met at Addis Ababa. They addressed situations of common concern in Somalia and the Sudan and expressed deep concern over the situation in Guinea. They agreed to work together on climate change in the lead up to Copenhagen. There are reasons for optimism about Africa’s development despite many unresolved challenges and a global financial crisis. Peace, political freedom and economic growth have progressed in recent years. But Africa, like no other continent, is heavily affected by the current economic downturn. It also carries a disproportionate weight when it comes to food security and climate change. The European Union is fully committed to supporting African countries and their peoples in their quest for peace, democracy, respect for human rights and sustainable development. The EU will continue to build on the positive developments in Africa of the last decade. Despite slow progress in many areas, reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa seems possible if all of us accelerate our efforts for the final stretch leading to 2015. In only seven years, the AU has become an indispensable regional actor. Africa’s regional cooperation is gaining momentum. This is a positive signal, as Africa’s problems can best be solved through joint efforts, by Africans themselves. The EU praises the assessment of AU member States through the African Peer Review Mechanism. Africa’s voice in international trade negotiations can be strengthened through regional cooperation. African integration leaves Africa better equipped to deal with peace and security issues, economic and social questions, as well as climate change. Climate change, food security and development are global concerns and should not be dealt with separately, as was pointed out in the Secretary- General’s report. The specific nature of the concerns may differ, but we share some fundamental challenges in how to address them in an effective manner. The African-European strategic partnership is guided by basic principles of the unity of Africa, the interdependence between Africa and Europe, ownership and joint responsibility, respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law, as well as the right to development. It is clear that the African continent is responsible for its own development. This is the core approach of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Support from the international community must be aimed at helping the African continent develop its potential on the basis of its own resources. Our aim should be to switch the emphasis from aid to cooperation and trade as soon as possible. The aim of the partnership is to facilitate an open, broad-based dialogue and cooperation on human rights and democratic governance, including the full enjoyment of such rights by women and children. I would like to draw particular attention to women in Africa. Women’s rights and opportunities are fundamental for peacebuilding, economic growth, development and well-being. The EU reaffirms its overall collective official development assistance target of providing 0.56 per cent of gross national income (GNI) by next year, and 0.7 per cent of GNI by 2015. Of the increases, we will channel at least 50 per cent to Africa. We are also improving coherence among EU policies in the areas of resource mobilization and more effective development assistance. Trade is a necessary prerequisite for economic growth and sustainable efforts against poverty. Together we must continue promoting a market- oriented world trading system. Access for African goods and services to international markets, including the European, needs to be improved. A successful conclusion of the Doha Round in 2010 is crucial and a top priority for the European Union. Another challenge for us all in Africa is health. Africa faces a huge burden of potentially preventable and treatable diseases which cause unnecessary deaths and untold suffering, while simultaneously blocking economic development and damaging the continent’s social fabric. Experts increasingly agree that infectious diseases are the most negative factor for Africa’s development and seriously hamper efforts to reach the MDGs. AIDS remains the leading cause of death in Africa; an unimaginable number of 300,000 African children are born with HIV each year. Another health challenge relates to Africa’s women. Nineteen of the 20 countries with the highest maternal mortality rate are in Africa. Last year, more than 250,000 women died of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. This is simply unacceptable. Malaria inflicts a great toll on Africa. Every 30 seconds, a child somewhere in the world is killed by malaria. Approximately 1 million people are killed by malaria each year, with the majority of those deaths in Africa. It is estimated that malaria costs Africa more than $12 billion each year in direct losses. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the fight against malaria. Rwanda, Eritrea and Zambia have shown how it is possible to roll back this disease. A clear focus on effective intervention, increased funding and political determination have proven to be successful. We welcome the establishment of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) formed to ensure political championing of action against malaria. However, significant financial gaps remain. As the world’s largest donor both in general and in the health sector in particular, the EU will continue to lead global efforts to sustain financial commitments in response to malaria. Combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, through strengthening of national health systems, will, in our view, be one of the most effective ways to alleviate poverty and promote equitable and sustainable economic progress. The burden of those three diseases severely affects the poorest countries. We need to further invest in the health-care workforce and build capacity for prevention, treatment and care. In the past decade a number of armed conflicts in Africa have ended. We have seen peaceful resolutions to brutal conflicts in Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Also, progress is being made in Burundi with elections planned for next year. A settlement of the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire seems to be within reach. The recent diplomatic reconciliation between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its neighbours, still to be consolidated, opens the possibility for regional cooperation to pave the way for long-term stabilization of the Great Lakes region. At the same time, however, armed conflicts continue in the Sudan, Somalia and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, with great suffering of civilians. The European Union is also seriously concerned at the increasingly violent political climate in Guinea. We have also seen a disturbing resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government in Africa. That development threatens to undermine the stability of the continent and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development. On a more positive note, we welcome the swift action taken by the African Union and the regional economic communities following the unconstitutional changes of government in Guinea, Madagascar and Mauritania. Members of the European Union support and participate in the work of the Peacebuilding Commission, especially in its country-specific configurations for Burundi, Sierra Leone, Guinea- Bissau and the Central African Republic. The Commission can lend important support to national priorities and be an effective forum for strengthened mutual accountability. The diversity of the membership of the Commission has provided broad international legitimacy to the peacebuilding agenda. The European Union actively supports the African Union and the African agenda for peace and development. Such cooperation could be further facilitated by a strengthened dialogue between the European Union and Africa in the framework of the United Nations. The support for Africa’s search for peace is one of the European Union’s priorities. Under the framework of the African Peace Facility, the European Union has committed an additional €300 million for the period from 2008 to 2010. In addition, the European Union currently has four missions deployed on the African continent within the framework of the European Security and Defence Policy. To conclude, after decades of lost growth, there are now signs that Africa is turning a corner. Africa is finding its place on the global arena, not least through the African Union engagement in finding solutions both to African and to international challenges. The European Union joins the countries and people of Africa in their endeavour to realize their ambitions.

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the member States of the Group of 77 and China on agenda items 63 and 47. We wish to thank the Secretary-General for his reports on the items that we are discussing today. African countries have taken concrete steps to implement the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) through the development of sectorial policy frameworks, the design of specific projects and the establishment of expenditure targets in NEPAD priority areas. Much has been achieved in Africa since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2) in 2000, NEPAD and an African Union programme that is now under way. African leaders have taken ownership and leadership of the continent’s socio-economic renewal agenda and have transformed the content of the development agenda through NEPAD. The NEPAD policies and priorities have become an acceptable and approved framework for Africa’s development. Through NEPAD, African countries have fundamentally changed the development paradigm. The narrow approach of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers has been expanded to include a comprehensive and holistic approach to development through African ownership. In fact, most African countries now have their own national development strategies. Those efforts require an enabling national and international environment conducive to growth and development, with the participation of the multi-stakeholders. Despite efforts in implementing NEPAD, Africa is still far from realizing the levels of support required under that partnership. In the 2005 World Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1), the heads of State and Government stated that Africa was the only continent not on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. That was reiterated in the follow-up resolutions (63/1 and 63/239, annex), which emphasized that vigorous implementation of the development commitments were needed without delay, in particular those commitments made in support of African development, which faces serious challenges requiring collective action on the part of African countries and the international community. Resources must be mobilized for African States to support efforts aimed at achieving the MDGs within the framework of national development programmes and at implementing the NEPAD programme. Urgent and concerted action by developed countries and the international community is needed to succeed in eradicating poverty and hunger in Africa. In that regard, the Group of 77 and China reiterates that the main challenge remaining for the development of Africa is a global partnership for development that must be fully implemented. It has become clear that despite all the actions and commitments by African countries, the main constraint to African development remains the lack of adequate resources. The African Union has made substantial progress in conflict prevention by creating mechanisms that are instrumental for the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development on the continent. African ownership in resolving conflicts has produced remarkable results. Conflict prevention and the consolidation of peace must benefit from the coordinated, sustained and integrated efforts of the United Nations system, Member States and regional and subregional organizations, as well as from international and regional financial institutions. Development is the best contributor to peace; hence, achieving development, economic growth and poverty eradication should be at the heart of conflict prevention strategies. At the same time, there should be a coordinated and comprehensive approach towards combining peacebuilding, emergency assistance and longer-term development support measures. Progress towards sustaining development in Africa requires, among other steps, writing off the unsustainable debt of African countries, both by bilateral and by multilateral donors. Reaching the target of reducing poverty by half by 2015 would require an average growth rate of 7 to 8 per cent per annum. To achieve that rather high rate of growth, we call for a number of measures towards mobilizing external resources. As far as the environment is concerned, we recognize the importance of addressing, in an interrelated and mutually supportive manner, the three dimensions of sustainable development. The Group of 77 and China, therefore, strongly calls for strengthening measures to enhance assistance to the African countries in their fight against land degradation, drought and desertification by multilateral and bilateral donors and through public and private partnership. HIV/AIDS and malaria pandemics are taking a catastrophic toll on many African societies, paralysing their economies and ruining their social fabric. The international community should be acutely aware that much more substantial collective effort is needed for effective prevention, care and impact mitigation of these deadly pandemics. There is now growing awareness of the tragedy and its ruinous impact; what is badly needed is genuine political commitment, the commensurate provision of requisite funds and a programmatic response to these pandemics. We call upon the international community to continue supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as country-led initiatives to create conditions for full access to insecticide-treated mosquito nets, insecticides for indoor residual spraying for malaria control and effective anti-malarial combination treatments, including through the free distribution of mosquito nets where appropriate. Mr. Tommo Monthe (Cameroon), Vice-President, took the Chair. Finally, the Group of 77 and China urges the international community to remain conscious of the fact that the food crisis, the energy crisis and climate change are having some of their worst impacts in Africa. The global financial economic crisis has produced profound adverse impacts on African development. Poor African countries, with their high dependence on agricultural commodity exports, are among the most adversely affected by the failure of global trade negotiations and the continued application of massive subsidies by developed countries. Official development assistance (ODA) has shrunk to historically low levels, representing less than one third of internationally agreed targets. It is imperative that ODA be increased, and, of course, combined with a set of other policy measures that would enhance development in the countries of Africa.

I have the honour of delivering this statement on agenda items 63 and 47, which deal with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the 2001-2010 Decade to Roll Back Malaria, respectively, on behalf of the Group of African States. The African Group associates itself with the statement made by the representative of the Sudan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. We wish to thank the Secretary-General for the three comprehensive reports under consideration (A/64/204, A/64/208 and A/64/210). The political declaration on Africa’s development needs (resolution 63/1), adopted at the high-level meeting on 22 September 2008 (see A/63/PV.4), reflects the resolve of Member States to strengthen and intensify international cooperation to find a long-term solution to Africa’s development needs. The high-level meeting acknowledged that tremendous gains were possible if the global community translated its commitments into concrete results. Unfortunately, the Secretary-General’s reports remind us that most African countries remain off-track with respect to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The combined effect of the economic, financial and food crises, as well as climate change and high energy prices, has undermined gains in poverty reduction and threatens to reverse the gains achieved over the last seven years in meeting some of the MDGs. No one is more responsible for Africa’s development than the African people themselves, as well as their States and institutions. African countries have taken huge steps to implement NEPAD. The past year has witnessed progress in achieving NEPAD projects in key sectors such as infrastructure, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, education and training, environment, information and communication technologies, science and technology. Equally, there has been progress in moving the African Peer Review Mechanism forward, with 30 countries acceding and 12 countries’ peer reviews completed. In addition, strategies, tools and approaches to gender mainstreaming within NEPAD have been under development since 2004 and progress has been made in the implementation of some NEPAD programmes aiming at the empowerment of African women. Similarly, the international community, including the United Nations, should take concerted and urgent action to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the financial and economic crisis and help African countries recover ground in their progress towards the implementation of NEPAD and the achievement of the MDGs. In particular, development partners should deliver on their aid commitments. The Secretary- General recommends in his report on NEPAD that donors significantly increase aid disbursement in 2009 and 2010 in order to maintain their commitments to provide Africa with an additional $25 billion in official development assistance per year by 2010, at 2004 prices. Moreover, developed country partners should take further steps and concrete measures to increase their foreign direct investment and technology transfer levels into Africa and successfully conclude the Doha Round of trade negotiations with a development dimension by honouring their promises to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to African products and to eliminate agricultural subsidies that distort global trade, without undermining food aid to Africa. The full implementation and operationalization of the Aid for Trade initiative in African countries is needed, if they are to implement and benefit from World Trade Organization agreements and expand their trade and markets. By the same token, African countries attach great importance to South-South cooperation, particularly in infrastructure, technical support and other productive and innovative sectors. As far as climate change is concerned, development partners should lend strong support to addressing its effects by investing in mitigation and adaptation measures for the prevention of deforestation and by increasing funding for renewable energy in Africa, such as solar, wind and geothermal power. Every effort should be made to move away from coal- based projects towards these energy sources. In doing so, development partners should take Africa’s development needs into full account in the negotiations leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Although some progress was seen in 2008 in trade liberalization and ease of doing business, African States are still far from achieving the agriculture target of allocating 10 per cent of their national budgets to agricultural development and exceed the 6 per cent agricultural sector growth target. With respect to health, at a time of multiple crises, African States were not in a position to spend 15 per cent of their budgets on health, as was called for in the African Union Abuja Declaration. These two sectors present examples where development partners should work together with African States to address their specific needs. The world financial and economic crisis presents a unique challenge to African countries as their economies are heavily dependent on exporting a small number of commodities. In this regard, Africa’s development partners should enhance their assistance to African Governments to strengthen regional integration and diversify their exports in order to cope with the demands of global markets. 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, among other reasons, to transformations in the African Union (AU) and its Peace and Security Architecture, the United Nations multidimensional approach to peacekeeping, the renewed commitment of the international community to confront the scourge of conflict, the establishment of the AU’s Panel of the Wise, the deepening cooperation among the AU, the United Nations and subregional organizations and the establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission to provide support to countries emerging from conflict. We believe that ensuring economic and social development is the best way to prevent conflicts in Africa. In this regard, the African Group agrees with the Secretary-General’s report that new and creative programmes must be found to generate human, financial and technical resources and effective partnerships to ensure that the link between peace and development is appropriately addressed at all stages in all peace efforts. All stakeholders should therefore work together with an integrated approach to address the root causes of tension on the continent, such as unemployment, food insecurity and the effects of climate change, such as water scarcity and desertification. The continent is aware of the need to enhance 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. Malaria places a heavy burden on Africa. Indeed, nine out of 10 cases of malaria worldwide occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and 90 per cent of Africa’s population is at risk. Children under five years of age and pregnant women are the most vulnerable to malaria. With approximately 250 million cases annually, malaria is the cause of death of almost a million Africans every year, most of them children. Malaria is said to be a disease of poverty and a cause of poverty. Its impact on socio-economic development is immense — approximately $12 billion annually — and consequently, the disease has slowed economic growth by up to 1.3 per cent per year through death and lost hours of economic productivity, as well as having an impact on public funds and family incomes. African leaders are highly committed to the fight against malaria. In the Abuja Declaration, they committed themselves, inter alia, to “halve the malaria mortality for Africa’s people by 2010”, and resolved to “initiate appropriate and sustainable action to strengthen the health systems to ensure that by the year 2005 ... at least 60 per cent of those at risk of malaria, particularly children under five years of age and pregnant women”, benefit from protective measures. At the 2000 ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union, meeting at Lome, African leaders declared 25 April as African Malaria Day, a date which has now become World Malaria Day. While much progress has been achieved in the fight against malaria, many challenges still remain. These include the development of resistance to drugs which has forced countries to change their drug policies to combination therapies, which are more expensive. It is a matter of concern that resistance to combination therapies has begun to occur. Moreover, the emergence of counterfeit and substandard drugs will further compound this problem. Other challenges include weak procurement and distribution systems, inadequate access to medical equipment, especially for rapid diagnostic testing, and inadequate availability of skilled medical personnel. The current financial, energy and food crises further constrain Member States’ ability to allocate sufficient funds for malaria control. Climate change is another challenge that has to be taken into account in the fight against malaria, as it may lead to other geographical areas that were not originally malaria endemic to become so. We are encouraged by the increase in funding for malaria control from bilateral and international organizations, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank’s booster programme, the United States President’s Malaria Initiative and the Islamic Development Bank. We also commend the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for funding research as well as other innovative financing mechanisms such as the International Drug Purchase Facility for improving availability of malaria medicines. Malaria-related ill-health and death throughout the world can be substantially eliminated with political commitment and commensurate resources if the public is educated and sensitized to malaria and if appropriate health services are made available, particularly in countries where the disease is endemic. It is important to remind ourselves that we just have a year to 2010, the Roll Back Malaria target for halving the malaria burden and the target for universal access to health services and for malaria elimination in Africa. We thus need to redouble our efforts if we are to achieve the 2010 goals. It is also imperative that we begin looking beyond 2010 in our fight against malaria. Africans are committed to working hard in order to turn Africa into a zone of active partnership and to establish conditions on the continent conducive to peace and sustainable development. The priority task now is for all stakeholders to effectively honour the commitments they have undertaken with regard to Africa.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the 10 member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Viet Nam and Thailand. ASEAN aligns itself with the statement delivered by the representative of the Sudan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. ASEAN would like to thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report regarding the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) (A/64/204). ASEAN stands firm in solidarity with Africa and is committed to supporting Africa’s aspiration for growth, development and prosperity, as reflected in NEPAD. We fully support the main objective of NEPAD: to generate broad-based and equitable economic growth that would allow Africa to reduce poverty and be better integrated into the global economy. In this spirit, I have the honour to share ASEAN’s views on some key issues. First, ASEAN welcomes progress achieved in recent years by African countries and organizations in implementing various sectoral priorities of NEPAD, for example in areas of infrastructure, agriculture, public health, education and human resources development, information and communications technology and science and technology, as reported by the Secretary- General. ASEAN commends the leaders and peoples of Africa for their unwavering determination to achieve the noble goals they have set for themselves. We welcome the assessment of the Secretary-General in his report (A/64/204) that progress in these priority areas has put African countries in a stronger position to achieve many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015. We also agree that there should be no room for complacency. Secondly, like developing countries in other parts of the globe, African countries have faced multiple challenges arising from the multiple crises that have affected the world in the past few years. The current financial and economic crisis; food and energy security concerns; stalled multilateral trade negotiations; the spread of pandemics and deadly infectious diseases; and the adverse impacts of climate change, particularly desertification, have threatened to reverse many African countries’ hard-won progress towards the MDGs as well as towards sustainable growth and development as envisaged by NEPAD. Addressing those challenges is a matter of great urgency. ASEAN believes it important to keep reminding all parties concerned of the human face of the current financial and economic crisis, especially in its impact on vulnerable populations in developing countries. ASEAN has made this point clear at every meeting relating to this issue, for example, at the United Nations and Group of 20 Summits in London and, more recently, in Pittsburgh. ASEAN will continue to emphasize this human dimension of the financial and economic crisis, not only because we feel strongly about the issue, but because we ourselves lived through a similar crisis in the late 1990s. Thirdly, in the face of such complex and intertwined crises and challenges, ASEAN firmly believes that the international community should respond with stronger and more coordinated international cooperation and partnership. The current financial crisis in developed countries should not lead donors to cut back on their pledged commitments to developing countries, including those in Africa. Commitments made in L’Aquila, London and Pittsburgh must be honoured. In the view of ASEAN, developing countries should be assisted with capacity-building and projects aimed at, inter alia, strengthening social safety nets to cushion vulnerable societies and populations from the impacts of the current global economic downturn and strengthen their resilience to weather future shocks. ASEAN calls upon all parties to implement fully the Political Declaration on Africa’s Development Needs (resolution 63/1), adopted at the close of the high-level meeting held in September 2008. With the high-level conference to review progress on the MDGs scheduled for September 2010 (resolution 63/302), we urge all Member States to take full advantage of that meeting to reflect on achievements and shortcomings thus far, with a view to reenergizing national, regional and international efforts vis-à-vis the MDGs within the five years remaining until 2015. Next year will be vital for us to add further momentum before it is too late. Fourthly, ASEAN believes that South-South cooperation and tripartite partnership can positively complement traditional North-South cooperation in supporting development in Africa. ASEAN is of the view that, in many cases, developing countries are in a better position to understand one another and to share their experiences regarding successes and challenges in their development efforts. We strongly believe that development assistance and partnerships should aim to empower African countries and their peoples by unlocking their potential on the basis of their comparative strengths, national priorities and national ownership. In this context, we recognize the importance of South-South cooperation among countries of ASEAN and Africa, as well as tripartite partnerships between ASEAN, African countries and donors, as an effective way to promote trade, agriculture, food security and health care in Africa. Fifthly, the nations of ASEAN are committed to strengthening relations and partnerships with Africa. As fellow developing countries, we stand ready to share our experience in economic and social development with our African partners. As I speak, individual ASEAN member States are working with their African partners in such diverse areas as human resources development, capacity-building, public health — including combating infectious diseases such as malaria — fisheries and agricultural development. ASEAN also welcomes the progress made in the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership with a senior officials’ meeting, held in Jakarta on 12 and 13 October, with the aim of maintaining the Strategic Partnership’s momentum and reaffirming ASEAN’s strong commitment to strengthening cooperation through the implementation of concrete activities and programmes under the Strategic Partnership framework. As we ourselves deepen our integration to become an ASEAN community, we also fully support efforts to deepen regional integration in Africa. We note with interest that the latest report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on economic development in Africa in 2009, released in July (UNCTAD/ALDC/AFRICA/2009), recommends that Africa deepen regional economic integration initiatives as a means of building stronger and more resilient economies. While we believe in the importance of reaching a development-oriented outcome of the Doha Round to ensure a free and fair global trade regime beneficial to developing countries, we also believe that, like other regions, Africa would benefit enormously from closer intraregional trade as well as better integration and harmonization in the areas of infrastructure and trade policy. We agree with the UNCTAD report’s recommendation that regional integration could enhance African countries’ productive capacity, increase their economic diversification and improve their competitiveness. As shown by the results of integration among the 10 ASEAN member States, and between ASEAN as a group and its partners in East Asia, pooled resources and economies of scale would allow African countries to enhance their respective comparative advantages while participating more fully and effectively in the global economy. ASEAN fully supports ongoing efforts to promote integration between Africa’s three subregional groups — the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) — under the COMESA-SADC- EAC Harmonization Process. Here ASEAN stands ready to work with and share its experience on regional integration with its African partners. Finally, ASEAN believes that the association between the nations of ASEAN and Africa should be strengthened so as to encompass more than just the relations between the Governments of both regions. The peoples of ASEAN and Africa should be encouraged to learn and understand more about one another. At the moment, there are many men and women from ASEAN who are working with their African partners in various development and business projects in Africa. Likewise, there are also many African professionals and students who are working with their ASEAN partners or studying in various fields in ASEAN member States. Further educational, business and cultural exchange programmes between the two regions should be further promoted in order to bring their peoples closer together. ASEAN strongly believes that closer people-to-people contacts would form a strong and lasting foundation for partnership and friendship between ASEAN and Africa.

I am happy to participate in today’s joint debate on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Allow me to thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report on implementation and international support with regard to NEPAD (A/64/204) and for the other reports prepared for this joint debate. India’s ties with Africa are historic. Trade across the Indian Ocean has linked us for hundreds of years. For the people of India, Africa is also the land of awakening of the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi. In the past, we have shared the pain of subjugation and the joy of freedom and liberation. We have worked shoulder to shoulder in the fight against apartheid and racial discrimination. India was at the vanguard of the struggle against colonialism, apartheid and racial discrimination — a struggle that helped transform the lives of millions of people in Africa and Asia. During our march together, we have traversed similar paths, shared similar values and cherished the same dreams. Our long and historic relationship has now evolved into a sustainable and enduring partnership. In his report, “New Partnership for Africa’s Development: seventh consolidated progress report on implementation and international support”, the Secretary-General underscored that international cooperation is vital for Africa’s development. The report emphasizes the need for concerted and urgent action by international development partners to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the global financial and economic crisis and help African countries in their progress towards the implementation of NEPAD and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The report also highlights India’s contribution towards Africa’s development in the context of South-South cooperation. India has a long-standing, close and multilayered relationship with Africa. A vibrant India and a resurgent Africa are witnessing an intensification of relations and a growing convergence of interests in their common quest for sustainable economic growth and development. Our partnership encompasses priority sectors integral to the developmental goals of Africa in the twenty-first century. India is committed to working together with Africa in accordance with the priorities of the continent. Priority areas of cooperation include infrastructure development, capacity-building, agriculture, health and food security and technology cooperation. We have accorded high priority to the development of economic infrastructure, including railways, information technology, telecommunications and power. The First India-Africa Forum Summit, held in Delhi in April 2008, was a major milestone in India’s engagement with Africa. The Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, adopted during the Summit, highlighted our shared vision and world view. Taken together, these provide a sound foundation for the intensification of our engagement in the years to come. India has so far extended more than $3 billion in concessional lines of credit to countries in Africa. During the India-Africa Forum Summit, India also decided to increase the available concessional lines of credit for Africa to $5.4 billion for the next five years. Since the inception of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme in 1964, capacity-building and human resource development in Africa have been areas of high priority for the Government of India. The ITEC programme has benefited thousands of experts and students from Africa who have come for training courses in professional institutions in my country. Those courses cover diverse fields such as agriculture and agro-processing, entrepreneurship development, tool design, small-business creation, the promotion of rural industries and information technology. We have increased the number of training slots for African countries from 1,100 to 1,600 under the programme. In addition, several thousand African students are currently studying in Indian universities and colleges. We have also doubled the number of scholarships for African countries to 500. Over the next five to six years, India will also be undertaking in Africa, on a grant basis, projects in critical areas such as higher and vocational education, science, information technology, agriculture and renewable energy. A sum of $500 million has been allocated for that endeavour. The Pan-African e-Network project, which seeks to bridge the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world, is one of the most far-reaching initiatives undertaken by India. Already, 42 countries have joined this programme, which is intended to provide e-services, with priority on telecommunication, tele-education and telemedicine services and connectivity for extremely important persons — VVIP connectivity — through a satellite and fibre-optic network among the heads of State of all 53 countries. The project would give major benefits to Africa in the area of capacity-building through the skill and knowledge development of students and medical specialists, as well as for medical consultation. India has been actively engaged with NEPAD since the very beginning. The Government of India announced a $300 million line of credit for NEPAD during the India-Africa Forum Summit. That line of credit is in addition to the $200 million in lines of credit for NEPAD extended in 2002. The Indian private sector is increasingly engaged in Africa. Indian companies have made large investments in Africa in the areas of industry, agriculture, services, human resource development and infrastructure. India’s trade with Africa has been growing rapidly. India’s bilateral trade with Africa totalled more than $36 billion in the period 2008-2009, which represented an almost sixfold increase in as many years. We look forward to working with our African partners to take those trade and investment levels to new heights. In his report on NEPAD, the Secretary-General called for a long-overdue successful outcome to the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations. At the India-Africa Forum Summit, India and Africa decided to work together on pressing global issues of shared interest and concern, including those involving the World Trade Organization, such as the issue of cotton subsidies. India has unilaterally announced duty-free and quota-free market access to goods from 34 least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa. This covers 94 per cent of India’s total tariff lines and provides preferential market access on tariff lines comprising 92.5 per cent of the global exports of all LDCs. As indicated in the Secretary-General’s report, an important factor in addressing the causes of conflict and contributing to durable peace and sustainable development in Africa is the commitment of the international community, including United Nations organizations, to allocate increased financial, human and technical resources for regional strategies. For its part, India has been extensively involved in peacekeeping efforts in Africa over the past six decades. At present, India has more than 7,000 peacekeepers serving in Africa, including a 5,000- strong contingent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. India’s first full all-female formed police unit is currently deployed in Liberia. In addition to peacekeeping, this unit has been successful in reaching out to the most vulnerable sections of society — women and children — and in inspiring women, who have so often been the victims of war, to see themselves also as sources of succor and strength in this recently war-torn society. As a founding member of the Peacebuilding Commission, India remains actively engaged with the work of the Commission. The report of the Secretary- General (A/64/210) mentions that 92 per cent of Peacebuilding Fund-allocated funds have gone to African countries. We are hopeful that, with the revision of the terms of reference for the Peacebuilding Fund, the efficiency and effectiveness of the Fund will be further improved. Africa’s fight against malaria is dealt with in the World Health Organization report on “2001-2010: Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa”, transmitted in a note by the Secretary-General (A/64/302). It is a matter of deep regret that more than 1 million malarial deaths still occur each year when the disease is preventable, treatable and perfectly curable. While we are happy to note that a number of preventive measures, such as the distribution of treated mosquito nets, are being undertaken on a much larger scale, it also remains a fact that the developing world’s ability to combat public health crises of this nature has at times been circumscribed under the pretext of intellectual property rights. Access to affordable medicines is a fundamental part of the right to health, and this has even been recognized by the trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights regime. Unfortunately, this remains more in the realm of theory than that of practice. The Africa-India Framework for Cooperation 2008 includes capacity-building programmes for medical and health specialists to tackle pandemics like malaria, filariasis, polio, HIV and tuberculosis. In conclusion, I should like to state that India envisions an Africa that is self-reliant, economically vibrant and at peace with itself and the world. While highlighting the vitality of the African continent, the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, said: “Of one thing there can be no doubt, and that is the vitality of the people of Africa. Therefore, with the vitality of her people and the great resources available in this great continent, there can be no doubt that the future holds a great promise for the people of Africa”. It is this promise that our partnership with Africa seeks to fulfil. India will offer its fullest cooperation to harness the great potential of the African people for the cause of Africa’s progress and development.

I have the honour to speak on agenda item 63 on behalf of the States members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that are Members of the United Nations, namely: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and my own country, Guyana. The States members of the Caribbean Community are pleased to renew our solidarity with Africa and its people, with whom we share strong bonds of history and culture and a sense of common purpose. As we strive to promote development in our respective regions, we envisage increased prospects for mutual cooperation and exchange. Africa can continue to count on CARICOM’s full support for the achievement of the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development on the continent. The high-level meeting on Africa’s development needs, held one year ago, took account of the state of implementation of various commitments as well as the challenges encountered. In adopting a political declaration on Africa’s development needs, the international community recommitted itself “to reinvigorate and strengthen a global partnership of equals based on our common values, mutual accountability, shared responsibility and the determination to collectively act for our common future and to mobilize the resources, including human, financial and technological, required to end poverty, hunger and underdevelopment in Africa, with the explicit objective of turning existing commitments into concrete actions” (resolution 63/1, para. 3). One year later, we can rightfully revisit those commitments to take account of progress to date. CARICOM is therefore grateful to the Secretary- General for the reports before us on this agenda item (A/64/204, A/64/208 and A/64/210). Taken together, they provide a mixed picture of progress accompanied by setbacks. The reports point to the achievement of some progress in the implementation of NEPAD despite the negative impact of the various crises — financial and economic, food, climate change and energy — that beset the world and Africa. But coming as they do at a time when African countries are poised for significant economic growth, these crises contributed to some setbacks in key areas in 2008, such as economic growth, agricultural development and poverty eradication, as well as in several other human development indicators. CARICOM has observed with interest the actions taken by Africa and its partners to advance the implementation of varied national and subregional development plans and strategies in the framework of the New Partnership. However, we also note that the gap between promise and delivery remains wide and that the countries of Africa will continue to need the invaluable support of the international community if they are to realize the objectives of NEPAD. Africa’s fundamental challenges are well known and have been well articulated by the international community. The ongoing multiple global crises, the variable socio-economic performance across the continent and the emergence of new challenges pose an even more formidable obstacle to the sustainable development prospects for Africa. The inadequacy of resources remains a major constraint on African development. Despite the serious, sincere and consistent efforts of African countries to implement NEPAD, Africa is still far from enjoying the levels of support required under its partnership with the international community. CARICOM is of the view that considerable gains would be possible if the international community were to translate its commitments into concrete results. Official development assistance, foreign direct investment and trade are key engines of growth in Africa. For that reason, there is a need for great vigilance to ensure that the upward trend of foreign direct investment flows to Africa is maintained and that development partners meet their pledge to raise aid flows to Africa to $66 billion annually, at 2008 prices, by 2010. Africa’s debt sustainability challenges must also be tackled coherently. Various multilateral and bilateral debt reduction initiatives have lowered debt-servicing costs for many African countries. However, the current crisis presents new debt sustainability challenges. In addition, the manifest lack of progress in the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks also constrains the vistas of Africa’s development progress. CARICOM is convinced that the international community should ensure that multilateral agreements address Africa’s needs and incorporate appropriate development provisions. The development of agriculture is critical to Africa’s development prospects. More collaborative action is therefore necessary to assist the continent in coping with the food crisis and to embark on a truly African green revolution. As elaborated during this year’s session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, where a focus on Africa was included in one of the thematic clusters, helpful action in that regard should include encouraging and facilitating investments, especially in rural infrastructure specifically to address the socio-economic development of rural communities and vulnerable groups; increasing research and development efforts; promoting land reform and security of tenure; and supporting economic diversification and the improvement of income distribution. CARICOM is ever mindful of the complex interrelationship between governance and development. We support the continued efforts of African countries to improve economic and political governance and to strengthen mechanisms for the participation, inclusion and empowerment of all segments of African society, including civil society, women and girls, and communities and households, in the political and development processes on the continent. CARICOM also believes that focused efforts must continue to be made to eliminate the combination of internal and external factors that engender conflict and stymie development. CARICOM continues to endorse the requirement identified in the political declaration on Africa’s development needs (resolution 63/1) that all commitments to and by Africa to comprehensively address the special development needs of the continent be effectively implemented and given appropriate follow-up by the international community and by Africa itself. CARICOM emphasizes the importance of enhanced and improved monitoring of the NEPAD implementation process. As the Secretary-General’s report points out, “[t]oo often in the past, Governments have convened high-level summits on development, adopted bold targets, and then failed to deliver” (A/64/208, para. 47). We have taken particular note of the fact that, rather than devising new mechanisms, the results of the various existing monitoring processes will be brought together more effectively. In that regard, we welcome the enhanced support provided by the United Nations system to the African Union and the NEPAD programme, especially through the auspices of the inter-agency task force on Africa and the efforts to mainstream NEPAD into United Nations normative and operational activities. The States members of CARICOM are encouraged by the recognition that Africa is capable of and has made dedicated efforts towards resolving the many challenges that it faces. The progress in the implementation of NEPAD projects and in moving forward the African Peer Review Mechanism is fitting testimony to that recognition. African countries themselves and their development partners must now continue, including through stronger linkages with the private sector and civil society, their prudent action to ensure that the progress achieved so far is not unduly undermined. CARICOM therefore avails itself of this opportunity to again call on the international community to significantly enhance its support for Africa’s development through NEPAD. In that regard, we see an important role for South-South cooperation as part of the international response. The CARICOM countries work with our brothers and sisters in Africa in various forums, here at the United Nations and in the context of the Commonwealth and of the African, Caribbean and Pacific group, among others. We are honoured to partner with Africa and with other countries and regions in the project to establish a permanent memorial to the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. We will continue to work with Africa to further strengthen the institutional mechanisms for collaboration between our two regions and among our peoples and for the consolidation of our long-standing relationships and the productive linkages between Africa and the Caribbean in economic, social, cultural and other domains.

I would like to begin by aligning myself with the statements made by the representatives of the Sudan, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and of Thailand, on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), on this agenda item. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has grown from strength to strength since its adoption in 2001. The Secretary-General’s seventh consolidated progress report on the implementation and international support of NEPAD (A/64/204) indicates that, despite the global financial and economic crisis and its negative impact, Africa has achieved progress in the past year in areas such as infrastructure, agriculture, education, health, the environment and science and technology. We applaud the good work that is being done through NEPAD. At the recent briefing by the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) established under NEPAD, we were heartened to note that 30 countries had voluntarily acceded to the Review Mechanism. Seventeen of those 30 member countries have also launched the process for themselves. The APRM not only makes it possible for African countries to benchmark good governance in Africa to international norms and standards, but also showcases the innovation in African thinking on governance. From the case studies highlighted, it is clear that much progress has been made in the areas of governance and socio-economic development in Africa. However, such hard-earned progress could be rolled back as African countries are increasingly affected by the financial crisis, the latent food and energy crisis and the effects of climate change. Many African countries are already behind schedule towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. In such circumstances, while NEPAD’s principle of anchoring the development of Africa on its resources and the resourcefulness of its people should not change, there is a real danger that Africa will continue to lag behind without concerted and sustained international cooperation and assistance. Official development assistance, foreign direct investment and trade are key engines of growth in Africa. Africa’s development partners therefore need to take serious steps to maintain the upward trend of foreign direct investment inflows to the continent. In this regard, the Singapore Minister of Trade and Industry, along with the business delegations of 31 Singaporean companies, visited Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana just two weeks ago. Foreign direct investment from Singapore in Africa has also grown at an average of 146 per cent a year over the past 22 years to reach $36 billion in 2007. Besides investing in Africa, Singapore has also provided technical assistance and cooperation to our African friends under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), which was established under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore to coordinate and strengthen our technical assistance under a centralized framework. When it became independent in 1965, Singapore was fortunate to have friends from many countries who shared their development experience with us. Without their assistance, our progress would have been much more difficult. Having benefited from the assistance rendered to us, and in the same spirit of assisting friends, Singapore is glad to share our experience and competencies with fellow developing countries through the SCP. For example, in 2008 participants from seven countries across Africa learned about environmental management, urban development and town planning through a course jointly sponsored by the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Centre for Regional Development. Seventy senior officials and education specialists from Ghana, Madagascar and Mozambique also attended a two- week workshop entitled “Leaders in Education and Training for Sustained Growth in Africa”, which was jointly organized by the World Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and International Enterprise Singapore. More recently, Singapore welcomed a high-level group of 35 senior policymakers from Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania to Singapore for the Third South-South Study Visit on skills and knowledge for sustained development in Africa, under the auspices of the Singapore-World Bank Third Country Training Programme. The South- South Study Visit was organized with the objective of sharing Singapore’s experience in skills and knowledge development. The programme focused on how formal education and training systems are linked to the skills associated with a country’s development strategy and the growth of industry and private enterprise. Let me conclude by saying that NEPAD should continue to be driven by African ownership and leadership. Nonetheless, the international community should do more to support Africa’s efforts to achieve sustainable development. In this regard, Singapore is committed to doing our part as a responsible global citizen to assist fellow developing countries in human resource capacity-building. We are happy to share the lessons and expertise gained from our own development journey, and we know that we have much to learn from our African counterparts as we progress forward together.

At the outset, I welcome the reports submitted by the Secretary-General on the agenda items under discussion (A/64/204, A/64/208 and A/64/210). The Chinese delegation supports the statement made by the representative of the Sudan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Africa is home to most developing countries, and African countries account for a quarter of the States Members of the United Nations. Without peace and development in Africa, there will be no world peace and development. The international community should offer more understanding and care in addressing the special challenges faced by African countries in the process of development. It is the consistent view of the Chinese delegation that, given the difficulties confronted by African countries, the international community should take Africa’s concerns seriously, respect its positions, heed its calls and support its requests. In September 2008, the United Nations convened the high-level meeting on Africa’s development needs, which adopted a political declaration (resolution 63/1) demonstrating the common will of all countries to strengthen cooperation in helping African countries to speed up their development. This year marks the eighth anniversary of the launch of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Over the past eight years, with the strong support of the international community, African countries have made progress in areas such as infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, environmental protection, information and communication technology, gender mainstreaming and the African Peer Review Mechanism. Nevertheless, the impact of the financial, food and energy crises and of climate change has unleashed an unprecedented development crisis on the African continent, causing concern over the prospect of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) there. The international community should take immediate action to reduce the implications of the crisis for the economic and social endeavours of African countries and help them to make progress in implementing NEPAD and achieving the MDGs. In this regard, we maintain that the international community should place great emphasis on the following areas. First, with respect to the prompt delivery on its commitments to assistance, the international community should follow through on all its assistance commitments to Africa. In particular, developed countries should increase their official development assistance (ODA) to 0.7 per cent of their gross national product. For many African countries, ODA provides the main source of funding for their economic and social development. This external assistance should be targeted at and serve the fundamental and long-term needs of people of Africa. Secondly, the international community should provide additional financing. Due to the global financial crisis, most developing countries have witnessed a sharp decrease in fiscal revenue and experienced difficulties in securing external financing. They are finding it impossible to adopt countercyclical policies to stimulate economic growth. International financial institutions should forge a mechanism to provide rapid and effective financial assistance and financing support to African countries without conditionalities, so as to help them overcome their economic difficulties. Thirdly, the international community should respect African ownership. The countries of Africa have worked assiduously to achieve strength through unity, seek regional peace and stability, and revitalize their economies. While rendering assistance to African countries, the international community should also have confidence in the wisdom of the African Governments and peoples, and respect the ownership and leadership of the recipient countries. Fourthly, the international community should expand South-South cooperation. In seeking development, developing countries have always sought mutual understanding and support. As a useful complement to North-South cooperation, the South- South cooperation has emerged as an effective driving force for Africa’s economic development. We should explore various forms of South-South cooperation for the benefit of African development. Fifthly, the international community should assist African countries in capacity-building. African development requires enhanced resources for sustainable development to take hold. The international community should increase its input in African countries in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, education, health and environmental protection. In the meantime, the international community should increase aid for trade to African countries to enhance their ability to engage in foreign trade and ultimately promote their economic and social development. Sixthly, the role of international organizations needs to be strengthened. The United Nations system has a unique role to play in supporting NEPAD. We need to take advantage of the United Nations Regional Coordination Mechanism in Support of the African Union and its NEPAD Programme to strengthen coordination among United Nations agencies in providing assistance to Africa at the regional level and in increasing efficiency. The partnership between the United Nations system and the African Union, the African Development Bank and regional economic communities should also be strengthened to ensure consistency between the focus of the United Nations agencies and the priorities of NEPAD. International financial and development institutions should also step up their support for Africa. The experience of countries around the world shows that peace and stability are the anchors of development, and African development, too, calls for a peaceful environment. Most armed conflicts in and among African countries are rooted in poverty and lack of development. Armed conflicts not only impede African development, but also exacerbate poverty on the continent. We also believe that, in order to resolve conflicts and achieve sustainable development in Africa, great emphasis should be placed on preventive diplomacy. The Secretary-General points out in his report that “the cost of armed conflict in Africa is equivalent to or exceeds the amount of money the continent receives in international aid” (A/64/208, para. 34). If it is not squandered by armed conflict, that money can no doubt be used to serve Africa’s growing development needs. China supports the United Nations and the African Union in their efforts to resolve conflicts in Africa and to create a peaceful and stable environment for the development of African countries. The traditional friendship between the peoples of China and Africa dates back to ancient times. China- Africa cooperation is an important component of South-South cooperation. It is China’s consistent foreign policy to further develop and strengthen its partnership with Africa, characterized by long-term stability, equality, mutual benefit and all-round cooperation, as well as to support Africa with concrete action in its efforts to establish peace and promote development. Since the onset of the financial crisis, China, while overcoming its own difficulties, has continued to provide various forms of assistance to African countries, including grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans. China focuses its assistance on the strengthening of China-Africa cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure, human resource training and public health, which are all priority areas of NEPAD. At the 2006 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the Chinese Government announced its decision to exempt 33 heavily indebted poor and least developed countries in Africa that have diplomatic relations with China from repaying their interest-free loan debts to China that matured at the end of 2005. By the end of the first quarter of 2009, China had successfully exempted 150 matured debt accounts owed by 32 countries. The Chinese Government also attaches great importance to the concerns of African countries over market access and trade imbalances, and has taken a host of measures to promote trade with African countries. In 2008, total trade between China and Africa stood at $106.84 billion, an increase of 45.1 per cent over the previous year. Of this amount, China’s imports from Africa accounted for $56 billion, registering an increase of 54 per cent over the previous year. In the future, China will provide further assistance and support to African countries in such areas as agriculture, education, health, health care and clean energy. We will also continue to support African countries in their conflict prevention, reconciliation and peacebuilding endeavours.

As I am taking the floor for the first time, allow me, on behalf of my delegation, to congratulate Mr. Treki on his election as President of the General Assembly, and to assure him of my delegation’s full support in ensuring the success of this session. I would also like to thank the Secretary-General for his compelling and in-depth reports (A/64/204, A/64/208 and A/64/210) on both agenda items under discussion. My delegation associates itself with the statements made by the representatives of Tunisia, on behalf of the African Group, and of the Sudan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. We attach great importance to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and I should therefore like to make the following points. In recent years, there has been an unprecedented number of new activities aimed at fast-tracking African development and improving the position of Africa in the international community. It is perhaps no exaggeration to say that the main driving force behind this thrust is the African Union, whose work since its inception in 2001 has developed into a process that is internationally recognized as the primary framework for African development. The NEPAD framework has provided Africa a basis for renewal and revitalization. It is a comprehensive and integrated development framework that addresses key social, economic and political priorities in a coherent and balanced manner. It is designed to address the challenges facing the African continent, focusing on issues such as poverty, underdevelopment, backwardness and the continued marginalization of the continent. The framework’s prime objective is to eradicate poverty; to place African countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development; to halt the marginalization of Africa in the globalization process, and to enhance its full and beneficial integration into the global economy. Partnership and cooperation between and among African countries and through regional and continental integration, as well as forging a new international partnership that changes the existing lopsided relationship between Africa and its partners, including public-private partnerships, are paramount principles of NEPAD. The same goes for ensuring that all partnerships are linked to the Millennium Development Goals and other agreed development targets. As a long- term goal, the need to establish and strengthen partnership between Africa and a greater number of development partners has been acknowledged all along. Since 2000, Africa has had an average growth rate of real output above 5 per cent and inflation has declined to single digits. There have also been significant improvements in governance and a reduction in armed conflicts, making the region more attractive to private capital flows. This strong performance was, however, buffeted last year by high food and oil prices and the economic crisis that ensued. The current global financial and economic crisis represents a serious setback for Africa because it is taking place at a time when the region is making progress in economic performance and management and when it is slowly recovering from the negative effects of the fuel and food crises. The impacts on African economies, initially expected to be less severe, are profound. Growth rates in African countries have slowed, as the crisis is hitting the key drivers of growth, especially trade flows, capital inflows, the natural resource sector and agricultural exports. Household incomes are falling owing to job losses and decreased remittances from family members working abroad. There is also a concern that budget pressures in donor countries will reduce aid flows. The ability of Governments to undertake social expenditures to protect the most vulnerable groups will also be constrained, which in turn will impede progress towards achieving the MDGs. The crisis has exposed weaknesses in the functioning of the global economy and has led to calls for the reform of the international financial architecture. While the worst of the recession may be over, the global economy is likely to enter a protracted period of low growth and volatility until the structural problems are addressed. We wish to reiterate that NEPAD will continue to serve as a framework that provides a good basis for revitalization of Africa’s development. The current situation makes more apparent than before the need to reinvigorate the global partnership in order for Africa to continue in its development path. We also must not forget that this crisis was brought about by failures of regulation and the inherent volatility in the international financial system as currently configured. The future international financial architecture must be transparent and inclusive, with a greater voice and representation for emerging and developing economies, including those of Africa. That will improve coherence and coordination in policymaking at the global level and will assist Africa’s endeavour to attain the objectives enshrined in the NEPAD framework. We also feel that a pro-development and speedy conclusion to the Doha Round of global trade talks will facilitate much-needed changes in the international financial system. We also attach great importance to the issue of infectious diseases like malaria. Malaria claims millions of lives in Africa. Of the 500 million people afflicted with malaria worldwide, 450 million are in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, malaria costs the continent over $10 billion annually. Over the past few years there has been a change in attitude that has put malaria high on the agenda of Governments, international organizations and development programmes. Further, there is a new form of cooperation between the low-income countries and the developed donor community. The important debates under way in different forums are further indication that malaria control and prevention are receiving due attention throughout the international community. Since the World Health Organization and its partners funded the Roll Back Malaria project and held the Abuja Summit in 2000, malaria has become one of the foremost areas of concern worldwide. The Ethiopian Government, cognizant of the impact of the disease, implemented the Roll Back Malaria project as a social movement at the national level in 2000, one year after finalizing the country’s five-year strategic plan. So far, the Ministry of Health and Roll Back Malaria partners in Ethiopia have undertaken a malaria prevention and control campaign as an integral part of the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty, which ultimately contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In the past few years there has been remarkable success in curbing the spread of malaria and its death toll. Although infection and mortality rates for malaria have significantly declined, the cooperation among the Ethiopian Government, its development partners and the international community is still vital to meeting the ultimate objectives of the Roll Back Malaria project. We therefore urge donors to respond to the financial and human resources needs that this crisis presents in a more coordinated, systematic and comprehensive way, commensurate with the magnitude of the problem.

At the outset, I would like to express our appreciation to the Secretary-General for his reports on the progress achieved in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) (A/64/204), on Africa’s development needs and the state of implementation of various commitments, challenges and the way forward (A/64/208), on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa (A/64/210), and on the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa (A/64/302). In this context, I would like to align myself with the statements delivered by the representative of Tunisia on behalf of the African Group and by the representative of the Sudan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. More than a year has passed since we gathered in the General Assembly at the level of heads of State and Government on 22 September 2008, when our leaders adopted by consensus the political declaration on Africa’s development needs (resolution 63/1). That declaration constitutes a road map that reflects the joint vision of the international community on how to improve the development situation of Africa in a manner complementary to the outcomes of major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields. Since then, the development challenges facing developing countries have intensified, especially on our African continent. They include the increase in food and energy prices and climate change. Those challenges have in turn been exacerbated by the negative impact of the world financial and economic crisis, making African countries the most afflicted, particularly in light of that impact on the efforts of the continent to eradicate poverty and to achieve sustainable development and sustained economic growth. Accordingly, Egypt stresses the importance of devoting a specific segment of the outcome document to be adopted by the summit that the Secretary-General has called on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to a precise and comprehensive review of the development situation in Africa and how to rectify it. That is particularly necessary because our continent has the largest number of the least developed countries, and most of its countries are far from achieving the internationally agreed development goals, especially the MDGs. Undoubtedly, the United Nations system — especially the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa — will have a central role in those actions, in parallel with the African Union and the regional and subregional organizations and institutions and with the full support of developed countries and international financial institutions. All this should be carried out in a manner that confronts the negative effects of those crises and challenges and mobilizes the international political will to improve the conditions of the peoples of the continent on the ground, in order to meet their legitimate aspirations. From that perspective, Egypt believes that our actions should be premised on two central interrelated and complementary tracks. The first is the immediate and full implementation of commitments to Africa contained in the outcomes of United Nations conferences and summits and in decisions, in addition to the international commitments to Africa by the Group of Eight (G-8), the Group of Twenty (G-20) and other relevant international financial institutions and forums. The second is the allocation of new and additional resources for the continent to help strengthen the development finance channels available to its countries in order to alleviate the added burden imposed on their internal budgets because of the crises facing us all, which hinder the abilities of those countries to achieve those goals. Furthermore, I would like to emphasize that the improvement in development on the continent remains incomplete without affirming and seriously moving forward on reform of the existing deficiencies in the international economic and financial system — a reform that ends the marginalization of the African continent in international economic decision-making and enhances its voice and participation. The status quo, which deprives the countries of the continent of their right to participate actively in the management of the global economic system, cannot continue at a time when that system gravely affects their economic situation. We also cannot agree to establish a new system that reinforces that marginalization instead of addressing it. Therefore, we appreciate the efforts and commitments of the G-20. Egypt believes it is necessary to expand the G-20’s membership in order to make it more representative of the African continent, in parallel with coordinating its efforts with the United Nations system. Undoubtedly, the participation of Ethiopia, as Chair of NEPAD, and of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in meetings of the G-20 constitutes a significant addition, but it is not sufficient. Africa’s representation remains low in that group and needs to be expanded as soon as possible. From another perspective, I would like to point out that international development cooperation with the African continent is premised on the concept of equitable partnership. Accordingly, NEPAD was designed to be a central forum for a global partnership with Africa in the economic and social fields. That partnership requires that each party meet its commitments faithfully and fully. Thanks to the partnership, African countries have taken long strides in various aspects of development. I refer in particular to the establishment and operationalization of the African Peer Review Mechanism — now comprised of 30 countries, including Egypt — which reflects the improvement and progress achieved by the continent in the fields of good governance, human rights and democracy. Africa’s commitment to the three pillars agreed upon in the 2005 summit — development, security and human rights — forms the basis of its achievements and progress. On the other hand, we note the slow pace with which our development partners have implemented their development commitments to the continent, for example, the commitment by the G-8 industrialized countries to reach the goal of doubling aid to Africa by 2010, in addition to numerous commitments in the areas of foreign direct investment, international trade, official development assistance, external debt and other sources of development finance, all of which still need to be implemented immediately. All of those aspects suggest that the first step is to overcome the gap between what was agreed upon and what has been delivered. In this context, we reiterate our call for an international consensus on the establishment of an intergovernmental follow-up mechanism before the end of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly, based on what our leaders agreed to on 22 September 2008. That mechanism would review the implementation of all development commitments related to Africa, assess the fulfilment of each side’s commitments and constitute a comprehensive framework for all existing processes that monitor the implementation of those commitments. Egypt supports the efforts of the United Nations, in coordination with the African Union, to address conflicts in Africa, whether through addressing the causes of conflict and carrying out conflict prevention measures such as early mediation, or by providing support to the political processes in a number of hotbeds of tension. The latter approach has contributed to reaching peaceful settlements in several conflicts, notably the crises in Kenya and Zimbabwe, to restoring constitutional order in Mauritania, and to the efforts to deal with the situations in Madagascar, Guinea and the Horn of Africa, as well as other conflict situations in Africa. From that perspective, Egypt is committed to supporting peacekeeping operations undertaken by the United Nations to promote peace and stability in many African countries. Egyptian participation in several peacekeeping operations on the continent — particularly the significant Egyptian participation in the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, the United Nations Mission in the Sudan and the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — is a manifestation of that commitment. Here, Egypt welcomes the steps undertaken to deepen the level of cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union and among their organs, especially with regard to the United Nations support to building the African Union’s capacity in the areas of mediation, conflict prevention and promotion of human rights, as well as the Organization’s support for the African Union peacekeeping operations established under the mandate of the United Nations. Egypt underlines the importance of enhancing the predictability and sustainability of funding of those operations in accordance with Security Council resolution 1809 (2008) and the statement by the Council President dated 18 March 2009 (S/PRST/2009/3). In this regard, Egypt looks forward to a fruitful discussion during the meeting to be held by the Security Council later in October 2009 on the report of the Secretary-General that was issued in response to that statement (A/64/359), as well as on the Prodi report (A/63/666). Similarly, Egypt looks forward to enhancing the role that the United Nations plays in responding to the situation in Somalia, in order to achieve stability and prepare the ground for the process of reconstruction and development in a way that enables the Transitional Federal Government and the international community to address the repercussions of two decades of chaos, in particular the problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia. Egypt also supports the United Nations peacebuilding efforts in Burundi, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and the Central African Republic through the Peacebuilding Commission, as well as through the Peacebuilding Fund projects that benefit more African countries. Egypt stresses the need to upgrade the level of cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union in peacebuilding, along the lines of the existing cooperation in the fields of peaceful settlement of disputes and peacekeeping. Egypt looks forward to participating actively in the review of the work of the Peacebuilding Commission scheduled for 2010, after the completion this year of the review process for the Peacebuilding Fund. Since the Millennium Summit launched the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa, international efforts have succeeded in increasing the number of malaria-free countries to 93 and have tangibly reduced infection rates in a number of countries. That was a result of programmes implemented through cooperation among the United Nations and its relevant bodies, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector, and of the increase in funding for such programmes. However, the continuance of the disease in 109 countries reaffirms the need for ongoing support to ensure the sustainability of funding in order to cut the mortality rate by half by 2010, with a view to reducing mortality by 75 per cent by 2015. Those facts underline the dire need to support efforts to revamp the infrastructure of the economic, education and health systems in developing countries. Also, the technical knowledge needed to support such efforts and ensure the early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the disease through the participation of all sectors of society must be shared. That approach entails intensifying national awareness campaigns, along with implementing prevention and treatment programmes. At the same time, it also means working to improve health-care systems and to train qualified cadres, a matter that exceeds the capacities of the Governments of many of those countries unless foreign assistance is provided. That is particularly true in Africa, whose countries are overwhelmed by the burden of malaria. In this context we commend the recent declaration issued by donor industrialized countries during the G-8 summit in Italy in 2009, which resulted from Egypt’s recent intensive coordination effort for the allocation of $2 billion to support projects to combat the spread of malaria. Furthermore, Egypt commends the initiative of the President of Tanzania to establish the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, which was launched in New York on 23 September 2009. Those efforts require parallel commitment on the part of the international community to support them at all levels. In addition to national capacity-building, it is imperative to concentrate on enhancing regional capacities to confront the transboundary aspects of malaria. That was one of the motivations of the decision of the African Union Summit in Sirte in 2005, based on an Egyptian initiative to establish an African centre to promote cooperation and share knowledge and expertise in the fight against malaria and to liaise with specialized centres in this field all over the continent. In addition, further enhancement of international efforts is needed. Egypt thus looks forward to the granting of observer status in the General Assembly to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as an additional step towards the strengthening of the existing relationship between the United Nations and the private sector in this arena. It is also imperative to resolve the trade-related aspects of the intellectual property rights to malaria medications and vaccines currently in circulation or being developed. Indeed, the international community must shoulder this responsibility so as to ensure the effectiveness of our efforts to eliminate malaria and avoid risking its spread again if we are to realize our common goals, especially MDG 6, in every State without exception and by the target date.

It is an honour for me to speak on this important agenda item. Indonesia has a historic link with the African continent through the Asia-Africa Bandung Conference of 1955. We therefore welcome the opportunity for the international community to lend its support to the development efforts of the region as embodied in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). I thank the Secretary-General for the progress reports on the implementation of NEPAD (A/64/204) and on the causes of conflict and promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa (A/64/210). Indonesia associates itself with the statements made by the Sudan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and by Thailand on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Secretary-General’s reports in documents A/64/204 and A/64/208 point to several significant developments under NEPAD. The important progress made on several fronts speaks to the unswerving commitment of African leaders to ensure that African priorities are defined and truly owned by Africa. Undeniably, however, like other developing regions, Africa faces emerging and persistent challenges. First, while Africa was far from the epicentre of the economic and financial crisis, its impact has certainly added to the ongoing financial impediments that the continent confronts. Secondly, food security in Africa continues to lag. The food crisis in 2008 drove more people in Africa into poverty. In the meantime, the continent’s population continues to rise. Thirdly, climate change, which is expected to cause prolonged drought, is likely to seriously affect the availability of food. The combination of those problems, together with other development challenges, has slowed Africa’s momentum towards internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Urgent, bold policy measures, with short- and long-term objectives that recognize the interlinked nature of those crises, can contribute to regaining and accelerating momentum towards the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals in Africa. In this context, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme is an important initiative that should be given full support, in view of its important aim of launching a new green revolution in Africa. Furthermore, achieving critical momentum towards development goals also requires effective adaptation to climate change so as to avoid its adverse effects. Africa and other developing countries, however, lack such adaptive capacity. My delegation therefore urges the completion of an ambitious agreement on adaptation in Copenhagen. Permit me to make some brief remarks on sub-item (b) of agenda item 63: causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa. We note from the Secretary- General’s report in document A/64/210 the steady progress that has been made in promoting peace in Africa. Given the advantages that African regional and subregional organizations possess in their potential to influence the prevention and resolution of conflicts, the United Nations should enhance their capacity for capacity-building, preventive diplomacy and peacemaking. Based on our shared and long-standing history with the peoples of Africa, Indonesia renewed its commitment to strengthen cooperation at the 2005 Asia-Africa Summit. That Summit gave rise to the New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership (NAASP), whose implementation is centred on the three pillars of political solidarity, economic cooperation and sociocultural relations. To further the two regions’ mutual commitment, a meeting held in Indonesia on 12 October adopted the Jakarta Statement on the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership. That document is a further measure to strengthen and solidify cooperation between the regions through the implementation of concrete activities and programmes in the NAASP framework. Indonesia also looks forward to the second Asia-Africa Summit, to be held in South Africa next year, representing a major milestone for the two regions. Through this series of events, we hope to fully and effectively implement the eight areas of cooperation under the NAASP: food security, energy security, tourism, small and medium enterprises, counter-terrorism, combating transnational organized crime, the Asian-African Development University Network, and gender equality and women’s empowerment. Indonesia, as the host of the Non-Aligned Movement Training Centre, has also been promoting and enhancing capacity-building in the NAASP areas, as well as in other areas such as health, disaster management and risk reduction. We further encourage the use of the Training Centre as a means to strengthen and promote closer cooperation between the regions of Asia and Africa. Through NEPAD, Africa has taken bold steps to determine and take full control of its destiny. Africa has taken important measures, and the international community needs to fully support its home-grown efforts.

Senegal would like to thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report to the General Assembly on the progress achieved in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) (A/64/204) and for his note on the Decade to Roll Back Malaria on the African continent (A/64/302). We are once again grateful for their quality. I would also like to stress that my delegation associates itself with the declarations made on behalf of the African Group and of the Group of 77 and China. The reports highlight Africa’s efforts to free itself from underdevelopment, but they also present the existing gaps and constraints, including in the area of essential international support. In creating NEPAD in 2001, Africa’s leaders wished to give a new impetus to the response to the continent’s problems by identifying innovative home-grown strategies that would put Africa on the track for development. Beyond recognizing the dire need for an indigenous culture of development, NEPAD remains a vision of a new concept of the nature and direction of Africa’s relations with the rest of the world, which must henceforth be based on the principle of genuine partnership. That reconsideration of what Africa brings to the table of giving and receiving sets out the changes necessary for the arrival of the global New Deal that is so desired. The whole world recognizes that Africa has made significant progress on several fronts during the first eight years of this ambitious development programme. This is true of the progressive transformation the continent has made towards stability, despite some persistent hotbeds of latent or resurgent conflict. This is also true of the strengthened governance and transparency and increasing democratization of African society, as it is true of the promotion of gender and human rights issues. This positive picture cannot hide the harsh and bitter reality of a continent where serious food, economic and financial crises continue to cause persistent insurmountable difficulties seriously compromising Africa’s future. If it is indeed true that the crises affect all developing and developed countries, it is no less true that Africa has been hit particularly hard by this alarming situation because of its vulnerability. Figures speak for themselves here. Out of more than 920 million people — 60 per cent of whom are under 25 years of age — more than two fifths live under the poverty threshold. There are between 21 million and 23 million people infected with HIV/AIDS, with an additional 1.7 million infected each year. There are alarming health indicators with regard to high infant and maternal mortality rates and 90 per cent of the deaths due to malaria on the planet occur in Africa. In 2009 the growth rate fell to 0.9 per cent, whereas it was at 6 per cent between 2004 and 2008. More worrying and even more serious are the frightening statistics on the status of food worldwide. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, more than 1 billion people suffer from hunger and nearly one third of them — 300 million — are in Africa. Given this complex international environment the challenges facing Africa have only continued to increase, placing it today at a crossroad when it comes to implementing NEPAD sectoral priorities and achieving African development. It is easy to imagine the magnitude of the task, in particular when, in addition to the current crises, there are other nearly insurmountable obstacles — disasters which shake our economies almost daily — further distancing us from the signs of a possible recovery. Here I refer in particular to the absence of any outcome of the Doha trade negotiations, which were supposed to give momentum to the exports of the countries of the South. It is clear that without limits on the agricultural subsidies which so severely distort free trade, the frontiers of poverty will not be pushed back. I also refer to the crushing burden of debt and weakened foreign direct investment (FDI), both of which cast dark shadows over prospects for economic growth. Lastly, I refer to the unfair and unjustifiable situation affecting many African countries due to the untimely and uncontrolled fluctuations in the price of oil. Even if development aid, debt cancellation or free trade remain valuable for the countries of the South, particularly those in Africa, they will only be of limited impact in the current situation without further specific measures to correct the detrimental effects of the constraints. Here I welcome the joint initiative of NEPAD and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which aims to bring the level of FDI to $60 billion, as intended by the OECD, to foster investment, promote lasting growth, create employment and reduce poverty. The Group of 20 has also announced helpful measures, in particular with regard to Africa, in reaffirming its resolve to attain the MDGs and to meet its aid commitments. Among these measures is the commitment to provide $50 billion per annum for social welfare, to foster trade and to maintain development in low-income countries. Despite these efforts by our partners, a real deficit of appropriate international support remains. But that is not the only obstacle in the path of Africa’s economic resurgence. The failure to integrate NEPAD’s priorities with the actions of the United Nations system of organizations is another situation deserving criticism. These bodies must act effectively and in a manner that fits with the development model established by NEPAD in accordance with resolution 57/7. This is an urgent and indispensable matter. I cannot conclude without expressing Senegal’s support for the Secretary-General’s recommendations on the implementation of prudent borrowing policies with improved management of foreign debt in order to attenuate the socio-economic impact of the current crisis, and on the Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System, which is designed to react in a coordinated manner to crises in order to mitigate their effects. Sustainable development in Africa can be achieved only with the establishment of lasting peace and stability. Aware as it is of this, my country has spared no effort to provide its good offices in several conflict situations in West Africa and we are pleased today to see our brothers in Mauritania and Guinea- Bissau return to a climate of peace, fostering economic and social development. This is the same ideal of peace and fraternity that my country hopes to see prevail in our sister Republic of Guinea so that this country, so dear to mine, can once again be set on the path to peace, stability and development so fervently desired by its great people. The same must be true of Somalia, plunged into interminable chaos; Madagascar whose stability has been so severely shaken, as well as for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Darfur, where we are participating in peacekeeping operations. The international community must therefore remain vigilant and attentive to all these situations so that lasting peace can be established definitively in these countries and regions of our continent. International action is also absolutely necessary to halt the devastating malaria pandemic which claims so many victims every year in Africa — more than 1 million — and causes enormous losses in the continent’s gross national income, estimated at more than $12 billion. African efforts must be further supported with greater mobilization of resources, in particular through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and implementation of the quick impact initiatives agreed upon at the 2005 World Summit. In concluding, I would like to recall that NEPAD provides the world a unique and effective framework for implementing a partnership for development for the benefit of Africa. We hope that the international community and the United Nations system will be able to lend further support to the realization of the ambitious hope that NEPAD holds for the leaders of Africa, which is to propel Africa on the upward path to development and prosperity.

In the context of this important meeting, I would like to address one key element to which we are pleased to make a special contribution. For many years, the United States has been committed to the prevention and treatment of malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and we remain determined to combat those diseases worldwide, as part of our commitment to attain the Millennium Development Goals. The United States Government’s commitment to fight malaria is a key component of our foreign assistance strategy. We have worked in close collaboration with host countries, other donors, non-governmental, faith-based and community organizations, the private sector and the United Nations. The United States Government’s assistance in the fight against malaria and in the wider health sector in developing countries has helped bring about unprecedented improvements in public health. To strengthen those efforts, President Obama has announced a six-year, $63 billion global health initiative that will allow the United States Government to continue to lead in the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. We will do so while focusing increasing attention on strengthening health systems and broaching broader health challenges, including child and maternal health, family planning and neglected tropical diseases. Malaria is one of the major causes of illness and death among children under the age of five in Africa and adversely affects productivity among all age groups. Malaria places a tremendous burden on national health systems as well as individual families. Economists estimate that malaria accounts for approximately 40 per cent of public health expenditures in Africa and annual economic costs of 1.3 per cent of the continent’s gross domestic product. The United States is a major supporter of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and a portion of those United States contributions support malaria programmes through the President’s Malaria Initiative. The United States is helping 15 high-burden countries in Africa to scale up effective malaria prevention and treatment interventions, in the form of insecticide, treated mosquito nets, combination treatments, indoor residual spraying with insecticides and preventive treatment of pregnant women. In close cooperation with host countries and other development partners, we are seeking major reductions in the number of people infected with malaria in Rwanda, Zambia and Zanzibar. Declines at the district level have also been reported from Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. These achievements have been associated with substantially reduced mortality rates of children under the age of five in both Rwanda and Zambia. During the first three years of implementation, the United States reached more than 32 million people with malaria prevention or treatment measures. In 2008, we procured more than 6.4 million long-lasting insecticide-treated nets for free distribution to pregnant women and young children and a total of 15.6 million artemisinin-based combination treatments. Indoor residual spraying activities covered 6 million houses and protected nearly 25 million people at risk of malaria. In addition, the President’s Malaria Initiative supported a broad range of programmes to strengthen health systems and health education in host countries. By reducing the burden of malaria in highly endemic countries, where the disease is a leading child killer and often accounts for 30 to 40 per cent of outpatient visits and hospital admissions, our assistance through the Malaria Initiative allows critical resources and overstretched health workers to concentrate on controlling other childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea and pneumonia. In addition to the 15 focus countries, the United States has anti-malaria programmes in four non-focus countries and two regional platforms — the Amazon Malaria Initiative, covering eight countries making up the Amazon Basin of South America, and the Mekong Malaria Programme, covering five countries, plus the Yunnan Province of China, in the Greater Mekong subregion of South-East Asia. To conclude, I would like to note that while the United States Government has had significant anti-malaria programmes for years, the current focus and funding is unprecedented. The President’s Malaria Initiative represents a historic $1.2 billion, five-year expansion of United States Government resources to fight malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, the region most affected by the disease. The goal of this initiative is to reduce malaria-related deaths by 50 per cent in the 15 African countries with high burdens of the malady — leading to the possibility of a better life for those spared the ravages of this dread disease.

Cuba wholeheartedly endorses the statement made on this important item by the delegation of the Sudan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Today, 20 October, our country celebrates Cuban Culture Day. On today’s date in 1868, in the city of Bayamo, which had recently been taken by rebel troops, the Bayamesa — Bayamo’s song — was sung for the first time in Cuba. This marching song became our national anthem. Barely 10 days after the start of our First War of Independence, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, the father of our country, set his slaves free. This was one of the most significant acts of justice in the early history of our country. The historical bonds between Cuba and Africa go back five centuries, when over 1.3 million African slaves arrived on our soil. It is not possible to grasp the cultural and political history of the Cuban archipelago without taking into account the African stamp on our genes and social life. Before the revolutionary triumph in 1959, the neocolonial political elites in Cuba, controlled by foreign capital interests, did very little to allow Africa to take its rightful place in our society. Only the zeal of the Cuban Revolution to build a new society gave validation to what our national poet Nicolás Guillén called our Cuban colour, giving expression in that image to what we are and what we aspire to be. Africa is an inseparable part of our existence, of our island ethos. For Cubans, Africa is an extension of our homeland. The National Museum of the Slave Route is located in the San Severino Castle, in the city of Matanzas. Inaugurated this past June, it perpetuates the memory of the rebel spirit of African ethnic groups like Lucumis, Carabalis, Congos, Gangas, Mandingas, Minas, Bibis and Yorubas who, after being dragged from their homelands, refused to allow their destiny to be decided by the colonizers of that time. Therefore, no one should be surprised at our coming here today to proclaim with just pride that the Cuban people has directly and naturally inherited the gallantry, bravery, and culture of the African resistance, which has been heroically struggling for centuries to overcome challenges that still exist today. Very shortly after the triumph of the revolution, Cuba began modestly repaying its huge debt to those hundreds of thousands of African slaves who made Cuba their homeland and dedicated their lives to its independence. The profound internationalist ideals of the Cuban revolution have enabled our country to stand firmly at Africa’s side with unconditional support for matters ranging from anti-colonialist struggles to cooperation projects in many fields for the economic and social development of the continent. More than 381,000 Cuban soldiers and officials fought unselfishly to defend the integrity and sovereignty of our brotherly African nations over a period of almost three decades. And from Africa we brought back only the remains of our dead comrades and the honour of having accomplished our duty. Today, more than 2,400 Cubans provide services in 35 African nations with a view to promoting development in areas as diverse as public health, education, agriculture, sports, construction and others. As in the past, Cuba will continue contributing its human capital and experience in collaboration with many countries of the continent. Today as part of the Comprehensive Health Care Programme alone, more than 1,120 Cuban medical doctors and health technicians work in 23 African countries, providing services to a population of over 48 million people. At present, more than 2,200 youths from 45 African countries are studying in our universities and polytechnic institutes. To date, over 32,000 young people from the continent have graduated in various specialities. For its part, Africa has always stood by Cuba’s side. During more than 50 years of an unjust and cruel economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba, African Governments and peoples have closed ranks 17 times at the United Nations General Assembly to demand the right of the Cuban people to decide their destiny. We are confident they will do so once again on 28 October in this very Hall. Likewise, Africa demonstrated its strong bonds of solidarity with the Cuban people after the country was lashed by devastating hurricanes in 2008. Once again, we express our thanks for the moral and material support we received from our African brothers and sisters in such difficult circumstances. The need for Africa’s development will not be met by the rhetorical lamentations of powerful people or by the repeated review of statistics referring to various calamities. Inevitably, there must be a change in the current international system — a system that plunges 80 per cent of the world’s population into poverty, while the remaining 20 per cent of that population, living in the rich countries, squanders the world’s resources. It is that same system that requires African countries to continue spending five times more of their resources in servicing a shocking foreign debt than on health and education programmes. It is that same system where powerful multinationals strive to control African mineral resources; where, with a few exceptions, rich countries fail to comply with the humble commitments of official development assistance and where an unjust regime of patents and trade prevents the development of African nations. To address African problems, we must at all costs rid ourselves of the philosophy of profit that underpins the current international order. Our country will continue to support the African Union and all of the regional coordination mechanisms in their efforts to find their own solutions to African problems. However, Africa also needs the determined support of the international community. Africa needs an integrated approach from the United Nations to solve all problems related to peace, security and development on the continent. To conclude, I wish to emphasize that Cuba advocates a more just, equitable and peaceful international order. That is the only requirement for Africa and the rest of the developing nations to face the challenges of working for the well-being of our peoples without confronting absurd obstacles. We do not call for a paternalistic approach to Africa, but rather equal opportunities. Africa requires and deserves, first and foremost solidarity and respect. Our African brothers and sisters can always count on the unwavering solidarity and unconditional support of Cuba.

It is my great pleasure and honour to address the Assembly today to discuss the important agenda items relating to African development. Before I begin, I wish to thank the Secretary-General and his staff for their diligent work in consolidating the reports we have received. Also, let me congratulate the integration of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development into the African Union. African development is one of the most urgent priorities for the world today and for the United Nations. At the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) held in May 2008, we heard the voices of Africa’s leaders, and now it is time for us to explain how we have responded to those voices. Japan pledged at TICAD IV to double its official development assistance (ODA) to Africa, to proactively and flexibly provide up to $4 billion in soft loans and to work to double Japanese private investment to Africa over the following five years. In implementing its commitments, the Government of Japan established a TICAD Follow-up Mechanism as a framework for monitoring implementation of the Yokohama Action Plan and putting it into practice. Last March, the TICAD Ministerial Follow-up Meeting was held in Botswana to review and assess TICAD-related activities, and recommendations were made to accelerate implementation of the Action Plan. Japanese ODA to Africa covers a wide range of sectors, including infrastructure, agriculture, trade and investment, community development, health care, education, water and combating climate change. These areas correspond to the key sectoral priorities of NEPAD and reflect the genuine needs of Africa. For example, food security in Africa is an important issue. On the occasion of TICAD IV, the Japan International Cooperation Agency launched the Coalition for African Rice Development initiative in partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to support the efforts of African countries to increase rice production. The initiative has already been activated in 12 African countries. On the occasion of the general debate, Japan hosted a side event entitled “Promoting Responsible International Investment in Agriculture”, along with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Bank. Participants shared the view that responsible investment in agriculture will harmonize and maximize the interests of receiving countries, local communities and investors. This meeting marked the first step towards developing principles and an international framework to promote such investment. Furthermore, as an important pillar of the TICAD IV follow-up, public- private partnerships are being actively promoted with a view to improving the investment climate in Africa. At TICAD IV, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) announced it would provide up to $2.5 billion over five years to encourage Japanese private sector investment in Africa. By September this year, the disbursement of $1.2 billion had been approved. The JBIC Facility for African Investment was established in April this year with a view to supporting Japanese firms to engage in business development in Africa by offering them equity investments, guarantees and local currency financing. In addition, $300 million in soft loans has been extended to the African Development Bank to assist the private sector in African countries. Another example of public-private partnership is the fifth Africa-Asia Business Forum, which Japan co-organized in collaboration with the Government of Uganda and relevant United Nations agencies in Kampala in June this year. The Forum focused on the theme of forging business linkages for sustainable tourism development in Africa. Over 250 participants from more than 30 countries, including representatives from government, business, civil society and international organizations participated in this event. In promoting cooperation between Africa and Japan, we fully respect local leadership, ownership and partnership, as enshrined in the core principles and values of NEPAD. We regard these principles as essential to the promotion of sustainable development in Africa. The concept of human security needs to be taken into consideration in the implementation of policy measures aiming to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in order to ensure that the desired accelerated growth will benefit and empower individuals and communities and not aggravate social and economic disparities. As Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama stated at the General Assembly last month, Japan intends to redouble its efforts towards the achievement of the MDGs and the promotion of human security in Africa. The Government of Japan is pleased to see the Secretary-General’s note on the 2001-2010 Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa (A/64/302). My delegation is also pleased to learn about malaria control achievements in Africa last year, particularly in five specific African countries — Eritrea, the Gambia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and Zambia. These countries are approaching or have reached the 2010 World Health Organization World Health Assembly and Roll Back Malaria Partnership morbidity and mortality reduction impact target of 50 per cent or greater. We note, however, that, although we have seen many improvements, most countries have not yet achieved universal coverage with insecticide-treated nets and other malaria control interventions. The Government of Japan, as a major donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, renews its commitment to international cooperation on malaria control. In conclusion, my delegation would like to reaffirm Japan’s long-term commitment and contribution to the development of Africa as a continent of hope and opportunity. Programme of work The Acting President: I should like to draw the attention of the General Assembly to document A/INF/64/3/Rev.1, which contains the revised programme of work of the Assembly and schedule of plenary meetings for the period 15 October to 15 December 2009, and which was issued on Monday, 12 October 2009. Concerning agenda item 110 (b) on the election of members of the Economic and Social Council that is scheduled to take place on Monday, 26 October 2009, I should like to draw the attention of members to a letter dated 16 October 2009 and circulated in document A/64/493 from the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in his capacity as Chair of the Group of Western European and Other States. In this regard, I should like to inform members that on Monday, 26 October, the General Assembly will first conduct a by-election to fill the four vacancies of the Western European and other Group, and then proceed to the election of 18 members of the Economic and Social Council. Members are also informed that, at the request of the sponsors, consideration of agenda item 46, “Global road safety crisis”, scheduled for Tuesday, 27 October 2009, has been postponed to a later date to be announced. Finally, I should also like to remind members that the lists of speakers for items listed in document A/INF/64/3/Rev.1 are open.