A/65/PV.30 General Assembly

The General Committee further decided to recommend that the item be allocated to the plenary and to the First Committee, on the understanding that, in the plenary, the Assembly would hold the debate on the item and the First Committee would consider any proposals on the item. May I take it that the General Assembly decides to allocate this item to the plenary and to the First Committee, on the understanding that, in the plenary, the Assembly will hold the debate on the item and the First Committee will consider any proposals on the item? It was so decided.

The item entitled “Follow-up to the high-level meeting held on 24 September 2010; revitalizing the work of the Conference on Disarmament and taking forward multilateral disarmament negotiations” becomes item 162 on the agenda of the current session. The Chairman of the First Committee will be informed of the decision just taken by the General Assembly. The General Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of the second report of the General Committee.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The candidate countries Turkey, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; the countries of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro; as well as the Republic of Moldova, align themselves with this statement. Despite many unresolved challenges in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Africa has over recent years demonstrated impressive progress in the areas of peace, political governance and economic growth. But Africa, like no other continent, remains heavily affected by the challenges of food security and climate change. The Joint Africa-European Union Strategy agreed in 2007 forms the basis of our steadily expanding cooperation. The upcoming third Africa-European Union Summit, to be held in Libya on 29 and 30 November, will build on the political framework provided by the Joint Africa-European Union Strategy and add fresh impetus to our future cooperation. A basic premise of the European Union’s partnership with Africa is the continent’s responsibility for its own development. Similarly, this is the core principle of the African Union’s socio economic programme. Support from the international community must be aimed at helping African institutions and African countries develop their capacities to promote continental, regional and national projects and to mobilize the necessary resources for the priorities identified. Our aim is to support Africa’s own political and economic integration agenda, through regional trade and political partnership, and to strengthen the links between regional economic communities. The European Union recognizes the added value of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) in the definition of continental projects and as monitor of commitments towards African development needs, including in such areas as governance and agriculture, where NEPAD has taken the lead with the African Peer Review Mechanism and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. In this context, we welcome the recent embedding of the NEPAD programme within the structure of the African Union and its Commission. The promotion of democratic and transparent systems of government and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are key components of the Joint Africa-European Union Strategy. The aim of the partnership in this area is to facilitate an open, broad- based dialogue on all pertinent issues, including human rights and the full enjoyment of such rights by all women, men and children. Democracy and democratic governance must form part of this dialogue, too. Within the framework of this partnership, the European Union will soon launch with our African partners a joint platform for dialogue on governance, to strengthen the Africa-European Union dialogue on a number of key issues regarding democratic governance and human rights. Here, one issue that I would like to draw particular attention to is the situation of women in Africa. Women’s rights and opportunities are fundamental for peacebuilding, economic growth, development and well-being, and there are now a number of continental initiatives under way to do something with more impact in these areas, including the ongoing Africa-UNiTE campaign to end violence against women and girls. As part of our commitment to a strong partnership for development in Africa, the European Union recently reaffirmed its commitments to reach a collective official development assistance target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income by 2015, channelling at least 50 per cent of its collective aid increases to Africa. The European Union also continues to work on improving coherence among EU policies in the areas of resource mobilization and more effective development assistance. Trade is a 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 needs to be improved. A successful conclusion of the Doha Round is crucial and remains a top priority for the European Union. The ability to seize the business opportunities that international trade offers also needs to be enhanced. Health in Africa remains another major challenge for us all. Africa continues to face a huge burden of potentially preventable and treatable diseases, which cause avertable deaths and untold suffering, while blocking economic development and damaging the continent’s social fabric. We know that malaria — alongside other diseases such as HIV/AIDS — inflicts a heavy burden on Africa. But, as the World Health Organization (WHO) report transmitted by the Secretary-General notes, significant progress has been made in the global fight against malaria in recent years, including in Africa. Countries such as Rwanda, Eritrea and Zambia have shown how long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets, effective artemisinin-based treatment and indoor spraying with insecticide can achieve impressive results. A clear focus on effective interventions, adequate funding and political determination has proved to be successful. However, as the WHO report also notes, significant financial gaps remain despite financial commitments to malaria control increasing fivefold over the period 2003-2009, with a particularly large increase last year. As the world’s largest donor both in general and in the health sector in particular, the European Union will continue to lead the global efforts to sustain financial commitments in response to malaria, and will work through national Governments, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the United Nations system and other relevant organizations and mechanisms, including non-governmental organizations. In this regard, the European Union welcomes the $11.7 billion raised through the Global Fund replenishment conference for the next three years, with the European Union and its member States representing over 30 per cent of this commitment. Combating diseases such as malaria, through strengthened national health systems, will, in our view, be one of the most effective ways to alleviate poverty and promote equitable and sustainable economic progress. We need to further invest in the health workforce and build capacity for prevention, treatment and care, which will also help us accelerate progress towards achievement of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4, concerning child health, MDG 5, concerning maternal health, and MDG 6, concerning combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The European Union continues to work closely with African Governments to enable them to fulfil their commitment to allocate 15 per cent of State budgets to health, in line with the 2001 Abuja Declaration. To conclude, the European Union is fully committed to supporting African countries and their peoples in their quest for peace, democratic governance and human rights and sustainable development. Partnership in these fields is a contribution to peace and stability in Africa, too, because it addresses the root causes of conflict. The European Union will continue to support the positive developments of the last decade. Despite slow progress in many areas, the recent High-level Meeting on the MDGs showed us that achieving the MDGs in Africa is possible if we accelerate our efforts for the final stretch leading up to 2015.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 (G-77) and China on agenda item 62. The year 2010 has been a remarkable one for the African Union (AU) and its New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). It will be recalled that extensive efforts to integrate NEPAD into the structures and processes of the AU finally culminated in the decision of the fourteenth AU summit, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to formally establish the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency as a technical body of the African Union. As mandated by the African Union Assembly decision, the Agency’s role as a planning unit will be to aim to facilitate and coordinate implementation of continental and regional programmes, and mobilize resources for the implementation of Africa’s priority programmes and projects. The Agency’s role in conducting and coordinating research and knowledge management will be to create an enabling environment to achieve food security and agricultural development in the next five years. We have had the opportunity this year to reflect on the situation and challenges of the African continent. The High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), held from 20 to 22 September, was one such occasion, when the Group of 77 and China stressed the need for the international community to be “fully committed to assisting those countries that are lagging behind, especially the least developed countries, the landlocked developing countries and the small island developing States, as well as Africa.” (A/65/PV.4, p. 55) In their thirty-fourth Ministerial Declaration, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the member States of the Group of 77 and China recognized the special needs of Africa, and called for the full and timely implementation of all commitments so as to enable African countries to achieve the MDGs by 2015. The Ministers further recalled the commitment of all States to establish a monitoring mechanism to follow up on all commitments by the international community related to the development of Africa, as contained in the political declaration on Africa’s development needs, and stressed that all commitments to Africa should be effectively implemented and given appropriate follow-up by the international community and Africa itself. The Ministers underlined the importance of accelerating sustainable broad-based economic growth, which is pivotal to bringing Africa into the mainstream of the global economy. To that end, they underscored the urgent need to address the special needs of Africa based on a partnership among equals, and underlined the need to provide new additional resources, technology transfer and capacity-building to African countries, and to support their sustainable development. Today, five years from 2015, the target date for achieving the MDGs, Africa unfortunately remains the only continent not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by that target date. The financial and economic crisis had tremendous negative effects on African economies, increasing the level of poverty and unemployment on the continent as well as reversing the progress African countries have made in recent years. The global financial and economic crises had a profound adverse impact on African development. The poor African countries, with their high dependence on agricultural commodity exports, are among the most adversely impacted by the failure of the global trade negotiations and the continued application of massive subsidies by developed countries. This situation obviously entails further strengthening and enhancement of the global partnership for development, and vigorous implementation of all development commitments without any further delay, in particular implementation of the promises that have been made in support of Africa. Today, inadequacy of resources is widely seen as the main constraint on African development. Despite serious, sincere and consistent efforts by the African countries to implement NEPAD, Africa is still far from realizing the levels of support required under the Partnership. If we are to succeed in eradicating poverty and hunger in Africa, urgent and concerted action by developed countries and the international community is needed. African countries have taken concrete steps to implement the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, through the development of sectoral policy frameworks, the design of specific projects and the establishment of expenditure targets in NEPAD priority areas. 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. These efforts require an enabling national and international environment conducive to growth and development with the participation of the multi-stakeholders. In the 2010 world summit outcome document the heads of State and Government said: “more attention should be given to Africa, especially those countries most off track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Progress has been made in some African countries, but the situation in others remains a grave concern, not least because the continent is among the hardest hit by the financial and economic crisis. … However, [aid] still lags behind the commitments that have been made. We therefore strongly call for the delivery of those commitments.” (resolution 65/1, para. 33) Those commitments include doubling aid to Africa. The Group of 77 and China are of the view that resources must be mobilized for African States, the regional economic communities and the African Union in order to support efforts to achieve the MDGs within the framework of national development programmes and to implement NEPAD. We have taken note of the outcome document of the MDGs summit, and look forward to the urgent implementation of the commitments that were stated. In this regard, the Group of 77 and China once again reiterate the urgent need to establish a monitoring mechanism to follow up on all commitments related to the development of Africa, as contained in the review process of the political declaration on Africa’s development needs (resolution 63/1) and as recommended in the Secretary-General’s report. In our view, the process will be under the auspices of the General Assembly. The implementation of the commitments of African Governments and their development partners will be reviewed, beginning at the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly. Progress towards sustaining development in Africa requires, among other things, writing off the insupportable debt of African countries by both bilateral and multilateral donors. Reaching the target of reducing poverty in half by 2015 would require a growth rate, on average, of 7 per cent 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. We emphasize the imperative need for increased official development assistance, which, of course, needs to be combined with a set of other policy measures to advance developing countries in Africa. 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. In this regard, the G-77 and China strongly call for strengthened 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. Finally, the Group is pleased that United Nations agencies have organized themselves into various clusters in line with NEPAD priority areas as a way to increase coordination and cooperation in their work related to NEPAD. Additionally, a number of these agencies play a critical role in supporting the work of NEPAD, especially in areas such as agriculture, trade and market access, infrastructure development, science and technology, among others. We welcome the United Nations present support for Africa, but we call on the United Nations to mainstream NEPAD into its normative and operational activities.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in this debate on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). CARICOM welcomes this opportunity to renew solidarity with the cause of peace and development for the people of Africa. The people of the Caribbean are linked to our brothers and sisters in Africa by age-old bonds of history and culture, by common struggles and shared aspirations. Our Community maintains an abiding interest in the quest of the African people for socio-economic transformation and the consolidation of durable peace. Africa, the ancient home of man, is now emerging as a new frontier of development and human progress. Its nearly 1 billion people deserve the opportunity to fully realize the aspirations they share with all humanity to fulfil the promise of their potential in conditions of peace and stability, free from fear and from want. Many of these aspirations find expression in the New Partnership, which represents a collective vision and a strategic framework for socio-economic development in Africa. The support of CARICOM for NEPAD is guided by a fundamental respect for Africa’s ownership and leadership of its own development process. This we view as a key principle for development effectiveness and cooperation. The Caribbean Community is pleased to note that the story of Africa is increasingly one of promise. Nevertheless, the continent faces the greatest risk in all the developing world of falling short in achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Based on current data, despite increased economic growth since 2000, there has not been commensurate progress by Africa towards attainment of the MDGs, and the region is acknowledged as being the most off-track in this regard. Africa will therefore necessarily remain a key focus for development efforts over the next five years. Africa is also the locus of the major part of United Nations peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts. Indeed, the quest for durable peace continues to require the most patient and active engagement so that the spectre of conflict and division will yield to a new paradigm where the vast resources of this great people are used to serve their welfare, and to lay the foundations for enduring progress. The prospects for such an outcome have improved in recent times. CARICOM is heartened by the successes recorded in recent years in United Nations peacekeeping on African soil. We are encouraged that more African countries have emerged, or are emerging, from conflict, though recovery in some instances is fragile and the risk of relapse is still very present. This brings into obvious relief the importance of United Nations peacebuilding efforts and renders imperative the creation of the necessary conditions both within and outside the continent for those efforts to have the best chance of success. In many ways, therefore, Africa represents a beacon of opportunity for cooperation and partnership. The Caribbean Community stands ready to play its part as a partner with Africa in the advancement of our mutual objectives. Even as we speak, CARICOM collaboration with Africa finds expression in the political, economic, social, environmental and cultural domains, and in forums such as the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the Alliance of Small Island States, the Group of 77, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth, and indeed in the United Nations. CARICOM shares with Africa a commitment to deepening regional integration in the context of a challenging global environment. Our two regions have been responding to several of the challenges that have emerged in the process of strengthening integration. This endeavour has made it necessary that more appropriate structures for regional governance be put in place. Africa and the Caribbean face a number of other challenges in common, not least in the area of health. The scourge of HIV/AIDS has had a major impact on our respective populations. Africa and the Caribbean respectively have the first and second highest incidences of HIV infections globally. This unwelcome reality nevertheless provides an opportunity for collaboration and the exchange of experience and best practice. CARICOM stands ready to learn from our African counterparts and to share our own experience in this vital area. For its part, the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS has been identified by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS as best practice in regard to a regional response to the pandemic. Africa continues to grapple with other challenges in the area of health, notably relating to malaria and maternal and child health. Overcoming those challenges will be an important catalyst for Africa’s future progress. Our region is grateful for the support extended by African countries to the CARICOM initiative on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Available data establish this as an area of present and growing concern, not only in Africa and the Caribbean, but also in other regions of the world. Indeed, it is a situation that warrants the immediate and concerted attention of the international community. CARICOM also welcomes the Declaration of the Assembly of the African Union on the situation in the Republic of Haiti, adopted during the Assembly’s fourteenth ordinary session, following the devastating earthquake that struck our sister CARICOM country in January this year. We take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the active solidarity and financial and material support extended by African countries to Haiti. CARICOM takes note of the agreement of African leaders to focus policy interventions on the priority areas of agriculture and food security, transport and energy development, and climate change. The development of agriculture is critical to Africa’s development prospects. CARICOM strongly supports and encourages the work currently under way to promote an African green revolution. We welcome the commitment of African leaders to institute new measures to ensure that within five years Africa can produce enough food to feed its people. We urge the international community to continue and strengthen its support for Africa’s efforts to realize those objectives. CARICOM and Africa share a vital interest in addressing the challenge posed by climate change. The need for an ambitious and comprehensive global response is especially urgent for the many countries in Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific and elsewhere that are on the front lines of this looming catastrophe. We call for an urgent scaling up of international action to ensure a credible response to this threat and for speedy delivery on fast-start financing. CARICOM is ever mindful of the complex interrelationships between governance, peace and development. We support ongoing efforts by African countries to improve economic and political governance, and to strengthen mechanisms for participation, inclusion and empowerment of all segments of African society in the political and development processes on the continent. We acknowledge the role of the African Peer Review Mechanism as an instrument for advancing good governance in Africa, and note that an increasing number of African countries now subscribe to the Mechanism. 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. The continued support of the international community remains vital as Africa charts its way forward. In this regard, CARICOM encourages intensified international efforts to support the development of Africa. We take note of the Secretary- General’s report on a monitoring mechanism to review commitments towards Africa’s development needs. We anticipate early agreement on such a mechanism, in keeping with resolution 64/258, in order to encourage the implementation of the commitments, promotion of partnership and mutual accountability, the fulfilment of pledges of development assistance, and the enhancement of aid effectiveness. In closing, I note that in 2011 the international community will mark the International Year for People of African Descent, with a view to strengthening national actions and regional and international cooperation for the benefit of people of African descent. We believe that this observance can make an important contribution to a paradigm shift that engenders greater Afro-optimism and help to realize what Mr. Bingu Wa Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi and Chairperson of the African Union, has described as the “Africa of the new beginning”.

I have the honour and privilege to address the General Assembly on behalf of the 10 member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. ASEAN aligns itself with the statement made by the representative of Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. We wish to thank the Secretary-General for his insight and his comprehensive reports under agenda item 62, “New Partnership for Africa’s Development: progress in implementation and international support”. ASEAN attaches great importance to friendship and cooperation with Africa. Through the decades, the relationships between ASEAN and African countries have been consolidated and enhanced in a spirit of solidarity, close cooperation, and mutual respect. Through cooperation, both regions have experienced significant changes and development for the benefit of their peoples. ASEAN strongly supports the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and considers it an important tool to address poverty and underdevelopment throughout the African continent. NEPAD has provided a collective vision and a strategic socio economic development framework for Africa. It is a home-grown effort of the African continent to implement a comprehensive and holistic approach to development. ASEAN welcomes the significant progress made through the efforts of African peoples and leaders towards some sectoral priorities of NEPAD and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), such as education, health, infrastructure, and agriculture. Such progress shows the determination of Africa to promote sustainable growth and achieve the MDGs, even in the face of tremendous challenges. It has certainly helped to change the image of Africa. Despite the valiant efforts, however, the hard-won progress has still not reached expected levels. Africa’s efforts should be continuously encouraged and supported. As emphasized in the Secretary-General’s reports, most African countries face serious challenges in reaching the MDGs, particularly in the current fragile and uncertain global economic recovery. ASEAN acknowledges that much needs to be done in support of Africa’s implementation with regard to NEPAD and the MDGs. Continued attention to, and assistance for, Africa should remain a focus of international development action plans and programmes. In that regard, ASEAN reaffirms its commitment to strengthen its cooperation and collaboration with Africa. We are ready to enhance the relationship and partnership with Africa for the achievement of the MDGs and sustainable development. We believe that, through mutual support, sharing of experiences and best practices in socio economic development, both ASEAN and Africa can achieve those objectives. ASEAN has been doing its utmost to promote South-South cooperation with African partners as a complement to North-South cooperation in promoting trade, infrastructure, agriculture, food security, communication and health care in Africa. ASEAN has also been working hard to explore and implement concrete steps to ensure successes for both ASEAN and Africa. We believe that South-South cooperation is the best strategy to promote an ASEAN and African partnership. South-South cooperation in key strategic areas such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme would significantly contribute to Africa’s development and integration, in terms of the eradication of poverty and hunger, agriculture and rural development, as well as mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change. Within the context of scaling up efforts in implementing NEPAD and achieving the MDGs, Africa has a daunting task. It has to maintain peace, security and a politically stable environment. Meanwhile, there are also the important tasks of consolidating development strategies; strengthening leadership and ownership; enhancing capacity-development; mobilizing more resources at national and international levels; and developing strategic partnerships. In that connection, the recent integration of NEPAD into the structures and processes of the African Union, and the establishment of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA), mark a significant stage in NEPAD’s implementation. It is a good way to facilitate and improve the management and coordination of the implementation of Africa’s regional and continental priority programmes and projects, promising better outcomes of Africa’s development process. However, NEPAD and NPCA need adequate human and financial resources to meet their objectives. Developed partners need to do more in response to their needs. Meeting international commitments, particularly on the essential issues, includes increasing official development assistance flows to Africa, especially implementing the promises by the Group of Eight at Gleneagles and Canada to double aid to Africa by 2010, and mobilizing an additional fund of $5 billion over the next five years to achieve the MDGs; facilitating foreign direct investment flow to Africa and improving investment climates, particularly for investments in infrastructure, agriculture, rural development and food security; and promoting trade with Africa by implementing Aid for Trade programmes and commitments. More efforts need to be made to reach agreement in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization trade negotiations, especially on agricultural market access and reduction of agricultural subsidies, which have profound implications for Africa. That having been said, ASEAN fully supports the conclusion and recommendations of the Secretary- General in his reports regarding proper ways and means to scale up the implementation of NEPAD and build on the momentum of international support for Africa’s development. In addition, we also support the recommended establishment of a review process as a mechanism to monitor commitments to Africa’s development. ASEAN welcomes every positive initiative to advance the common development agenda between ASEAN and Africa for the benefit of our peoples. We stand ready to strengthen cooperation, collaboration and solidarity with the international community, particularly with Africa, to realize the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs. We are confident that Africa can carry out NEPAD for the peace, security, prosperity and sustainable development of Africa and the world.

At the outset, I have the pleasure of aligning myself with the statement made by the representative of Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and with that to be made by Malawi on behalf of the African Group. Our meeting today comes less than a month after the High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), whose outcome document (resolution 65/1) emphasized the urgent need to address the special development needs of Africa, the continent lagging behind the most in reaching the internationally agreed development goals, particularly the MDGs. The meeting also underlined the unfulfilled commitments and the urgent need to bridge the delivery gap that is shadowing their fulfilment. The adverse impact of the world financial and economic crisis on the developing countries, particularly in Africa, has affected the efforts of African countries to achieve the internationally agreed development goals. That is due to the negative consequences of the crisis for export earnings, remittances and foreign direct investment, as well as for the ability of the African countries to pay their debts. In the meantime, the crisis has revealed the resolve of African countries to address the repercussions of the crisis through adjusting their economic and management structures and restoring an average growth rate that was estimated to be more than 4 per cent in 2010, after being around 2 per cent in 2009 due to the crisis. Although growth rates remain below pre crisis levels — as well as below the level required to make significant improvements in social conditions and to achieve the MDGs — Africa can take vigorous steps along the road to economic recovery that exceed all expectations, particularly if international support is extended and commitments are fulfilled. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has been among the main vehicles for enhancing such structures. Through NEPAD the African countries have taken big strides in various aspects of development, such as infrastructure, agriculture, food security, health, education, and information and communications technology. There has also been significant progress in respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including through the activities of the African Peer Review Mechanism. That Mechanism now comprises 30 countries, including Egypt, reflecting Africa’s progress in good governance, improving the human rights situation and strengthening democracy. In that context, there is an urgent need for our development partners to fulfil all official development assistance (ODA) and other commitments made in different forums to support development in Africa. They must lift all barriers, whether related to subsidies or other technical barriers, that cause African exports to be at a disadvantage and increase Africa’s share of trade-related aid. Our partners should facilitate access to world markets and make additional efforts to bring the Doha Round of global trade negotiations to a comprehensive and development-oriented conclusion. Furthermore, Egypt stresses that the improvement of the continent’s development situation remains incomplete without affirming the necessity of seriously moving forward on a reform of the existing deficiencies and shortcomings in the international economic and financial system. Such a reform must end the marginalization of the African continent in international economic decision-making and enhance the continent’s voice and participation. The status quo, which deprives the countries of the continent of their right to effectively participate in managing the global economic system, cannot continue at a time when that system gravely affects their economic situation. We cannot accept a new system that consecrates such marginalization instead of addressing it. In that context, Egypt welcomes the Secretary- General’s recommendations on a monitoring mechanism to review the implementation of commitments to Africa’s development needs. Egypt believes that the General Assembly provides a suitable framework for that mechanism, which would also reflect the great importance that the United Nations membership attaches to the cause of enhancing development in Africa. In the meantime, any future agreed mechanism must put more emphasis on following up and monitoring the implementation of ODA and other aid-related commitments to Africa. Despite the significant improvement that Africa has achieved in the areas of peace and security, development, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, it still faces many complex challenges. They include intra State conflicts, unconstitutional changes of Government, election- related violence and illicit trafficking in small arms, light weapons and drugs. In addition, there is the mounting negative influence of other emerging challenges, such as terrorism, threats to maritime security, climate change and food security. Those threats and challenges could undermine African endeavours to achieve stability and development. To address those challenges, Egypt believes that the United Nations, the African Union and African subregional organizations should combine all their preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping and peacebuilding tools and should emphasize the linkage among the political, economic and social development aspects, as proposed by the Secretary-General in his report. It is therefore of paramount importance that all pledges to support development in Africa be fully implemented. The growing cooperation between the African Union and the United Nations has been crucial in addressing many of the challenges to peace and security in Africa. The joint efforts of the two bodies to deal with the situations in Kenya and Zimbabwe in the past and with the current situations in Guinea and the Niger, as well as other forms of cooperation such as the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, exemplify the fruits of that partnership. Furthermore, the work of the Peacebuilding Commission to support four African countries that have emerged from conflict underlines the importance of joint work towards peacebuilding in post-conflict situations. In that regard, Egypt attaches great importance to enhancing the annual consultative mechanism between the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council. In addition, we believe that the review process under way regarding the implementation of the 10 year capacity-building programme for the African Union will further enhance United Nations support to build the capacities of the African institutions in the areas of peace and security, socio-economic development and peacebuilding and peacekeeping. Enhancing peace, security and development in Africa has always been among the top priorities of Egyptian foreign policy. One manifestation of that commitment to the causes of our continent has been Egypt’s significant contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa, which has made Egypt among the top five troop-contributing countries. In the same vein, in August Egypt hosted the 2010 High-Level Retreat on the Promotion of Peace, Security and Stability in Africa, which brought together United Nations and African Union envoys under the theme “Making peace happen in Africa in 2010 and beyond: developing common strategies and enhancing coordination”. The forum, which adopted the “Cairo Call for Peace”, provided an excellent opportunity for deliberations and interaction among the officials and high-level envoys of the two organizations on how to maximize the synergies of their work to address challenges to peace and security in various parts of the African continent. Since the Millennium Summit launched the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa, international efforts have succeeded in eliminating the disease in nearly half of the malaria-infected countries. In addition, a marked reduction in infection rates has been achieved in a number of other countries as a result of programmes being implemented in cooperation with the United Nations and other relevant bodies, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector, and as a result of the increase in available funding for such programmes. However, the continuing proliferation of the disease in 109 countries reaffirms the need for continued support. It also reaffirms the need to ensure the sustainability of funding in order to reduce mortality rates by half in 2010, with a view to reaching a 75 per cent reduction in mortality rates by 2015. There is also a need to address the spread of the disease in Africa, where infection rates have reached alarming levels of 91 per cent, the highest in the world. Those facts underline the dire need to support efforts to revamp the infrastructure of the economic, educational and health systems in African countries. There is also a serious need to transfer the necessary technical knowledge to support those efforts and ensure the early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the disease through the participation of all forces of society. That entails intensifying awareness campaigns at national levels, alongside implementation of prevention and treatment programmes. It also entails working to improve health-care systems and to provide medicines and vaccinations and to train qualified cadres. Such undertakings are beyond the capacity of many Governments unless they receive foreign assistance, particularly in Africa, where many countries are overburdened by malaria. Egypt calls on the international community to deliver on commitments made at different international forums to support efforts to combat the spread of malaria. Egypt commends the initiative of Tanzania to establish the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, thus reaffirming the commitments of African leaders to combat the spread of malaria. The Alliance’s recent successful efforts to promote preventive measures to combat the spread of malaria and increase accessibility to diagnostic and treatment measures require parallel commitments by the international community to provide support at all levels. Furthermore, building national capacities must take place in tandem with building regional capacity, in order to address the transboundary dimensions of the disease. It was in that context that Egypt launched its initiative to establish an African centre to promote cooperation and to exchange knowledge in the field of disease control and to serve as a liaison between specialized African centres. That initiative has been fully endorsed by African summits since 2005. It is also imperative to resolve the trade-related aspects of the intellectual property rights with regard to malaria medications and vaccines currently in circulation or being developed. Indeed, the international community has to shoulder that responsibility so as to ensure effectiveness of the efforts to eliminate malaria and to thwart the risk of its reintroduction so that we may realize our common goals, especially MDG 6, by the targeted date, and in all States, with no exceptions.

I welcome the Secretary-General’s reports under these agenda items. The Chinese delegation endorses the statement made by the representative of Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Today Africa faces both important opportunities and grave challenges in peace and development. Since the launch of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) nine years ago, with the vigorous support of the international community, the African countries have made great progress in such areas as infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, the environment and information and communications technology. Nevertheless, under the impact of the financial, food and energy crises, and of climate change, Africa still faces an uphill task in achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Today most of the original hot spot issues affecting Africa’s peace and stability are, in the final analysis, attributable to poverty and underdevelopment. China believes that development is the basis for the attainment of peace in Africa. The international community should increase its support for Africa, and help it attain greater progress in the implementation of NEPAD, and thus promote stability and prosperity in Africa. First, commitment to assistance should be delivered promptly. Despite the slight increase in its volume, the total official development assistance (ODA) for Africa in recent years still falls far short of that pledged by the international community and Africa’s actual needs. The developed countries should expeditiously raise their ODA level to 0.7 per cent of their gross national income, further open their markets to African products, reduce or cancel debt, and increase technology transfer and investment so as to improve Africa’s capacity for independent development. Secondly, African countries’ right to self- determination should be respected. The African countries have made major headway through vigorous efforts to increase unity for greater strength, seek regional peace and stability and bring about economic reinvigoration. In providing assistance to Africa, the international community should show greater respect for the real situation on the ground and the aspirations of the African countries, further remove conditionalities attached to aid, increase the predictability and transparency of such assistance and redress the power imbalance between donors and recipients. Thirdly, South-South cooperation should be expanded. As a useful complement to North-South cooperation, South-South cooperation has become an effective engine for Africa’s economic development. Recent years have seen brisk financial and commercial exchanges between countries in the South; the creation of various models of cooperation based on equality and mutual benefit in areas such as sharing knowledge, exchange of experience, training and technology transfer; and contributions in kind and soft loans, which have further enhanced and revitalized South- South cooperation for Africa’s development. Fourthly, the role of international institutions must be strengthened. The United Nations system is playing an irreplaceable role in supporting NEPAD. It is imperative to further deepen the system’s partnership with the African Union, the African Development Bank and regional economic communities, and to ensure that the focus of various bodies of the United Nations system is aligned with the priorities of NEPAD. The international financial institutions and international development agencies should also step up their support for Africa. Fifthly, the realization of lasting peace in Africa should be promoted. At present over 60 per cent of the items on the Security Council’s agenda are related to Africa, and 75 per cent of the Organization’s international peacekeepers are deployed in Africa. China believes that the international community should vigorously support the African countries in their efforts to solve their disputes through peaceful consultations and support the efforts of the regional organizations, such as the African Union, in strengthening their capacity-building in peacekeeping. The peaceful resolution of the hot spot issues in Africa should not be interrupted or hindered by any means. The United Nations should play a more proactive role in the field of peace and development in Africa, and the Security Council should play a more important role in maintaining peace, security and stability there. China and Africa enjoy a profound tradition of friendship. China has always been committed to the cause of peace and development on the African continent. Since the establishment of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2000, China’s strategic partnership with Africa has developed in depth; after a decade’s efforts, fruitful results have been achieved in many areas. In recent years the Chinese Government has implemented various measures in its Africa-related assistance and cooperation. Last November the Chinese Government announced, at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, a series of policy measures in support of Africa’s development. They include $10 billion of preferential loans to African countries; cancellation of the unpaid interest- free loans — expired at the end of 2009 — owed by heavily indebted poor countries and least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa with diplomatic ties with China; and progressive granting of duty-free treatment for 95 per cent of the products of African LDCs that have diplomatic ties with China, with the treatment applied to 60 per cent of such products as the first step in 2010. China fully supports the call to increase global control of malaria. Between 2006 and 2009, China provided RMB 300 million in grants to help Africa in the fight against malaria. From now until 2012, China will continue to provide its 30 malaria prevention and control centres in Africa with anti-malaria supplies and invite experts and technicians of the recipient countries working in those centres to train in China so that these development projects become sustainable. In September, the second round of Ministerial Political Consultations between China and Africa took place at United Nations Headquarters. China has always engaged, and will continue to engage, in constructive good offices and make efforts to address the hot spot issues facing Africa. It will support the Security Council in playing an important role in helping resolve conflicts in the African region and support and participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa. It calls upon the international community and United Nations entities, including the Security Council, to make more proactive and constructive contributions for the maintenance of peace and security in Africa. We are convinced that the people of Africa have the wisdom and ability to achieve economic revitalization and social progress through their own unflagging efforts. China is ready to join the African countries and the international community in continuing to contribute to the cause of peace and development in Africa.

I thank the Secretary-General for the reports presented under the agenda items that we are debating. I also take this opportunity to commend the Secretary-General and his Special Envoy for their work in mobilizing global support for action on malaria, particularly as we seek to fulfil the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We meet today to discuss the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), progress in implementation and international support, as well as causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa and the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing countries, Particularly in Africa. We align ourselves with the statement made by Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. NEPAD was conceived as a blueprint for establishing a socio-economic development framework for Africa. It has been able to identify priority areas of action in line with the NEPAD objectives. South Africa is thus encouraged by the progress made through the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, which provides a framework for regional and continental transport networks, energy, water and information and communications technology. In this regard, we commend the international financial institutions and development banks that have pledged to increase their financial commitments to Africa by at least $15 billion in the next two to three years. However, we are concerned that, although Africa will need infrastructure investment totalling $93 billion a year, it currently spends $45 billion annually. It is therefore critical that we secure support for the remaining financing gap of $48 billion. In the context of NEPAD, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) was developed, and several African countries are benefiting from Group of Eight funding pledged at the L’Aquila 2009 Summit through ensuring that CAADP national investment plans are in place. In addition to other endeavours to facilitate development, we have seen the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process go from strength to strength. That is manifested by the increase in APRM membership, which now stands at 29. This uniquely designed peer review mechanism has proved to be an effective tool for the advancement of good governance on the continent. South Africa further commends the progress made thus far towards the full integration of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency into the African Union Commission structures and processes. The Secretary-General has called on the international community to provide adequate support for African-led conflict-resolution strategies in line with the priorities of the African Union (AU). Despite the numerous challenges that Africa still confronts, the continent has over the past decade made outstanding improvements in many areas, including the building of sustainable institutions. The creation of the African Union and its subsidiary organs, which include the African Peace and Security Architecture, signal the strong commitment and political will of African leaders to advance peace and security throughout the continent. The African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) programme has proved to be a progressive peacebuilding and development mechanism that should be meaningfully supported and sustained. South Africa is privileged to lead the pioneering work of this AU programme in the Sudan. What is urgently required now is for the United Nations to continue its support and assistance to the AU in line with the recommendations of the Prodi Report. Since 1994, South Africa has made its humble contribution towards conflict resolution on the African continent. To this end, in line with the objectives of the PCRD, South Africa has played a significant role in post-conflict reconstruction and capacity-building in countries such as Burundi, the Sudan, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Among other things, the inequitable distribution of income and resources within countries, the politicization of ethnicity, asymmetric distribution of political power, and absence of the voice of the majority in decision-making are systemic causes of many conflicts that threaten the hard-won peace and stability of African States. In this context, we appeal to the international community to focus its conflict- resolution initiatives on addressing the structural issues, instead of choosing the easy way of addressing proximate causes that usually last for a short time. For a durable solution there is a need to recognize the importance of development as a catalyst for peace and security. We therefore call on the United Nations and the wider international community to work in partnership with African States in actualizing their political, social and economic development potential. In 2009 the African leaders launched the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, and they continued to put malaria control high on their agenda for 2010. The establishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and commitments by members of the international community, including the World Bank and other agencies, have contributed immensely to the scaling up of malaria control interventions and have led to noticeable reductions in the burden of malaria. South Africa calls upon the international community to support national efforts by providing technical assistance to improve monitoring and evaluation systems in order to track and report on changes in coverage and subsequent reductions in the burden of malaria. We encourage producers of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets to provide technology transfer to developing countries. We also invite the World Bank and private-sector partners to assist malaria-endemic countries in establishing factories to scale up production of the nets. South Africa welcomes the recognition that the use of DDT for indoor residual spraying has been found to be successful. Countries should be allowed to continue to use DDT, as long as it is used in accordance with international rules, guidelines and standards. In conclusion, my delegation recognizes that the support of the international community is critical for the success of Africa’s development. We will continue to work together with the international community in fulfilling the vision of a prosperous Africa free from the burden of conflict, poverty and disease.

I commend the Secretary-General for his comprehensive reports on the important issues before us today. We align ourselves with the statement made by the representative of Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Africa has made remarkable achievements in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which represents the collective vision for Africa’s strategic development. The recent integration of NEPAD into the African Union structures has generated a new momentum towards the implementation of its priority areas. Steady progress has been made in the political, economic and social sectors on the African continent. The elements of good governance have been well embraced. The adoption of political pluralism, the holding of regular, free and fair elections, respect for the rule of law and human rights, and the adoption of the African Peer Review Mechanism by many African countries in the past decade testify to the accountable political leadership and deepened democratic ethos that prevail on the continent. Between 2002 and 2007 gross domestic product grew annually by some 6.5 per cent, the highest rate in more than 30 years. Moderate or low levels of inflation and macroeconomic stability accompanied the growth take-off in most countries. What was striking about this upswing was that it was broad-based and not concentrated in just a few countries. Commendable achievements have been made in the health and education sectors. Public health successes include the elimination of river blindness and leprosy, and substantive control of the transmission of polio, Guinea worm and measles. Many African countries have significantly reduced their AIDS prevalence rate, and a growing number of Africans living with the virus are undergoing antiretroviral treatment. In spite of the progress, health systems in Africa remain underfunded, understaffed and ill-equipped, and vaccination coverage is weak. Armed conflicts and drug trafficking are still affecting our society. The world’s economic and financial crisis has caused a reduction in export prices, remittances and foreign investments, and a depreciation of local currencies, as well as an increase in Africa’s debt. Official development assistance (ODA) is about $14 billion short of the original Gleneagles commitment. Africa’s ability to raise resources for development has therefore been negatively affected. ODA is very important to Africa, now more than ever before. Total resource flows to Africa remained less diversified than in other developing areas, and it also has a relatively smaller share of other resource flows, such as foreign direct investment, bonds and portfolio equity, as compared to ODA. The sharp slowdown in domestic revenue combined with declining export revenue and remittances, as well as a loss of access to international capital markets, underlines the critical need for more resources from the international community, particularly ODA. What is needed currently in Africa is not a renewal of pledges but the delivery of commitments made by our development partners. Africa can be resourced through the implementation of measures to curtail illicit financial flows at all levels, enhancing disclosure practices and promoting transparency in financial information. Strengthening national and multinational efforts to address this issue, including support and technical assistance to African countries to enhance their capacities, is crucial. Additional measures should be implemented to prevent the transfer abroad of stolen assets and to assist in the recovery and return of such assets to Africa, consistent with the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Africa desires to move away from aid dependency in future. This can be achieved if we can trade our way out of poverty. Fully supporting and further developing a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory, equitable and transparent multilateral trading system, by working expeditiously towards a balanced and ambitious, comprehensive Doha outcome document, will bring benefits to Africa and contribute to enhancing its integration into the world economic system. We call on the international community to emphasize aid for trade in order to strengthen and enhance the trade capacity and competitiveness of African countries so as to ensure equitable benefits from increased trading opportunities and to foster economic growth. Malaria continues to take its deadly toll on Africans, in particular vulnerable children and pregnant women. It also deprives us of significant resources meant for accelerated economic development. We believe that together with our partners we can win the fight against malaria. We must therefore keep up that fight. Development of the continent requires shared responsibilities. African Governments need to enhance domestic resource mobilization as well as to pursue deep reforms that contribute to development. In conclusion, Ghana is of the view that the way forward to meet Africa’s development needs is to take coordinated, balanced and integrated action at all levels to attain the Millennium Development Goals in full and in a timely manner and to comprehensively address all challenges to Africa’s development.

On 10 October our country commemorated the beginning of the first war of independence, in 1868. This historic event, which marked forever the course of our national history, was accompanied by one of the most momentous acts of justice in our history: Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, the father of the Cuban homeland, set his slaves free. Independence and our African heritage are therefore inextricably linked to the Cuban national identity. As President Raúl Castro has stated, Africa is not a legend distant in space and time — it is dignity, sacrifice, courage and endurance. Over one and a half million enslaved Africans arrived in our island, coming from territories occupied today by many African countries, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and the United Republic of Tanzania. We are therefore proud to declare that the Cuban people have directly and naturally inherited the gallantry, bravery and culture of resistance of Africa, which has been heroically fighting for centuries to overcome challenges that still persist. The deepest internationalist convictions of the Cuban Revolution have made it possible for our country to be always at the side of Africa, from unconditional support for the anti colonial struggles to cooperative projects in many aspects of the continent’s socio-economic development. Over 381,000 Cuban combatants fought selflessly to defend the integrity and sovereignty of sister African nations for almost three decades. We returned from Africa with only the remains of our fallen comrades and the honour of having fulfilled our duty. Today, more than 2,400 Cubans are helping in 35 African nations with the promotion of development in diverse areas including public health, education, agriculture, sports and construction. Our country will continue to contribute human capital and experience in its cooperation with numerous countries of the continent. In the Comprehensive Health Programme alone, around 1,120 Cuban doctors and health-care technicians are working in 23 African countries, offering their services to more than 48 million people. Today more than 2,200 young people from 45 African countries are studying in our universities and polytechnic institutes; over 32,000 young people from the continent have graduated in various specialities. Cuba has always stood with Africa, and Africa with Cuba. In the more than 50 years of the unjust and cruel blockade of Cuba, the African Governments and peoples have closed ranks 18 times in the General Assembly to stand up for the right of the Cuban people to determine their own destiny. The statements we make here are to no avail if the African countries are then forced to spend five times more on shameful foreign debts than on health and education programmes. It is imperative to change the current international order, in which powerful multinationals strive to control the mineral resources of the African continent, and in which the rich countries, with a few exceptions, fail to meet their modest official development assistance commitments and cling to an unjust patent and trade regime that hinders the development of African nations. To address Africa’s problems, it is necessary to eliminate the profit-at-any-cost philosophy supporting the current international system. Our country will continue to support the African Union and all the regional coordination mechanisms in their endeavour to find their own solutions to Africa’s problems. However, Africa also needs the firm support of the international community. And from the United Nations it needs an integrated approach to solving the continent’s problems related to its peace, security and development. We demand for Africa not paternalism, but equality of opportunities, as part of a more just and equitable international order. That is what is needed for the countries of Africa and the other developing nations to be able to face the challenge of working for the well-being of our peoples. Above all, Africa needs and deserves solidarity and respect.

Speaking on behalf of the African Group, I take this opportunity to thank the Secretary-General for his reports on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development: progress in implementation and international support; on causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa; and on the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa. The African Group aligns itself with the statement made by Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. The year 2010 has been a remarkable one for the African Union and its New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) programme. It will be recalled that extensive efforts to integrate NEPAD into the structures and processes of the African Union finally culminated in the decision of the fourteenth African Union summit, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to formally establish the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency as a technical body of the African Union. As mandated by the African Union Assembly decision, the Agency’s role as a planning unit aims at facilitating and coordinating implementation of regional and continental programmes and mobilizing resources for the implementation of Africa’s priority programmes and projects. The Agency’s role in conducting and coordinating research and knowledge management will create an enabling environment to achieve food security and agricultural development in the next five years. African countries have taken huge steps to implement the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. The past year has witnessed progress in the implementation of NEPAD projects in key sectors such as infrastructure, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, education and training, the environment, information and communications technologies and science and technology. Equally, there has been progress in moving forward the African Peer Review Mechanism, with 30 countries acceding and 12 countries reviewed. The just concluded High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) highlighted the reality that no country in Africa is on track to meet all the MDG targets by 2015. In this regard, the summit called for more attention to Africa, as the continent is the only region where poverty is increasing. This scenario is worsened by multiple crises, including the global financial and economic crisis, increasing food and energy prices and the impact of climate change. In order to mitigate and forestall the impacts of the multiple crises, most African Governments have been forced to divert their limited resources to short-term solutions. This has led to a reversal of the development gains. Therefore, there is an urgent need for renewed commitments to support Africa in meeting its special needs, in order to mitigate the multidimensional impacts of the crises 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. According to the Secretary-General’s report on NEPAD, since 2004 Africa has received between 32 per cent and 35 per cent of the total increase in official development assistance, well below the 50 per cent increase committed to in Gleneagles. Africa is likely to receive only about $12 billion of the $25 billion increase envisaged at Gleneagles. Although Africa produces only 4 per cent of total global carbon dioxide emissions, it is the region most vulnerable to global climate change and least equipped to deal with its consequences. Changes in weather patterns have a direct bearing on water availability, agricultural output and food security. As climate change intensifies and its impacts deepen, adaptation among the communities in Africa is becoming increasingly challenging. Due to lack of adequate financial resources, of capacity-building and of appropriate technology, environmental management is a serious challenge. As a result, the continent continues to witness desertification, deforestation, dust storms, pollution and the loss of ecosystems caused by rapid urbanization. Africa is currently losing large swathes of forest every year. Africa suffers from a severe lack of infrastructure. That deficit is preventing the continent from realizing its full potential for economic growth, global competitiveness and achievement of the MDGs, including poverty reduction. Modern infrastructure services are largely inaccessible to the poorest. About 60 per cent of the rural population in African countries is poor and unable to access health care, education and gainful employment. Therefore, there is an urgent need to scale up investments in the infrastructure, as it is critical to economic growth and development. Improved agricultural productivity and profitability has great potential for economic development in a rural continent. More than 90 per cent of the continent’s food supply is produced by smallholder farmers in rural areas. Yet more than 50 per cent of the food-insecure population are smallholder farmers, in addition to the landless poor and the urban poor. To address poverty and reduce hunger across the continent, sustained agricultural growth is a high priority, as envisaged by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. Hunger and health are inextricably linked to the realization of the MDGs. Malnourishment devastates children and stunts their potential, leading to cyclical deprivation and hunger. Africa faces challenges in meeting the health- related MDGs by 2015. Access to essential services, such as family planning, maternal health care, and malaria and HIV prevention and treatment, remain dire. As a result, death rates among African women from complications of pregnancy and childbirth are very high. However, the reality on the ground is a critical shortage of health workers in Africa, and weak health systems severely underfunded due to a lack of national and international budgetary commitments. NEPAD recognizes the critical role of the private sector, both domestic and foreign-owned, as the continent’s engine of economic growth. Africa continues to be plagued by long-term, and in some cases interrelated, crises and violent conflicts which have caused immense human suffering. In light of the serious implications of conflict on several aspects of the development of Africa, initiatives such as peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction and development have been launched on a continent-wide and regional level to address conflict issues. A central theme in the African Union/NEPAD agenda is the bringing together of the issues of peace and security, governance, constitutionalism, economic development and international partnerships. In this regard, the African Group once again reiterates the urgent need to establish a monitoring mechanism to follow up on all commitments related to the development of Africa, as contained in the political declaration on Africa’s development needs review process and as recommended in the Secretary- General’s report. In our view, the process should be under the aegis of the General Assembly. The implementation of the commitments of African Governments and their development partners would be reviewed, beginning at the Assembly’s next session.

I wish to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this joint debate on the implementation of and international support to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries. I take this opportunity to convey our sincere appreciation for the quality of all the reports and notes presented by the Secretary-General for both items under our consideration today (A/65/152, A/65/165, A/65/167, A/65/62, A/62/Add.1 and A/65/210). Brazil aligns itself with the statement delivered by the representative of Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Brazil has supported NEPAD as an example of an African-owned and -driven initiative. The high priority we attribute to NEPAD is reflected in a wide range of technical cooperation projects implemented in partnership with various African countries. Our cooperation projects are always aimed at transferring skills, building local capacity and empowering local workers, with the full engagement and ownership of African Governments. In 2009, Brazilian cooperation projects in Africa represented 51 per cent of our overall investments in technical cooperation with other developing countries. Initiatives implemented in partnership with Portuguese-speaking countries alone represented 63 per cent of that total. The wide variety of areas of technical cooperation with Africa encompasses projects in areas such as education, agriculture and livestock husbandry, science, energy and health. Currently, Brazil partners with African countries on 117 projects. Our cooperation with Africa is consistent with NEPAD’s focus on agriculture as a means to generate wealth and eradicate poverty. The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation — a State company — recently established an office in Accra, with a view to supporting the technological and productive improvement of the African savannah. It is the most comprehensive collection of data on tropical agriculture and has provided assistance to over 30 countries in the region. Projects aimed at improving local capacity in livestock husbandry are being carried out together with Cape Verde, Senegal and Zambia. Initiatives to improve family farming and rural professional training are under way in Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mozambique and Nigeria. Also in the field of agriculture training, the Brazilian Cooperation Agency offers a programme, open to all African countries, that is structured around three major areas, namely, public agricultural policies, agricultural research and training of local producers. Brazil has been a steadfast advocate for an early, development-geared conclusion of the Doha Round. No other economic sector is more central to sustainable development than agriculture. In the framework of the Round, Brazil has decided to unilaterally grant duty- free and quota-free access for exports from least developed countries, two thirds of which are in Africa. Furthermore, in order to increase the access of African producers to the cotton chain, raise the income of farmers and favour the expansion of job offers, Brazil has engaged in technology-transfer projects with the “cotton 4” countries — namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. We have also been working to strengthen regional political dialogue, with a view to broadening the scope and number of developing partners. In that sense, the Africa-South America Summit constitutes a good example of innovative platforms for increased dialogue and cooperation. In the past six years, trade across the two regions has increased from $6 to $36 billion, thus contributing to the development of both South America and Africa. Interregional dialogue has also resulted in improved cooperation on infrastructure, one of the key areas of NEPAD. The Declaration of Nueva Esparta, signed in September 2009, encourages the exchange of experiences and initiatives in the area of infrastructure between South American agencies — such as the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America and the Board of Infrastructure and Planning of the Union of South American Nations and NEPAD. The implications of health for the overall efforts to promote development are clear and have been reaffirmed in a number of internationally agreed documents, such as the Millennium Declaration (resolution 55/2). NEPAD rightly recognizes the close links among health, poverty, social exclusion, marginalization and environmental degradation in Africa. Brazil fully agrees with the basic principle of NEPAD’s health strategy, namely, that preventable and treatable diseases not only cause unnecessary deaths and untold suffering, but also represent significant expenditures of national resources, which further hampers economic and social development. Brazilian cooperation initiatives therefore attach great importance to creating and developing capacities in the area of health. We are currently partnering with Mozambique to develop a pharmaceutical facility to produce antiretroviral drugs to be used in various African countries. Other projects are being implemented in countries such as Liberia, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Ghana and Zambia in order to support the improvement of national health systems. The Brazilian Government is deeply committed to the international fight against malaria. Our engagement is manifested through both bilateral cooperation and participation in multilateral efforts. Our active participation in the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the international drug-purchasing facility UNITAID, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria reflects that commitment. The international community has made remarkable progress in the past few years in the pursuit of the goals of achieving universal coverage for malaria prevention and treatment by 2010 and reducing global malaria deaths to near zero preventable deaths by 2015. In addition to expanding the use of insecticide-treated nets, it is imperative that national Governments and the international community put in place mechanisms to ensure universal access to free or affordable medicines for the treatment of malaria for those who are already affected. As in many other regions of the world, cases of malaria infections in Brazil are associated with the process of colonization. Today, the largest numbers of new infections are found in cities. However, in our national experience, it is possible to reduce the number of cases by expanding health services and integrating control and care activities. The Brazilian Government is committed to further strengthening the prevention and control of the infection in order to maintain a sustained reduction in cases of infection, especially in the most vulnerable cities. To that end, we have launched a national programme for malaria control. With resources granted by the Global Fund, the programme aims at reducing by 50 per cent the number of cases of malaria in the 47 municipalities that are responsible for 70 per cent of the infections recorded in Brazil. As one of the countries afflicted by the disease, Brazil is determined to work with the international community and other developing countries, especially in Africa, in order to free the world of the scourge of malaria.

This debate on the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the international support it has received is taking place at a time marked by the ongoing economic and social crisis, whose effects continue to be most pronounced in the poorest countries, especially in Africa, despite the emergence of some encouraging signs of resumed economic growth. This meeting is also being held on the heels of the General Assembly’s High-level Plenary Meeting on progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which provided an opportunity to highlight the problems and challenges facing African countries and the sorts of steps needed to integrate them into the world economy. Algeria, one of the countries that contributed to promoting the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, would like to emphasize the importance of this innovative mechanism, which provides an appropriate framework for developing partnerships based on a new approach to cooperation and development in Africa. NEPAD is both an integrated strategy and a development framework that incorporates Africa’s commitment to undertake effective leadership in taking control of its destiny and all aspects of its development process, with the ultimate goal of consolidating good governance, peace and security and regional and continent-wide integration. Policies in that framework are focused on priority issues like macroeconomic stability, the establishment of basic infrastructure, the promotion of human development and information and communications technologies, and combating pandemic diseases. Africa is a major economic development hub that is increasingly considered as a new area for investment and global economic growth. That is due both to the continent’s substantial natural resources and to the progress made in economic governance as a result of major efforts to reform monetary, budgetary and financial policies and of the macroeconomic stability enjoyed by many African countries. Consequently, Africa should no longer remain on the sidelines of international decision-making processes or be content to passively endure the adverse consequences. As part of its institutional process to implement NEPAD, the African Union has put in place a Planning and Coordinating Agency to replace the NEPAD secretariat, thereby signalling the effective transition from the awareness-raising stage to those of carrying out regional and continent-wide projects and of integrating NEPAD into the Union’s structures. That integration-based approach can ensure greater effectiveness in taking responsibility for programmes and activities and in encouraging our development partners to fully honour their commitments with regard to the implementation of NEPAD. NEPAD as an African strategy for sustainable development and the Peer Review Mechanism established by it to strengthen good governance and the rule of law in the continent are major assets in the annals of Africa’s substantial achievements. The Peer Review Mechanism is continuing to strengthen its position as a tool to promote good governance in Africa. More than 30 African countries have adhered to it to date, and 14 have been examined. Algeria was among the first African countries to voluntarily submit itself to the Peer Review Mechanism, reflecting our desire to enshrine good governance in all areas. Also, in spite of the gaps and obstacles yet to be overcome, Africa is today in a position submit a very respectable report on the results it has achieved in the various priority areas. Key sectors such as agriculture, the environment, basic infrastructure and information and telecommunication technologies are now the subject of ongoing attention in Africa. Projects in those areas require significant financing, which African economies can only partially mobilize. Infrastructure investment needs in Africa amount to $93 billion annually, while the continent is only able to devote $45 billion a year to them. The fight against pandemic diseases is among the priorities of African leaders and has been integrated into NEPAD strategies. Malaria continues to kill nearly 1 million Africans every year. It also affects millions of people, most of them pregnant women and young children. In addition, the costs in terms of investment losses amount to some $12 billion. Algeria welcomes the initiative by some African countries to launch the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, which is intended to complement efforts to combat that disease at the highest level of international, national and local policies and strategies. Its success will depend upon the degree of involvement of African countries in implementing it, but above all on the type of assistance to be provided by development partners. In addition, significant progress has been made in implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, thanks to the fact that many countries have honoured their commitment to devote 10 per cent of their budgets to agriculture. Moreover, the information and telecommunications technologies action plan for Africa was firmly supported at the African Union Summit held in Kampala in 2010. The support of the international community to African countries nevertheless continues to be insufficient, especially in view of the marked backwardness resulting from the continent’s long marginalization from the world economy and the major challenges to be overcome in the various sectors. My delegation is convinced that relaunching sustained economic growth on the African continent will depend upon the implementation of a strengthened partnership with development partners in which the reforms undertaken by African countries are matched by sustained support from developed countries. Developed countries must take concrete steps to relaunch African economies. Such steps include facilitating access to their markets, especially for agricultural products, so as to increase Africa’s participation in world trade. They must also honour their commitments with regard to official development assistance (ODA), especially with regard to devoting 0.7 per cent of gross national product to ODA, as well as commitments made in more restricted forums such as the Group of Eight. Other measures by developed countries should include encouraging more foreign direct investment flows to African countries with a view to relaunching economic growth, creating jobs and contributing to poverty reduction. There should be debt relief or cancellation for least developed African countries. In conclusion, Algeria would like to express its appreciation for the contributions and commitment shown by numerous partners, which have made it possible to make progress in the areas of good governance and sustainable development. We call for greater such efforts.

At the outset, Israel would like to congratulate the President on his election. We look forward to his successful stewardship of the work of the General Assembly. I would also like to thank him for convening this important debate. Israel welcomes the Secretary-General’s eighth consolidated progress report on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (A/65/167). The report raises important issues and highlights significant projects that are positively affecting the development trajectory of African countries. In the wake of the Millennium Development Goals summit, today’s debate offers new opportunities to home in on the development challenges unique to African countries and to recommit ourselves to programmes that will be successful in the region. Israel has long-standing ties to Africa. In fact, Theodor Herzl, the father of Zionism, wrote in his 1902 book Altneuland, “once I have witnessed the redemption of the Jews, my people, I wish also to assist in the redemption of the Africans”. Many of our strong cooperative relationships in the region began in 1958 during an historic visit to the newly independent States of Africa by Golda Meir, Israel’s Foreign Minister at the time. Recently, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman visited a number of African countries as part of a drive to deepen Israel’s commitment to development on the continent. Israel’s international development agency, MASHAV, is at the heart of our development efforts in Africa. MASHAV works closely with many partners on the continent in areas such as sustainable development, public health, food security, education and gender equality, while placing significant focus on the Millennium Development Goals. Allow me to share with the Assembly some of Israel’s development efforts on the continent. Israel is providing its significant expertise in the area of agriculture to partner with African countries to fight hunger and extreme poverty. As an arid country with a climate similar to many regions in Africa, Israel continues to offer lessons learned during its own development through a number of programmes and partnerships. One such venture, the Techno-agricultural Innovation for Poverty Alleviation, trains farmers in the use of simple and inexpensive techniques, such as crop rotation and drip irrigation, in order to maximize output on formerly overused or arid land. In addition, Israel recently launched a trilateral partnership with the Governments of Germany and Ethiopia to assist Ethiopian farmers to adopt advanced agricultural practices, which will help to ensure sustainable development and improve food security. That trilateral collaboration highlights the significant value of diversifying partnerships. In implementing its co-sponsored biennial resolution entitled “Agricultural Technology for Development”, Israel has been working to further develop and expand such partnerships. The resolution calls upon Member States to cooperate and collaborate to develop and implement sustainable agricultural technologies as a means to combat poverty and hunger and to ensure better production and safer land use. In pursuing the call of the resolution, Israel has been working to ensure that agricultural technologies reach areas where they can have the greatest development impact. Empowering women in Africa is essential for achieving a model of truly sustainable development. Israel is engaged in a number of efforts to that end. We are promoting women’s entrepreneurship in small-scale agriculture by providing specialized courses for women across the continent and by improving education through teacher-training programmes. Israel is also working to empower women by improving prenatal and neonatal care through a concept known as tipat chalav, which means “drop of milk” in Hebrew. Currently being implemented in Kumasi, Ghana, the tipat chalav model includes the use of community-based prenatal and healthy-baby clinics staffed primarily by public health nurses. This model has demonstrated dramatic improvements in health, including reductions in the rates of infant and maternal mortality. In the area of health, Israel is also closely engaged in the fight to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. Israel’s role in that effort includes training health-care professionals in treating HIV and managing educational programmes to promote sexual health among adolescents, who are at the greatest risk of contracting the disease. Israel recognizes the need to devote further attention to these matters moving forward. To that end, Israel is marking International Development Day by organizing a round-table discussion on the challenges of development. The challenges before us are great, but Israel remains deeply committed to collaborating with other nations to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Africa. Israel recognizes that pursuing the Goals will not only bring enhanced peace and security for all, but will also affirm the timeless value of tikkun olam, a Jewish principle that mandates us to repair the world, to help those in need and to better the lives of those around the globe.

I am honoured to speak on behalf of India at today’s joint debate on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Let me begin by thanking the Secretary-General for his reports on the items under discussion (A/65/152, A/65/165), including the eighth consolidated progress report on implementation and international support for NEPAD (A/65/167). We align ourselves with the statement delivered by the representative of Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development articulates both a vision and a strategic socio-economic development framework for Africa. It reflects the commitment of African countries to undertake their own development programmes and the commitment of the international community to support those efforts. India applauds the progress achieved by African countries in the implementation of the NEPAD priorities through the various multisectoral initiatives. We further welcome the integration of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development into the structures and processes of the African Union through, inter alia, the establishment of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency as a technical body of the African Union. Despite those positive developments, serious challenges remain to be addressed before the African continent can achieve sustainable peace and prosperity. Most African countries remain off track with respect to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Conflict, poverty, lack of adequate nutrition and other malaises continue to shackle the tremendous potential of the African people. It is universally acknowledged that addressing Africa’s development needs and challenges requires unwavering commitment and resolute action not only from within Africa, but, equally important, from outside the continent by its partners. That must take place through sustained cooperation that includes the transfer of resources and technology and an enabling international environment. The role of the international community in Africa’s development is indispensable and crucial. That is recognized in a number of multilateral and bilateral initiatives directed at Africa. It is also recognized in a number of international conferences and summits, including the General Assembly’s recent High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals that brought into sharp focus the special needs of Africa and the urgency of galvanizing international efforts. It is further articulated in a number of declarations, resolutions and plans of action in support of Africa to which the international community has pledged adherence. In spite of the commitments and initiatives, there is a gap between promise and delivery on the part of the international community that needs to be addressed on a priority basis. First and foremost, NEPAD can succeed only if the global partnership delivers in terms of resources. The picture on the ground is not inspiring. It is estimated that official development assistance to Africa reached $44 billion in 2009. That leaves a shortfall of $16 billion relative to the target set by the Group of Eight at the Gleneagles summit in 2005. We would like to stress the importance of the urgent fulfilment of the commitments made by the G-8 in 2005. India’s own links with Africa go back a long way and are anchored in a history of contact and friendship of civilizations across the Indian Ocean. Our friendship and cooperation have been further strengthened through a common journey of anti colonial struggle and post-colonial nation-building. Today, our long and historic relationship has evolved into a sustainable and enduring partnership that embraces the entire spectrum of human engagement. In the economic realm, it translates into a vibrant economic partnership that covers, inter alia, infrastructure development, capacity-building, agriculture, health, food security, development of small- and medium-sized enterprises, and information and communications technology. India has so far extended over $3 billion in concessional lines of credit to countries in Africa. They have been used in projects as prioritized by the African countries themselves. During the India-Africa Forum Summit held in April 2008 in New Delhi, India decided to extend additional lines of credit of $5.4 billion over the next five years, including an allocation of $300 million to be utilized by the African Union in support of NEPAD objectives. That line of credit is in addition to the $200 million line of credit extended to NEPAD in 2002, most of which stands utilized. At the same time, India proposed to undertake projects against grants in excess of $500 million over the next five to six years. They are being implemented in consultation with our African partners. India is also unilaterally making available duty-free and quota-free market access for goods from 34 least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa. That covers 94 per cent of India’s total tariff lines and provides preferential market access on tariff lines that comprise 92.5 per cent of global exports of all LDCs. The Pan African e-Network Project is another far- reaching initiative undertaken by India in Africa. It aims at sharing our expertise in health care and education. It symbolizes India’s commitment to transferring skills and technology to Africa by bridging the digital divide within the framework of South-South cooperation. It will connect 53 African countries into one network through satellites, fibre optics and wireless links to provide tele-education, tele-medicine and voice and video conference facilities. We expect the project to bring major benefits to Africa in capacity-building. India has also been at the forefront of contributing to Africa’s human resource development efforts. The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme has benefited thousands of experts and students from Africa who have been coming to India since 1964 for training courses at professional institutions. Apart from providing experts, we are also providing training to African personnel in diverse fields, such as agriculture and agro-processing, entrepreneurship development, tool design, small business creation, the promotion of rural industries and information technology. In addition, several thousand African students are currently studying in Indian universities and colleges. The President returned to the Chair. Through our long-term involvement in peacekeeping efforts on the continent over the past six decades, India has also been a steadfast contributor to the maintenance of peace and security in conflict-torn regions of Africa. Presently, India has over 7,000 peacekeepers serving in Africa, including a 4,000- strong contingent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. India’s first all-female police unit serves with distinction in Liberia. It has earned laurels for its pioneering role in this regard which, in addition to normal peacekeeping, has included their successful outreach to vulnerable sections of society, particularly women and children. India is steadfastly committed to the peace, stability and socio economic development of Africa. India and Africa are joined together in a common quest for sustainable economic growth and development. The Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, which was adopted during the landmark India-Africa Forum Summit held in Delhi in April 2008, contain a blueprint for further intensifying the engagement between India and Africa. We will continue to accord the highest priority to furthering our multidimensional partnership with Africa, which encompasses priority sectors integral to the developmental goals of Africa.

I am pleased to take part in these discussions on development in the African continent, and I thank the Secretary-General for the quality of his reports on the subject (A/65/152, A/65/165 and A/65/167). My delegation associates itself with the statements made by the representative of Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and by the representative of Malawi on behalf of the African Group. The countries of Africa have shown genuine will and have established bold policies leading to real gains in solidifying democratic progress and the realization of development goals. That will and those policies have nevertheless come face to face with the several crises that have arisen in recent years. African countries have been unable to mobilize the necessary resources to carry out the reform that has been started. What is more, delivery on the pledges made by their development partners has considerably dipped at the very moment when Africa especially needs continued international assistance. Much of what has been achieved towards the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has thus been set back by the immediate effects of the various crises and by diminished aid from partners. In addition to those challenges we must also add climate change, which will certainly affect the development prospects of the continent. The economic difficulties brought on by the financial crisis have adversely affected African economies and significantly limited their ability to finance their development. Mean economic growth rates in Africa in 2008 and 2009 — 4.5 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively — and the estimated 2010 rate of 4.3 per cent are still well below the 7 per cent considered necessary for African nations to achieve their development goals. Moreover, financial flows to the continent, whether official development assistance or foreign direct investment, have not reached the level necessary to sustain the efforts of African countries or to meet their development needs. In terms of official development assistance, it should be noted that the economic report on Africa for 2010 emphasizes that aid to Africa, which grew by only 11 per cent in 2008, could experience a decrease in 2010, and that anticipated reduction in aid flow endangers the achievement of the MDGs in the poor countries of the continent. Africa has also been among the continents most affected by retrenchment in foreign direct investment, with a reduction of 35 per cent from 2008 to 2009. It is not by chance, then, that Africa, which receives only about 2 per cent of total foreign direct investment, lags behind in achieving the MDGs. Establishing an environment conducive to investment and entrepreneurship in Africa is therefore critical. To promote investment on the continent, where the need to fight poverty is overwhelming, Morocco proposes the convening, in the framework of the General Assembly, of a high-level meeting on investment in Africa. Any delay in concluding the Doha Round trade agreements can only penalize African economies, whose participation in international trade hardly exceeded 3.2 per cent in 2008. Putting in place a multilateral trading system that honours the centrality of development and is more favourable to African countries is of vital importance. Improving access to markets for African countries, while necessary, is nonetheless insufficient. Any progress in market access must be accompanied by aid focused on strengthening African countries’ capacity for both production and trade. Moreover, Africa, whose contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is negligible — barely over 4 per cent — is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Agriculture, the driving force of most African economies, making up around 50 per cent of the continent’s exports and 21 per cent of its gross domestic product, is especially vulnerable to climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected a 50 per cent reduction in rain- fed agriculture in Africa, very likely provoking serious socio economic tensions in the countries of the continent. In that regard, the international community is clearly called on to redouble its efforts to make available to Africa the means necessary to adapt to climate change and to attenuate its social and economic impact. The outcome document of the Meeting on the MDGs (resolution 65/1) underlined that Africa should receive greater attention. It also constituted a call for the pledges of aid made to the continent to be honoured, inasmuch as assistance is currently not at the levels that have been pledged. Given these circumstances, it is of the utmost urgency for development partners to honour their commitments to Africa on official development assistance, starting with the pledges made at the Gleneagles Summit. Morocco welcomes the Muskoka Initiative, which was launched by the Group of Eight to accelerate progress in attaining the Millennium Goals on infant mortality and maternal health in the next five years. We believe that implementing the Initiative is of the highest importance. While the economic crisis should not be an excuse for not honouring pledges for African development, new instruments of international aid should receive careful attention. The search for innovative financing, which has proven very promising, would allow us to supplement traditional financing. Innovative initiatives undertaken thus far have proven ever more successful, encouraging more exploration. Ensuring regular and efficient delivery of the commitments made to Africa is of critical importance so as to allow the continent to achieve its development objectives. In that regard, Morocco thanks the Secretary- General for his report on a monitoring mechanism to review commitments towards Africa’s development needs (A/65/165). The report informs us of important aspects of follow up on pledges of aid to the continent and also contains incisive proposals for an improved follow up mechanism that would allow us to better evaluate the effectiveness of development aid to Africa. His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, in his speech at the Millennium Development Goals summit held on 20 and 21 September, underlined that Morocco had “made human development and the achievement of the MDGs the core of a practical, innovative South-South cooperation policy, especially with regard to sister African nations” (A/65/PV.4, p. 6). Human development is one of the key thrusts of Morocco’s cooperation with its African partners, by which we have established and carried out specific projects in areas with a direct bearing on the achievement of the MDGs, such as health, drinking water, agriculture and irrigation techniques, fisheries, food security, combating locusts, infrastructure, training, transport and housing. The private sector in Morocco also promotes such cooperation through the investment and expertise that it brings, making an enormous contribution to the ongoing economic impact. In terms of training, more than 9,000 foreign students from 73 countries, including 37 African nations, are now studying in Morocco in public post- secondary, technical and vocational institutions. More than 80 per cent of those students receive scholarships from the Moroccan Government. With respect to promoting trade within Africa, Morocco, under a royal decree of 2000, has taken the decision to open its national markets to exports from Africa’s least developed countries, free of excise duties and restrictions. That decision has had a positive impact on exports from such countries to Morocco. Also thanks to royal directives, Morocco has forgiven the bilateral debt of a number of African countries on several occasions. Emergency humanitarian aid is another priority for His Majesty the King, who has responded to every appeal for assistance during disasters. In conclusion, I would like to emphasize Morocco’s ongoing commitment to developing the African continent. I reiterate my country’s call for the establishment of a genuine global partnership for Africa that is capable of dealing with the challenges facing the continent and that includes a specific timetable for implementation and an effective follow- up mechanism.

It is my pleasant duty to congratulate you, Mr. President, and to wish you the greatest success in your presidency. On behalf of Senegal, I would also like to thank you for convening this important debate on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), as well as to express my delegation’s thanks to the Secretariat and the Secretary-General for the quality of the reports before us (A/65/152, A/65/165, A/65/167) and the relevant recommendations they contain. NEPAD, based on an African culture of development, is the bearer of a new concept of the nature and orientation of the relationship Africa should have with the rest of the world, that is, one based on a true partnership going forward. This ambitious programme involves not only Africa, which bears primary responsibility for its own development, but also calls for action by the rest of the international community to support our continent in its untiring efforts to free itself from the trap of endemic underdevelopment. It has been said today that during the first nine years of NEPAD’s existence, Africa has made significant progress on many fronts, particularly in the areas of eliminating hot spots and returning to economic growth, good governance and democracy, as well as promoting human rights and gender equality. We must, however, agree that despite encouraging signs mentioned in the Secretary-General’s report (A/65/167), progress continues to be slow and difficulties continue to be a drag on our continent’s future. Indeed, in many other areas the picture is a sombre one, aggravated by the recent crises that have kept Africa mired in inextricable difficulties and put it at a crossroads in its quest for development. Even more disturbing and serious are the soaring statistics on poverty, which now affects almost two fifths of Africa’s population; HIV infections, afflicting more than 20 million people; malaria, with nine deaths out of 10, on a global scale, occurring in Africa; and on infant and maternal mortality. To these recurring problems are added the familiar litany of other factors that continue to vex the international debate on development. Among others, we have rising famine and unemployment, farming subsidies that severely undermine free trade, an intolerable debt burden and the energy crisis, which results in collateral damage such as abrupt, uncontrolled fluctuations in oil prices. Clearly, Africa will have a tough time getting its economy to take off if it cannot leave behind these innumerable constraints. It is by respecting its promises and its consequent financing efforts that the international community can really help Africa, as the Secretary-General has called for. Today, the implementation of NEPAD’s sectoral priorities has opened up several areas whose success requires genuine international support. As one example, according to the World Bank, Africa’s infrastructure needs have now reached $93 billion, while the continent itself can provide only $45 billion. That is just one of many possible examples that show that the hoped-for effects of the global partnership have been slow to reach the level of declared expectations and ambitions. As I noted previously, the need for international support does not diminish in any way the primary responsibility that each State bears for implementing its own development. With regard to the report, Senegal welcomes the Secretary-General’s recommendations, which call on African countries to strengthen the capacity of regional economic communities to carry out NEPAD’s regional projects. Almost a decade since NEPAD’s launch, the integration of its executive secretariat into the African Union and the creation, in February, of the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency are a response to African countries’ firm determination to strengthen their institutional capacity. That desire is also reflected in the strengthening of the African Peer Review Mechanism, which is a powerful instrument for promoting good governance; the 10 per cent increase in public agricultural spending, in accordance with the Maputo Declaration; and the effort to protect the environment through the ambitious project to build the Green Wall, which will cross the Sahel from Dakar to Djibouti. Development in Africa of necessity requires the establishment of stability and lasting peace. In this regard, we welcome the return of our neighbour Guinea-Bissau to constitutional order, as well as the democratization process that has unfolded in our sister republic of Guinea, which is preparing to organize the second round of its presidential elections in the coming weeks. Senegal, which has an unshakable faith in the genius of the Guinean people, reiterates its unswerving support in brotherhood and friendship for Guinea at this delicate stage in its journey towards stability, harmony and progress. My country is likewise pleased with the upcoming presidential election to be held in Côte d’Ivoire. We have no doubt that this great African people, in a glorious surge of patriotism, will do what they must to demonstrate once more to the watching world their capacity to outdo themselves, as well as their attachment to the cardinal virtues of democracy, justice and peace, so dear to the founding father of the Ivorian State, former President Houphouët Boigny. We express the same desire for peace and restored stability for the Niger, Madagascar, Somalia and the Sudan, which all deserve the constant attention of the United Nations for a definitive return to peace. In her well-known work entitled What if Africa Rejected Development?, about which the most informed analysts on issues of African development are divided, writer Axelle Kabou asks sceptically about Africa’s future while also questioning all the actors involved. For us in Senegal the answer is no. No, we are not rejecting development. Africa, that strangled continent, to paraphrase René Dumont, is moving with great determination and selfless abnegation to emerge from the labyrinth of poverty. However, Africa is running up against major obstacles, both of its own making as well as caused by outside forces. The only way for Africa to extricate itself from that situation is through a framework of a genuine, sincere, fair and equitable partnership, far removed from seldom respected promises and commitments. During a ministerial meeting on the least developed countries held recently in Lisbon, Portugal, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization Kandeh Yumkella expressed his astonishment at the fact that “Africa is both the richest and the poorest continent” on Earth with, inter alia, 25 per cent of the world’s oil reserves and 30 to 40 per cent of its bauxite reserves. That speaks to the urgency of the need for the international community to correct this major contradiction and to seriously work for Africa to economically take off.

The priority given today to African issues in the work of the United Nations and other international forums, including the Group of Eight (G-8) and the Group of 20, is absolutely appropriate. On the African continent, developments are unfolding that will define not only the face of Africa for the long term but also the general progress of humankind in implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The search for effective solutions aimed at ensuring sustainable socio-economic development in Africa was justifiably considered a key challenge at September’s High-level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs. We have managed to achieve some positive results in the past five years. At the same time, there is a serious delay in implementing the MDGs in areas such as reducing child and maternal mortality, curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and achieving health and sanitation targets. It is important that, in the summit outcome document (resolution 65/1), we clearly reiterated our commitment to achieving the MDGs in Africa, which is disproportionately suffering from the negative consequences of the global financial and economic crisis, from food and energy insecurity and from climate change. One of the critical challenges to the timely achievement of the MDGs in Africa is to implement the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Russia has consistently championed this African Union initiative, which reflects the desire of African States to independently determine their future and take on major responsibility for ensuring peace and security, managing the economy, the rational use of natural resources, combating corruption and effectively utilizing the funds allocated for development assistance. President Dmitry Medvedev, congratulating African leaders on Africa Day, welcomed their steady progress towards deepening political and economic integration within the African Union and other organizations, calling it a credible instrument for dealing with the many challenges facing the region. The United Nations system has an important role with regard to international support for NEPAD. We are pleased to note the progress achieved by the Organization in this area, as well as the uninterrupted and coherent nature of its work in promoting the implementation of the goals of the partnership. Mobilizing financial resources in support of NEPAD is of critical importance. Unfortunately, in spite of the increase in assistance to Africa in the past few years, the volume of assistance still does not meet the commitments made. Russia will continue to make its contribution to international efforts in this area. To date, our country has written off $20 billion worth of our African partners’ debt. Consultations on establishing a mechanism for debt-for-aid swaps are being conducted with Benin, Zambia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Ethiopia. The total forecasted write-off is about $547 million. We anticipate a Russian contribution of $50 million to the Rapid Social Response Multi Donor Trust Fund to support vulnerable countries, especially sub Saharan African States, to provide assistance in overcoming the consequences of the global financial and economic crisis. Countries in that region are receiving targeted humanitarian assistance. The Russian gross domestic product contribution of the past two years has been used to help Guinea, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Russia’s financial participation is continuing in other Africa-focused efforts in the G-8 and under World Bank programmes and multilateral international initiatives on health, education and poverty eradication. African countries also enjoy wide-ranging preferential trade treatment. Traditional export goods from least developed countries are not assessed Russian import or customs tariffs. Trade with Russia has exceeded $6 billion. Programmes are continuing to assist in the training of staff. At present, Russian institutions of higher learning host more than 4,500 African students, about half of whom receive financial support from our federal budget. African students were allocated 750 Russian State scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic year. Meeting the challenges of socio economic progress and increasing the level of well-being in Africa can be promoted as well by developing investment partnerships with Russian companies. The scope of such partnerships has increased significantly in a whole range of economic sectors, including developing oil and gas deposits, extracting minerals and building hydroelectric and atomic energy facilities, as well as in more sophisticated fields such as outer space, high-tech astrophysics and nuclear research. The volume of Russian investment in Angola, Algeria, Gabon, Guinea, Egypt, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, Namibia, the Niger, Nigeria and South Africa is in the billions of dollars. Russia attaches great importance to implementing the goals of the Decade to Roll Back Malaria. By the end of this year, we will have completed the payment of our contribution of $20 million for the implementation of the World Bank programme for malaria control in Africa. We have also set aside $4 million for the World Health Organization’s programme to that end. In that regard, Russia’s contributions have been focused on Zambia and Mozambique and have been used for the purchase of about 300,000 long-acting mosquito nets. The overall efforts of the international community have meant that in Zambia, for example, malaria is no longer the major cause of early infant mortality. During the recent meeting of the third Voluntary Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Russia stated its intention to contribute up to $60 million for the period 2011-2013, bringing our aggregate support to the Fund to $310 million. We value our multifaceted ties with Africa, our reliable and time-tested partner. Russia’s policy is to focus on further developing its interaction with Africa to make it long-term and strategic. President Dmitry Medvedev reiterated that policy in his July address to African leaders, in which he especially emphasized the ever-broadening nature, new positive momentum and diversified nature of our cooperation.