A/69/PV.26 General Assembly

Today’s joint debate offers us a unique opportunity to share views on issues of importance to the African continent, while taking stock of the progress made and challenges ahead. During the high-level panel discussion on the theme “The Africa we want”, which launched the Africa-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) week on 13 October, some thoughts on the state of Africa and its future were shared. The important role the international community can play towards the Africa of the future was also highlighted. When Africa celebrated 50 years since the founding of the Organization of African Unity and the African *1457494* 14-57494 (E) Union, in May of the past year, it reaffirmed the continent’s commitment to the African Renaissance. It also set out to develop the Agenda 2063 Vision, as a new 50-year socioeconomic development vision that seeks to establish an integrated, prosperous and peaceful continent. I am confident in saying that Africa is rising and Africa is ready to deliver on its promise. The international community has played a crucial role in supporting Africa’s growth and development, and that partnership remains of critical importance. Through NEPAD, Africa established a coordinated socioeconomic framework for its development. As noted in the Secretary-General’s report, important progress has been made in the overall implementation of NEPAD in several key sectors. Infrastructure development is an area that will facilitate the diversification of African economies and unleash their full productive capacity. With the adoption of NEPAD’s Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) in July 2012, African leaders laid a foundation for the development of critical regional and continental infrastructure. Africa needs hydropower stations and transmission lines to facilitate production. It needs roads, railways and ports to facilitate commerce and trade. It needs core information and communication technology infrastructure to support trade in goods and services, as well as governance structures. The efforts made under NEPAD in coordinating the development of infrastructure across the continent through PIDA’s priority action are commendable. Over the last 12 months, of the 51 projects and programmes envisioned, 16 national and regional projects were identified as quick wins for financing and implementation. Those projects were subsequently showcased at the Dakar Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure, held in June. Growth in the agricultural sector has long been identified as a key area of focus in the development transformation of African countries. It is important that the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme continue to receive attention as a guiding framework for the development of that sector. Those projects and others will require enormous amounts of resources, but financing by Governments alone is not enough. Other sources of funding, especially from the private sector, including specialized funds, should be tapped. The Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative, adopted to prioritize and fast-track the implementation of key regional projects, is a step in the right direction. Strengthened bilateral and regional cooperation to develop joint cross-border projects will also be important going forward. Improving access to sustainable sources of clean, reliable and affordable energy will also be crucial to Africa’s economic and social development. The United Nations Sustainable Energy for All initiative, which aims to ensure universal energy access by 2030, has highlighted the importance of access to electricity. Malaria remains one of the most serious health problems facing the world today. According to the World Health Organization, 80 per cent of the estimated 207 million malaria cases worldwide in 2012 were in Africa. Malaria is endemic, especially in tropical Africa, with an estimated 90 per cent of the total malaria incidence and deaths occurring there. Pregnant women and children are especially at risk. Since 2000, when the General Assembly adopted the first resolution on malaria (resolution 55/284), the world has witnessed significant political commitment to the fight against the disease. We should all be proud of the fact that, just 10 years after the adoption of the resolution, more than 1.1 million deaths from malaria were averted. Our success should not lead us to complacency. We should redouble our efforts on malaria and strive to reach our ultimate goal of its total eradication. We must press on with conviction and the determination that this preventable and treatable disease can be eradicated in our lifetime.

It is my singular honour and pleasure to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of African States. This debate marks the successful culmination of the 2014 Africa-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) week, which has truly raised NEPAD’s profile here at the United Nations at a very critical juncture, when Member States are preparing to undertake the important task of formulating the post- 2015 development agenda. The African States are truly exulted to see you, Mr. President, presiding over these momentous deliberations. We are indeed grateful to the Secretary-General for his reports on the items under discussion today (A/69/161, A/69/162 and A/69/163) and for his continued leadership and commitment in placing Africa’s agenda at the heart of the United Nations system. We fully acknowledge and can proudly attest to the United Nations invaluable partnership with, and support to, Africa and its endeavours, which will undoubtedly grow stronger in the years to come. The Group would also like to pay tribute to Mr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, whose visionary leadership is most commendable. We associate ourselves fully with the statement he will make on behalf of the Agency. The year 2014 is truly special for Africa and the world. In this celebrated year we have witnessed the fulfilment of the Rio+20 mandates related to the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, the meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing, the convening of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council and the convening of the first-ever United Nations Environment Assembly. Africa was engaged in all of those processes and will gladly engage in the impending task of integrating the inputs in the post-2015 development agenda, and ultimately in their implementation. In that regard, the African Group fully endorses and applauds the President’s choice of the theme of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly, namely, “Delivering on and implementing a transformative post-2015 development agenda”. In January, African Heads of State and Government endorsed the Common African Position (CAP) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which identifies substantive issues of importance to the continent and arrives at a consensus on Africa’s key priorities, concerns and strategies to be reflected in the outcomes of the post-2015 negotiation process. Guided by the CAP, Africa will contribute to the discussions on how to address the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with a focus on the eradication of poverty in all its forms and achieving the African Union vision of an integrated, prosperous, stable and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena. The launching of the CAP coincided with the formulation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 Vision, an approach to how the continent should effectively learn from the lessons of the past, build upon the progress now under way and strategically exploit all possible opportunities available in the immediate and medium term, with a view to ensuring positive socioeconomic transformation within the next five decades. We count on the United Nations and other partners to support the realization of Africa’s aspirations, especially the implementation of the African Union-NEPAD agenda. In the light of the multitude of challenges confronting the continent, African Heads of State and Government adopted NEPAD as Africa’s vision and strategic framework for political and socioeconomic transformation in priority areas, including agriculture and food security, climate change and natural resource management, and regional integration and infrastructure. More than two decades later, NEPAD remains committed to facilitating and implementing Africa’s priority programmes and to consolidating the positive steps already taken towards continental transformation. The African Group notes with great satisfaction that agriculture remains at the centre of Africa’s development agenda. Agriculture makes up a significant portion of the economies of all African countries and has the potential to contribute towards major continental priorities, including the eradication of poverty and hunger, boosting intra-Africa trade and investment, accelerating industrialization and economic diversification, sustainable resource and environmental management, creating jobs for thousands of youth and improving livelihoods. During the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly, we welcomed and celebrated the tenth anniversary of the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Programme (CAADP). This year, at the climax of the commemoration of the Africa Year of Agriculture 2014, we celebrated the rekindling of CAADP through the adoption of the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union at its twenty-third ordinary session. held in June in Equatorial Guinea. The main thrust of the Declaration is the undertaking by African Governments to sustain the momentum of CAADP for the next decade through increasing financial investment in agriculture, including through mobilization of domestic resources and allocation of 10 per cent of public expenditure to the sector; ending hunger by 2025; halving poverty by the year 2025 through inclusive agricultural growth; ensuring a 6 per cent growth in the sector per annum; boosting intra-Africa trade; enhancing resilience and reducing climate vulnerability; and fostering mutual accountability. We wish to underscore the importance of partnerships and international cooperation in attaining CAADP’s objectives. Infrastructure development remains a key priority for Africa, and NEPAD is playing a pivotal role through the implementation of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). We duly note the efforts undertaken since October 2013, including to secure funds to implement 16 infrastructure pilot projects identified as quick wins for financing and implementation. We welcome the Dakar Financing Summit held in June 2014, which adopted the Dakar Agenda for Action to finance those infrastructure pilot projects. We note the major hurdles in financing the implementation of PIDA projects and therefore call for the mobilization of resources from all sources, both public and private. Over a decade ago, African Heads of State and Government established the African Peer Review Mechanism, NEPAD’s flagship governance programme, which aims at promoting good governance across the continent. Through the CAP, African countries have resolved to adopt additional measures to fight corruption, promote good political and socioeconomic governance, transparency and accountability, especially in the field of natural resources management, and to increase the involvement of civil society. We welcome the enrolment of Equatorial Guinea in the Mechanism, which brings the number of volunteering African States to 34. We note with concern the slow pace in terms of reviewing members States and would encourage the Agency to seek ways of addressing the causal factors of such delays, including financial constraints. The African Group thanks the Secretary- General for his report entitled “Causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa” (A/69/162). We acknowledge the inextricable links between development and peace, security and stability. Through the CAP, we have reaffirmed that peace and security are essential in achieving the continent’s development aspirations, especially for ravaged countries or those emerging from conflict. In that regard, we are committed to addressing the root causes of conflict and preventing the outbreak of armed conflict, including through the African Peace and Security Architecture. Malaria remains a serious health concern for Africa. It is undoubtedly among the issues that will require our continued attention beyond the implementation of the MDGs. It is utterly unacceptable that the disease, which is entirely preventable and treatable, should continue to kill thousands of people, especially children, in our continent. We welcome the continued commitment of the international community to eradicating malaria and other diseases, as underlined in the proposals of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. We also welcome the declaration of the 2013 Special Summit of the African Union on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which reaffirmed the commitment of African Governments to accelerate the implementation of existing frameworks, including the Abuja Declaration and Plan of Action on Roll Back Malaria in Africa. We note with great concern that the level of funding to fight malaria is far below the resources required to achieve universal coverage through interventions. We therefore call upon developed countries and other partners to fulfil all of the commitments made towards eradication of that scourge. The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa speaks to the urgency of internationally concerted action to help African countries improve their health systems and build core capacity to enhance access to water, sanitation and health services. The African Group believes that the Ebola outbreak is another wake-up call and that business as usual should not prevail again as we formulate the set of goals to guide global development action for many years to come. The needs of the most vulnerable must get due attention and be the subject of adequate means of implementation in the post-2015 development agenda in a manner that is commensurate with the huge challenges. Allow me to commend the emergency actions taken by the Secretary-General and the decisions by the General Assembly and the Security Council to establish the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response to stem the spread of the outbreak, treat the infected, provide essential services, preserve stability and prevent outbreaks in non-affected countries. Let me conclude by underscoring further the importance of fulfilling the commitments made to Africa, including relating to official development assistance. In the light of the multitude of challenges facing the continent, Member States, via the Rio+20 outcome, underscored the importance of the international community supporting Africa’s sustainable development efforts and recognized that greater attention must be given to Africa, including the implementation of previously agreed commitments related to its development needs. We therefore call on development partners to fulfil their promises and commitments in the spirit of the Monterrey Consensus and the Group of Eight Gleneagles Summit. That will go a long way in terms of restoring trust, building confidence and fostering mutual respect in global partnerships.

I am both pleased and honoured to speak on behalf of the member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in today’s joint debate on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa, and the 2001-2010 Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa. Our delegations extend their gratitude to the Secretary- General for his insightful reports (A/69/161, A/69/162 and A/69/163) under the respective agenda items. The Caribbean and Africa are joined by strong ties of history and culture. Those ties, reinforced by common struggles for political independence and economic emancipation and against colonialism and apartheid, now find continuing expression in our mutual quest for peace, justice and sustainable development. They undergird the traditionally fraternal relations that exist between our two regions. Today’s debate takes place against the background of an unprecedented Ebola epidemic, which is currently ravaging countries in West Africa. The epidemic threatens to reverse peacebuilding and development gains on the continent and poses serious risks on a more global scale. CARICOM takes this opportunity to express our solidarity with the affected countries, most notably Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and with the continent as a whole. We call for a massively scaled-up and multipronged global response in order to turn tide of the disease, strengthen health systems as a matter of priority and undo any adverse impacts on peace and development. CARICOM renews its principled support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. African ownership and leadership are fundamental to the success of the NEPAD framework. We therefore emphasize the importance of aligning international support with the priorities determined by Africans themselves. Our Community also welcomes the elaboration of the continent’s Agenda 2063 as an endogenous shared strategic framework for inclusive growth and sustainable development for Africa’s transformation over the next 50 years. Agenda 2063 seeks to realize the pan-African vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa and includes, importantly, a near- term objective of a conflict-free Africa. CARICOM believes that the Agenda is deserving of strong support from the international community, alongside the efforts of African countries, with a view to ensuring that its objectives are fully realized. In that context, the immediate threats to peace need to be effectively addressed and viable mechanisms for conflict prevention and peacebuilding need to be established or strengthened. Existing conflict situations, the threat of terrorism and violent extremism and transnational organized crime will test the determination of both Africa and the international community to see peace and development take a permanent and irreversible course on the continent. Even as Africa continues to grapple with significant challenges to peace and development, the continent has witnessed major development gains in recent times. The has region shown strong resilience, with gross domestic product growth averaging 4 per cent in 2013. According to the 2014 African Economic Outlook, growth in Africa is expected to return to the pre-crisis level of 6.5 per cent. While that makes for a promising outlook, such a growth rate is still below the 7 per cent target regarded as critical for sustained poverty reduction and progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Moreover, the impact of Ebola on Africa’s socioeconomic and security prospects has yet to be fully assessed. There is therefore a clear need to strengthen international support in order to consolidate and ensure the sustainability of the gains that have been made to date. Global official development assistance commitments, including those made to Africa in particular, need to be honoured in full. In addition, based on the findings of the Secretary-General’s report, significantly greater progress needs to be made in addressing the debt problems of the continent. The international trading system needs to be made more responsive to the development imperative in order to realize its potential gains in Africa. Expanding the flows of foreign direct investment will also be an important priority in ensuring that Africa’s productive potential is harnessed to full advantage. The role of South-South cooperation will remain integral to the global response to Africa’s development challenges. CARICOM notes with appreciation the major initiatives under way through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme to buttress agricultural development and food security as a key plank of the region’s development strategy. We also note the intensified efforts by African counties to accelerate infrastructure development, including in the critical energy sector. The Dakar Agenda for Action, adopted in June 2014, provides a framework for the financing of key regional infrastructure projects, which are critical to unleashing Africa’s growth potential. CARICOM continues to support Africa’s quest to improve governance and accountability, reflecting our shared commitments in that regard. Increasing subscription by African countries to the processes of the African Peer Review Mechanism is a testament to the efficacy of that instrument in promoting good governance on the continent. We also share Africa’s commitment to activating the potential role of women and youth in the promotion of durable peace and socioeconomic transformation. CARICOM expresses the hope that the stability being experienced by most African countries will be sustained and that setbacks to peace and security will be overcome. We support United Nations and African Union efforts in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, which are critical to the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development. We reaffirm our support for Africa’s aspiration to permanent seats and an enhanced non-permanent presence on the Security Council. The burden of disease is a continuing obstacle to Africa’s progress, as it is in our own region. Malaria continues to pose a significant challenge to Africa and a broader host of developing countries. The World Health Organization estimates that 207 million cases in 2012 led to approximately 627,000 deaths, most of them in Africa. While significant gains have been made since 2000 in the fight against malaria, it is evident that stepped-up action is essential to achieving MDG targets in this area and eventually achieving a total eradication of the disease. HIV/AIDS is another major threat to health and well-being in Africa and the Caribbean. In May of this year, CARICOM joined forces with the African Union to explore the role of shared responsibility and the global solidarity agenda in ending the AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean, drawing on the lessons from the African Union Roadmap on Shared Responsibility and Global Solidarity for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Response in Africa. That process of collaboration facilitated further links between countries of both regions regarding their HIV and health responses. The mutual threat posed by non-communicable diseases in our respective regions is another area of common concern and collaboration. In conclusion, CARICOM reaffirms its commitment to collaboration with Africa in addressing common challenges to peace and development and in contributing together to a more prosperous and secure world.

I now give the floor to the observer of the European Union.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union (EU) and its member States. The joint Africa-European Union strategy adopted at the 2007 Summit in Lisbon forms the strategic framework for our steadily expanding cooperation and dialogue with Africa. It sets out a comprehensive partnership of equals, moving away from the traditional donor-recipient approach to engage in a systematic political dialogue. Our partnership is guided by the fundamental principles of the unity of Africa, the interdependence between Africa and Europe and shared values and interests, as well as joint ownership and responsibilities. Those are also core principles of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). At the fourth Africa-EU Summit, held in April in Brussels, EU and African leaders renewed their commitments to work together and agreed to focus on five priorities, namely, peace and security; democracy, good governance and human rights; human development; sustainable and inclusive development and growth and continental integration; and global and emerging issues. We also committed to consult and work in partnership during the upcoming negotiations with a view to reaching a consensual outcome in September 2015. The European Union and its member States recognize the essential role played by the African Union and its New Partnership for Africa’s Development in the definition of continental policy frameworks and programmes, while respecting in full the notions of subsidiarity and ownership and as a monitor of commitments made towards African development needs. Our support includes the African Peer Review Mechanism as the main African-led framework to monitor and promote good governance in the continent. We also support the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. Our aim is to support Africa’s political and economic integration through enhanced trade, a strengthened political partnership, increased cooperation in promising new areas and support for institutional capacity-building at the national, regional and continental levels. The European Union and its member States remain the biggest trading and development partner with the African continent. The promotion of democratic and transparent systems of Government and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are key components of the joint Africa-EU strategy. The aim is to facilitate an open, broad-based dialogue on all pertinent issues, including human rights and the full enjoyment of such rights. We welcome the progress made by the African Union in addressing the many security challenges on the continent, both through African-led peace support operations and through the establishment of the African Peace and Security Architecture. We have significantly supported those processes since 2004 with more than €1.2 billion. We look forward to pursuing our cooperation in other areas of common interest, as stated in the ambitious road map set out at the 2014 Africa-EU Summit. We will therefore continue to closely follow the African-owned policy frameworks and to support their implementation, particularly in the context of the joint Africa-EU strategic partnership. Africa continues to face a huge burden of potentially preventable or treatable diseases that are causing death and untold suffering while simultaneously blocking economic development. Malaria and other deadly viruses such as Ebola and HIV impose a tremendous burden on Africa, particularly on women, children and the most vulnerable. Significant progress has been made in the global fight against malaria in recent years, including in Africa. Experience has shown that prevention efforts can achieve impressive results when they are underpinned by strong and effective health systems. But progress will rapidly be reversed if we relax our joint efforts. There is still much to do to reduce even further the number of cases of, and deaths due to, malaria. That cannot be achieved without sustained investment and political will. Combating diseases such as malaria through strengthened national health systems is, in our view, one of the most effective ways to alleviate poverty and promote equitable and sustainable development. We need to further invest in the health workforce and build capacity to ensure equitable access to prevention, treatment and care through the implementation of universal health coverage. As the world’s largest donor, both in general and in the health sector in particular, the European Union and its member States will continue to work with the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, with the United Nations system and with other relevant organizations and mechanisms, including non-governmental organizations and citizens, to support national responses in strengthening health systems to properly address malaria and other diseases. Let me conclude by emphasizing that the European Union and its member States remain fully committed to supporting Africa and Africans in their quest for peace, democratic governance, human rights and sustainable development.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the 10 member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam and my own country, Myanmar. First and foremost, we would like to thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive reports (A/69/161, A/69/162 and A/69/163), which provide us with valuable updates, practical recommendations and, most of all, the way forward for the development of Africa. ASEAN attaches great importance to its long- standing relations with Africa. Our friendship has been forged since the Bandung Conference between the Asian and African States in Indonesia six decades ago, where we shared the same aspiration for the development and future of our regions. The foundation of our relations was formed on the basis of mutual respect and trust and has been further enhanced through regular dialogue in regional and international forums. Based on that traditional solidarity and friendship, ASEAN voices its support for the full and effective implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which is a collective vision and strategic framework for Africa’s development in the twenty-first century. We in ASEAN are very pleased to learn that Africa has witnessed remarkable economic growth in recent years, with an average growth rate of 4 per cent in 2013. That achievement could be attributed to the implementation of NEPAD. We also commend the progress that many of our African friends have made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At the same time, we are fully aware of the challenges faced by some African countries in attaining the Goals by 2015. ASEAN therefore joins the call for the continent’s development partners to make every effort to deliver on their pledges to those African countries that have yet to meet most of the Goals, by means of increased official development assistance (ODA) or foreign direct investment (FDI). It is of great importance to come up with a common position on the post-2015 development agenda that can address the mutual concerns of both the African and Asian regions. It is imperative to ensure that our efforts to that end are sustainable, inclusive and people-centred. ASEAN is prepared to work side by side with our African partners in that endeavour. In that regard, it is important that the priorities identified by the Common African Position on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, adopted by the African Union, be given special attention and be fully reflected in the formulation of the development agenda. Peace and security are at the centre of all development. Without that, progress will be impossible. ASEAN notes that some areas in the African region remain affected by instability and armed conflict. In addition, the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus has presented an additional hurdle to development. We encourage and commend the work of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development since its adoption, in 2001, in addressing those concerns. ASEAN is also gratified to learn of the progress made by the African countries in implementing NEPAD, as highlighted in the Secretary-General’s report (A/69/161). It is also encouraging that ODA to Africa has increased despite its downward trend in the past two years, and that FDI inflows have maintained an upward trend. The progress made in the implementation of the NEPAD and the success of the African Peer Review Mechanism have demonstrated the able leadership and capability of African leaders to bring peace and development to their own continent. At the same time, a strengthened and sustained global partnership still plays a significant role in bringing about peace, stability and development in the African continent. We also welcome the recent organization of the Africa-NEPAD week and the outcome of the review of the NEPAD Agency’s partnerships under the 2014-2017 strategic framework, which prioritizes environmental issues and human resource development while emphasizing a rules- and results-based management approach. In addition, ASEAN welcomes the formulation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the aspiration to a conflict-free Africa. We hope that the international community and the United Nations system will lend their full support to the implementation of Agenda 2063, as it is a development vision driven by Africa’s own citizens. In that light, we hope that our cooperation under bilateral, South-South and triangular cooperation frameworks through capacity-building programmes and scholarships can contribute to the work of the NEPAD in bringing about practical benefits to African countries on behalf of their development agenda. Malaria is a common disease that imposes a very high burden on both of the ASEAN and African regions. The malaria situation for ASEAN countries is mixed and varied, but we are still facing common challenges in finding a solution together. ASEAN therefore welcomes the recent adoption of resolution 68/308, entitled “Consolidating gains and accelerating efforts to control and eliminate malaria in developing countries, particularly in Africa, by 2015”. The resolution urges Governments ‑ together with United Nations agencies, private organizations and foundations ‑ to work together to overcome challenges and speed up efforts towards the targets set out in the Roll Back Malaria Partnership’s Global Malaria Action Plan and in the MDGs. In that connection, we welcome the successful conclusion in our capital, Yangon, on 29 September, of a regional forum on opportunities for corporate sector engagement in malaria control in the Asia-Pacific region. The one-day forum was organized by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and its partners and sought to identify tangible opportunities for strengthening public-private partnerships to support regional malaria-control strategies. ASEAN also welcomes the valuable assistance that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria provided to developing countries in their efforts to eradicate those diseases. We also appreciate the Secretary-General’s quick response in establishing the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response in Accra. We must all unite to fight the Ebola epidemic, as it has become a threat to development and to human security beyond Africa. ASEAN member States will extend their full support to Africa’s efforts to combat pandemic diseases and are ready to share and exchange information and experiences in addressing them. Last but not least, ASEAN joins the Secretary- General’s call to continue the international community’s support to help accelerate efforts to achieve the MDGs and sustainable growth in Africa and to align such assistance with the priorities of NEPAD. In concluding, ASEAN would like to reiterate its solidarity and support to the endeavours of our African friends and the international community in achieving greater progress in implementing the NEPAD agenda for the benefit of the peoples of Africa.

I am honoured to participate in this joint debate of the General Assembly, which coincides with the culmination of Africa’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development week 2014. I am very pleased to see you, Mr. President, presiding over a meeting devoted to an agenda item that is so important for Africa and that blends seamlessly with the theme of the Assembly’s current session, that is, “Delivering on and implementing a transformative post-2015 development agenda”. Africa is an important partner in that vital global development agenda. As the Ambassador of Malawi and Chair of the African Group alluded to in the statement he delivered on behalf of the Group, to which Tanzania fully subscribes, Africa is ready to engage in formulating the post-2015 development agenda. We thank the Secretary-General for his reports on the agenda items under consideration today (A/69/161, A/69/162 and A/69/163) and for his stewardship and commitment to keeping Africa on the agenda of all United Nations activities. We also commend Mr. Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency, and the entire NEPAD secretariat for their continued good work in implementing NEPAD’s programmes on behalf of the African Union. We also pay tribute to the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and the other regional and international partners who support the implementation of NEPAD’s agenda. This joint debate takes place at a very critical juncture, as the world is bracing itself for the decisive intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, to commence early next year. That momentous process will follow the fulfilment of the Rio+20 mandates, including the work of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, which delivered a salutary set of goals and targets to be integrated into the post-2015 development agenda. We note with great satisfaction that the proposal took into account most of Africa’s development aspirations encapsulated in the Common African Position on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. This gives us hope that Africa will have full ownership of the goals once they are adopted in September of next year. We are confident that proposals from other Rio+20 follow-up processes, including the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing, the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, the High-level Political Forum ‑ which met under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council for the first time, in June ‑ and the International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Addis Ababa in July 2015, will contribute to a transformative post-2015 development agenda that meets the aspirations of both developing and developed countries. Of paramount importance for Tanzania and Africa is the eradication of poverty in all forms. Poverty is a chronic challenge that could not be surmounted in the era of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is imperative, therefore, that the post-2015 agenda address the unfinished business of the MDGs on the aspect of poverty and hunger, maternal and child health, the eradication of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and ensuring a strengthened global partnership for development. Tanzania would like to underscore the importance of means of implementation, a prerequisite for the attainment of sustainable development. Our countries have resolved to enhance the mobilization of domestic resources. However, we are fully aware that such resources in themselves are insufficient to meet the development needs of our countries and continent. We shall continue to call of development partners to fulfil their promises and commitments made to Africa in different forums, in terms of financing, trade, capacity- building and, most critically, technology transfer. Tanzania awaits in anticipation the conclusion of discussions on the establishment of a mechanism for the transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound technologies to developing countries. I can only underscore at this juncture that this must be part and parcel of the post-2015 development agenda as envisaged in “The future we want” (resolution 66/288, annex). NEPAD is Africa’s pride. Over the years since its adoption, it has progressively contributed to the realization of Africa’s vision and strategic framework for political and socioeconomic transformation on priority areas, including agriculture and food security, regional integration and infrastructure, climate change and natural resource management, and political and economic governance. We are confident that NEPAD’s agenda will continue to align itself fully with Africa’s development aspirations in the post-2015 development agenda, as inspired by Africa’s 2063 Agenda. Last year we celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). This year we have celebrated Africa’s Year of Agriculture and Food Security, with the adoption in June of the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, which re-enacts the CAADP agenda for the next decade. The Tanzanian Government is already implementing the transformative actions encapsulated in the Declaration, including on increasing investment in agriculture through domestic resource mobilization and enhanced partnership, as well as the promotion of climate-smart agriculture. Since signing the CAADP compact in July 2010, the Government has launched the Tanzania Food Security Investment Plan, a 15-year investment plan whose ultimate objective is to contribute to national economic growth, household income and food security, in line with national and sectoral development aspirations. National programmes such as the Southern Agriculture Growth Corridor of Tanzania and the Kilimo Kwanza resolution are truly transforming Tanzania’s agriculture sector. We can only underscore here the importance of national leadership and ownership in realizing these important development aspirations for our people. Infrastructure is also an important sector for Tanzania’s and Africa’s realization of sustainable development aspirations and regional integration. We commend the NEPAD Agency for the steady implementation of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, undertaken with limited available resources. We note that sustainable infrastructure development will require the mobilization of financial resources from all sources, including the private sector. We welcome the Dakar Agenda for Action adopted in June for financing the 16 pilot infrastructure projects in Africa, including in our subregion of Eastern Africa. We call upon development partners to support Africa’s endeavour that regard. Tanzania is fully committed to NEPAD’s African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), whose main objective is to promote good governance across the continent. The APRM process has been a useful tool for building capacity on monitoring governance, developing partnerships and enhancing advocacy for efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in leadership. We note the constraints facing the APRM process, which are affecting the optimal fulfilment of its mandate. We commend the African Peer Review Panel of Eminent Persons, under the leadership of Ms. Fatuma Ndangiza, for steering the work of the Mechanism. Tanzania is among the 17 countries that have already undergone the peer review process. We are currently consolidating the gains registered in the area of governance, which have characterized our nation since its independence. We are currently undertaking constitutional reform, with the ultimate objective of enacting a new constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, which will guide our people towards a secure and prosperous future. The constitution-drafting process has reached a decisive stage, as the Constitutional Assembly has adopted a draft constitution. The next critical stage is a referendum, which will provide the citizenry an opportunity to determine the status of that draft constitution. It has been stated before in this very Hall that Africa has solutions for African challenges. If I may add, our respective States also have solutions for our national challenges. Doors are always open for well- wishers who continue to render a helping hand to Africa and our respective countries in tackling the multitude of challenges we face. Over the past 10 years, we have registered some successes in the fight against malaria. More than 1 million lives have been saved. Mortality has been reduced by more than a quarter globally and by a third in Africa through the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders. In Tanzania, we succeeded in reducing the prevalence of malaria in young children by 44 per cent between 2008 and May 2012. In Zanzibar, deaths due to malaria are nearly zero. For mainland Tanzania, different interventions are being undertaken, including residual spraying on malaria breeding sites, long- lasting insecticide-treated nets being made available at every bedside, early treatment for those infected with malaria, and control and surveillance to prevent re-emergence and epidemics. Similar success stories can be found in other African countries. While those interventions produce dramatic declines in infection, morbidity and mortality, declines are not sufficient to interrupt transmission. Malaria is still a global threat, affecting 99 countries globally and contributing to 655,000 deaths per year. Malaria kills a child in Africa every minute. The African region accounts for almost 81 per cent of malaria cases occurring worldwide. Ninety per cent of malaria deaths occur in the region, with 86 per cent being children below five years of age. It is for this reason that the current strategies alone are unlikely to achieve the goal of elimination. They are also at risk of diminishing efficacy due to the development of drug resistance on the part of parasites and insecticide resistance on the part Anopheles mosquitos. On the other hand, the Government has embarked on an expensive comprehensive programme to deal with the question of access to health care. The programme will ensure that there is a dispensary in every village and a health-care centre in every ward. The programme will certainly be instrumental in the success of our anti-malaria effort, as it will guarantee prompt diagnosis and prompt treatment. It is in this endeavour that we need partnerships and support from the international community. We thank our bilateral and multilateral partners who have provided us with financial and technical support. We call for their continued support to complement the Government’s efforts to implementthe malaria strategy and eradicate malaria in Tanzania. It would be remiss of me to conclude without saying some words regarding the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has struck yet another blow to our economies and our peoples. Ebola is multiplying faster than our collective interventions to prevent and ultimately eradicate it. The outbreak has exposed the fragility of the health systems and the capacity of our countries to respond to deadly outbreaks. We commend you, Mr. President, the Secretary-General and the entire United Nations system, as well as Member States and regional organizations, for responding swiftly in mobilizing political will and resources. Our interventions in the short and medium term must focus on saving the lives of those affected, preventing the spread of the disease and ultimately eliminating it from the face of the Earth. Our long-term goal must be to address the structural handicaps and institutional weaknesses characterizing the health sector in developing countries, especially in Africa.

At the outset, as this is the first time I take the floor, allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session and to wish you success during your tenure. Let me also express my profound gratitude to the Secretary- General for his reports (A/69/161, A/69/162 and A/69/163) and to extend appreciation to the organizers of this event. My delegation aligns itself with the statement delivered earlier by the representatives of Malawi on behalf of the African Group. In this era of global transformation, peace and development have become even more closely interlinked and mutually reinforcing. Against that backdrop, the focus on peace and development could not have been better timed than at the moment when the international community is grappling with challenges ranging from poverty, hunger, the devastating effects of climate change, terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking, disarmament, and the reconstruction and strengthening of fragile economies and societies emerging from conflicts, to the ongoing stock taking of the progress of implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, which the Assembly pledged in 2010 to achieve by 2015. We have come a long way. The voyage has been bumpy and at times turbulent, yet we have remained focused. The effects of climate change, conflicts and pandemics have continued to compromise the efforts of African States. Despite the challenges, we have, as a continent, made significant strides in reducing the resurgence of conflicts during the last decade. My delegation emphasizes the importance of peace and security as a necessary condition for development in Africa. Development is impossible without peace, just as peace is impossible without development, and lasting peace and sustainable development are impossible without respect for human rights and the rule of law. Building stable and peaceful societies in Africa requires action to eradicate poverty and inequality and enhance good governance. As poverty is both a cause and consequence of instability and conflict, the continent cannot achieve peace and development without addressing poverty in its entirety. To that end, the continent will continue to work with the wider international community to prevent outbreaks of armed conflicts. Africa is the region that needs the Millennium Development Goals more than any other region. We have the unique opportunity to ensure that the critical issues confronting our continent — poverty, hunger, the effects of climate change, inequality and youth employment — are adequately addressed in the post- 2015 development framework. Sierra Leone is among the countries of Africa that have made remarkable progress in political stability. We continue to place emphasis on the protection of the basic rights of our people. We have put in place comprehensive justice sector reforms in response to both national and global demands to ensure that the rights of our people are preserved, and above all, to enhance access to justice for all. We are pleased to note that the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights entered into force last year. Within the security, political, humanitarian and development framework, we have adopted measures to address many of the root causes of conflict and lay the foundation for medium and long-term national development. We are heartened by the remarkable progress our country has made, especially in identifying and resolving tensions and threats of potential conflict, monitoring and promoting human rights, building peace and security, and consolidating good governance reforms. These provide us with the appropriate healing therapy for a country that has emerged from a massively devastating conflict. We have gone from being a country on the agenda of the Security Council to a nation that is a storehouse of lessons on how to successfully move away from war to peace and development. Sierra Leone is considered a model of best practices in donor coordination, as well as a success story in peacebuilding. We enjoy accolades in charting the path for a peaceful, secure and democratic Sierra Leone. As we commend ourselves for the gains made, our remarkable post-conflict achievement is in danger of being completely reversed if a vigorous and well-coordinated effort is not made to eradicate the unprecedented Ebola virus. The disease has already claimed thousands of lives and threatens to kill thousands more if drastic action is not taken to contain it. The effect of the disease has not only been terrifying, but has also impacted the entire socioeconomic fabric of the countries currently affected by it. The epidemic is now causing huge disruptions to the agricultural, mining, manufacturing, transportation, tourism and construction sectors. It also poses a significant threat to human development, State security and poverty reduction. Economic disruptions are already being felt. Government revenues are drying up. In short, Ebola has imposed a kind of economic embargo on us. Every major economic activity has either slowed down or come to a complete standstill. Amid our current challenges, we will continue to build on progress made in addressing key development priorities, particularly in the areas of gender equality and women’s empowerment, youth unemployment and empowerment, the management of natural resources, agriculture and food security, the effective delivery of public services, and a robust private sector-led growth that could translate into more tangible peace dividends.

On behalf of my delegation, I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his reports under agenda item 62 (a) and (b), concerning the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), including on the implementation of commitments towards Africa’s development. We have reviewed with interest the reports contained in documents A/69/161 and A/69/163, in which he emphasizes the political measures taken by African countries and organizations to implement NEPAD in the four thematic areas under review: agriculture, food security and nutrition; financing for development; environmental stability and climate change; and good governance. It would be remiss of me not to commend all efforts to implement the programme intended to transform Africa over the next 50 years, endorsed by the twenty-first African Union Summit in May 2013, which will provide a strategic framework for Africa’s growth and sustainable development. The review of the progress in the implementation of NEPAD underlines the necessity of continuing to establish partnerships to address issues related to security, food security, poverty, disease, human rights and the rule of law, as well as environmental issues such as desertification and drought. We should like to thank Under-Secretary- General Maged Abdelaziz, Special Adviser on Africa, and the Permanent Observer of the African Union for convening a high-level dialogue entitled “The Next 50 Years: The Africa We Want” in order to support the efforts of the African Union programme looking to 2063, which will aid economic, social and political development. Having reviewed the Secretary-General’s two reports, we should like to express our grave concern that Africa has not achieved its goal in fighting hunger. We are also dismayed by the findings on agriculture and food security in the report in A/69/163. Arable land has not kept up with population growth, as only 6 per cent of the land can be irrigated. The proportion of the population suffering undernutrition fell modestly, from 33 per cent to 25 per cent from 1990 to 2013, while widespread undernutrition continues to affect more than 13 million people in Africa. The report also states that Africa faces environmental challenges, such as deforestation, soil degradation and loss of biological diversity. We should like to underline the importance of taking into consideration the report’s recommendations, especially in regard to good governance, and that national and international efforts should continue to achieve lasting peace in Africa by supporting democracy, enhancing peace and security, and fighting corruption. A number of African countries, especially in West Africa, face challenges arising from the growing prevalence of Ebola. Therefore, Kuwait, in view of its strong historical ties to Africa, has responded to the international humanitarian appeals to mitigate the consequences of the disease and has contributed $5 million to the World Health Organization in response to its call for funding to eradicate that scourge and provide a dignified life for all peoples. Thirteen years have elapsed since the adoption of NEPAD, which is a comprehensive strategic vision to achieve political and social development in Africa. Twelve years have elapsed since the General Assembly organized a high-level dialogue on NEPAD, on 16 September 2002 (see A/57/PV.10) and adopted resolution 57/7 that November, declaring NEPAD to be the framework for development in Africa. We would like to emphasize that my country strongly supports global cooperation in eradicating poverty, alleviating debt and combating diseases such as AIDS and malaria, which are exacerbated by a lack of support for economic development and development projects. That requires a serious effort on the part of the international community to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, as well as the Millennium Development Goals and Africa’s ambitious Vision 2063. We are proud of our historical ties with a large number of African countries. From 18 to 20 November 2013, we hosted the Third Afro-Arab Summit, under the theme “Partners in development and investment,” in order to deepen Arab and African cooperation and open up new horizons for stability, development and cooperation for the countries of those two groups. On the basis of our belief in the importance of support and humanitarian and development assistance for developing and less developed countries, at the Summit we declared the initiative of His Royal Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, to provide concessional loans to African countries totalling $1 billion over the next five years. Another investment initiative, in coordination with the World Bank and other financial institutions, totalled $1 billion. Furthermore, the annual prize endowed by the late Mr. Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait in the sum of $1 million was allocated to development projects under the supervision of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. In appreciation of the late Mr. Al-Sumait’s prominent and effective role in Africa represented by his philanthropic work, Kuwait attaches great importance to the role of the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development in 48 out of 54 countries, as we believe in joint work for the benefit of developing countries. Our contributions in that fund in Africa total $6.4 billion. In conclusion, I recall that, given our historical ties with Africa ‑ our long heritage, common interests, aspirations and destiny ‑ the international community, governmental and non-governmental organizations and the private sector must work together to help Africa fulfil its aspirations and its development ambitions and advance its economies.

Thailand aligns itself with the statement delivered earlier by the Permanent Representative of Myanmar on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. We thank you, Mr President, for your own important opening statement. Thailand thanks the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report entitled “New Partnership for Africa’s Development: twelfth consolidated progress report on implementation and international support” (A/69/161). We also acknowledge the untiring efforts of the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Africa, Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz, and his presence here this morning. Thailand commends our African brothers and sisters for their untiring efforts to transform Africa into a continent of hope or, in your own words, Mr. President, “Africa rising”. Africa is a continent with enormous potential and innumerable opportunities. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and other regional initiatives have greatly contributed to the success and progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa. However, despite such remarkable progress, Africa continues to face a number of persistent and emerging challenges, including political and armed conflict, terrorism, climate change, epidemics, poverty and famine. Together, we must ensure that such challenges will not undo past success or hinder the future of Africa. As the Secretary-General states in his report, the year 2015 is fast approaching and enormous effort is needed to push forward towards the attainment of the MDGs in Africa. Thailand is committed to fostering a long- term strategic partnership with Africa. In 2013, we launched the Thai-African Initiative, one of our most important foreign policy agendas. This partnership initiative is based on three main pillars of cooperation: development, economic matters and global affairs. Thailand therefore warmly welcomes the formulation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 Vision and Priorities and the Common African Position on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Thailand views such a vision and priorities as fitting well with our Thai-Africa Initiative to formulate and coordinate policy direction towards mutually beneficial areas of cooperation. Agriculture, as the Secretary-General states in one report, is the key to Africa’s transformation. With 2014 being the Year of Agriculture and Food Security, the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency has implemented a number of agriculture-related projects in Africa. Priority, of course, is given to the exchange of know-how on sustainable agricultural development and food processing. Collaboration projects range from development of mushroom-growing in Swaziland to rice cultivation in Mozambique and small-scale fisheries in Madagascar and Mozambique to the upgrading of a laboratory for hatchery operations in Senegal. Such projects are in line with the Secretary- General’s recommendation on the need to increase productivity, thereby enabling Africa to be more self- reliant, and on the need to ease food insecurity concerns. With regard to public health, Thailand is actively cooperating with Africa through expertise-sharing. Our cooperation focuses on strengthening human- resource capacity in the prevention and treatment of serious epidemics and community-based public health management. Thailand also supported and co-sponsored resolution 55/284, “2001-2010: Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, particularly in Africa”, with special emphasis on universal and equitable access to treatment and medication. On that point, Thailand stands ready to share its own experiences and lessons learned in developing universal health coverage. We feel that such coverage can help African countries put in place a medical-service system with universal access and financial risk protection for their people. The health and welfare of our African brothers and sisters are of concern, especially those currently facing the Ebola crisis. Thailand has so far contributed over $152,000 to the World Health Organization to provide rice to help relieve the food-shortage crisis facing the people in Ebola-affected areas. Such humanitarian assistance will continue, from both the Thai Government and private sectors, to help fight that epidemic. With regard to education and human-capital development, we believe that economic growth, sustainable development and long-term peace and security all go hand in hand. They can be achieved only through the development of human capital. Thailand therefore gives high priority to this important area of cooperation by providing scholarships for higher education, and fellowships for training are provided in areas where our expertise could be of value to Africa. We shall continue our development cooperation under various frameworks, be they bilateral, trilateral, multilateral or South-South cooperation. During the general debate in this very Hall last month, many African leaders called on the international community to recognize and respond to Africa’s development priorities in the post-2015 development agenda. This was reiterated this morning by the Permanent Representative of Malawi on behalf of the African States. Thailand echoes those calls, for peace and development in Africa matters not only within the continent but also far beyond. The maintenance of peace and sustainable development in Africa must also be the shared responsibility of the international community. Thailand commends the contributions of the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and other regional organizations, as well as the United Nations, in addressing these two critical issues. In the spirit of solidarity, Thailand has joined global efforts in the maintenance of peace and security in Africa by participating in United Nations peacekeeping missions in the Sudan and in Liberia. We remain committed to strengthening our global partnership for the development in Africa and stand ready to share our experiences and best practices in areas that our African brothers and sisters may deem useful.

The United States of America welcomes this opportunity to share views with colleagues on the progress of and support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Today’s discussion and the issues involved ‑ security, governance and inclusive economic growth, among others ‑ present an opportunity to further bolster Africa’s development trajectory as we envision the continent’s development over the next 50 years. The United States continues to support the New Partnership for Africa’s Development as the strategic framework for socioeconomic development in Africa that reflects the African States’ collective vision. We support NEPAD priorities for democratization, good governance and economic transparency, as well as its initiatives to enhance regional- and national-level infrastructure, food security and nutrition. The United States looks forward to engagement on the Agenda 2063 process. The United States recognizes the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). My delegation commends the African-led APRM process to share experiences and reinforce best practices. It appreciates the enthusiasm and dedication of the APRM secretariat to this process. Regarding food security, the United States views African countries as essential partners in United States food security initiatives. In 2013, the United States’ Feed the Future initiative reached more than 12.5 million children with nutrition interventions. Feed the Future also helped nearly 7 million farmers and other food producers incorporate new technologies and management practices on more than 4 million hectares of land. The United States also supports the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, under which the African Union and African nations are encouraged to invest in the development of their agricultural sectors. The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition initiative has expanded to 10 African countries. It now includes more than 160 local and international companies, and has secured more than $7 billion in planned investments only two years after its launch. Through the New Alliance and Grow Africa partnerships, more than 2.6 million small farmers have already been reached through services, training, sourcing or production contracts. The United States strongly supports African efforts to generate broad-based, sustained and inclusive economic growth and applauds those countries that pursue strategies to reduce poverty and unemployment, and integrate further into the global economy. The United States particularly supports efforts to create enabling business environments that facilitate development. In this context, the United States commends the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency for its work to support the initiatives of individual Governments in conjunction with the African Union, the United Nations and the African Development Bank. Predictable and transparent business environments are critical elements for attracting domestic and foreign investment and for sustained private sector growth. At the United States-Africa Leaders Summit in August 2014, President Obama announced measures, including Overseas Private Investment Corporation support for United States investment, to help spur African development. Concurrently, we aim to bring electricity to 60 million African homes and businesses through new commitments to the Power Africa initiative. We also seek to achieve a seamless and long- term renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. While international support is important, Africa’s growth depends, more than anything, on continued reforms undertaken by Africans themselves. We urge further action on reforms that will attract investment, promote a transparent business climate, reduce barriers to trade and promote regional integration. The United States stands ready to help build Africa’s capacity to trade with itself and with the world. The United States urges the international community to agree on a meaningful and ambitious post-2015 development agenda by next September. My delegation places a particular priority on the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals, but it also recognizes the need to go further and address known drivers of development progress, especially women’s equality and empowerment, inclusive and sustained economic growth, sustainable energy, peace and governance. The post-2015 development agenda will require crafting a true global partnership. This partnership must go beyond traditional aid and encompass actions and investments from all countries and all sources. As President Obama noted last month in the general debate (see A/69/PV.6), America is committed to a development agenda that eradicates extreme poverty by 2030. The United States, in cooperation with our African partners, will help people feed themselves, power their economies and care for their sick. Working together, we can make sure that all of our children enjoy lives of opportunity and dignity. My delegation also appreciates the opportunity to consider the Assembly’s agenda item on the Decade to Roll Back Malaria. The United States remains determined to work with national Governments and other partners to help end deaths from malaria. Our President’s Malaria Initiative, launched in 2005, represented an historic $1.2 billion, five-year expansion of United States Government resources to fight malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. The Initiative’s strategy was expanded for the 2009-2014 period, with the goal of achieving Africa-wide impact by halving the burden of malaria in 70 per cent of at-risk populations in sub-Saharan Africa. The President’s Malaria Initiative now focuses programme support in 19 countries in Africa, as well as in countries in the Greater Mekong sub-region of southeast Asia. In 2013 alone, the Initiative protected more than 45 million people against malaria with a prevention measure. It has also procured more than 48 million anti-malaria treatments and 51 million rapid diagnostic tests. With the United States support, countries are supporting and strengthening their own capacity to fight the disease. Investments in malaria prevention and control are positively impacting the lives of millions of children, pregnant women and families in Africa. It is a tremendous success story, yet it is still incomplete. The President’s Malaria Initiative is developing a new strategy for 2015-2020. That strategy will outline the United States Government’s approach to working with partner countries to accelerate progress in malaria control, moving closer to the goal of eliminating malaria as a major public health threat with a vision of a malaria-free Africa ever more real.

The pursuit of peace and development by African countries is at a critical new juncture. With their booming economies, African countries have made remarkable progress in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and in maintaining stability and the momentum of development. At the same time, as a result of the international financial crisis, local regional conflicts and hotspot issues, especially the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the humanitarian crisis in Africa is worsening. All that has posed daunting challenges to Africa’s efforts to achieve peace, stability and development. Africa’s development is an integral part of international cooperation for development and it is only by promoting Africa’s development that we can facilitate the achievement of global prosperity. The international community should attach great importance to and carry out strategic cooperation with Africa. In that connection, China wishes to make the following proposals. First, the development of Africa should be the priority of the post-2015 development agenda. The international community should help Africa speed up its attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. In preparing the post-2015 development agenda, priority should be given to Africa’s needs. Developed countries should honour their commitments of official development assistance, provide African countries with financial and technical assistance and help them with capacity-building. Developing countries should strengthen South-South cooperation as a supplement to North-South cooperation. The international community should work to improve the environment for Africa’s development, including by increasing its financial assistance and supporting trade and debt reduction and cancellation. Secondly, the international community must join hands to help West African countries cope with the Ebola epidemic. The current outbreak of Ebola is spreading in West Africa, posing a serious threat to local people’s lives and health. It has become a shared, non-traditional security challenge for the international community. The top priority is to implement the United Nations strategy in response to Ebola and strongly support the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. It is necessary to send more medical personnel and experts to the affected areas, provide protective gear and material, help treat affected individuals, improve screening and testing capability and help local communities in Ebola prevention and control. Countries should also increase assistance to Africa to help it enhance capacity-building in the area of public health. Thirdly, African countries’ efforts to realize peace and stability should be supported. The international community should uphold the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and, on the basis of full respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the African countries concerned, it should actively promote peace and facilitate negotiations with a view to finding peaceful settlements to disputes. The international community should strengthen coordination and collaboration with the African Union and other African regional organizations, help Africa strengthen its institution-building in the area of collective security and support the settlement of African issues by Africans through African means. China and Africa have always been a community of shared destinies and good brothers. No matter how the international situation changes, China will always stand firmly with its African brothers. We will always be Africa’s most reliable and trustworthy friend. Strengthening unity and cooperation with African countries has always been an important cornerstone of China’s foreign policy. In his visit to Africa in March, 2013, the Chinese President, Mr. Xi Jinping, put forward the guiding principle of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith for China’s relations with Africa, which provides an important guide to further develop the China-Africa relationship and cooperation. In May, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed the 461 Framework during his visit to Africa, which further enhances the level of cooperation between China and Africa and deepens the new strategic partnership between the countries. Since the founding of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2000, China has actively cooperated with African countries within the framework of the Forum. By 2012, China had provided assistance to 51 African countries and the African Union. In 2013, the trade volume between China and Africa reached $220.2 billion. China has been Africa’s number one trade partner for five consecutive years and China’s direct investment in Africa has exceeded $25 billion. The Chinese Government is actively implementing the assistance initiatives announced by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang during their visit to Africa, which include extending to Africa $30 billion in credit over the course of three years, adding $2 billion to the China-Africa Development Fund, providing $10 million to protect wildlife in Africa and implementing the Transnational and Transregional Infrastructure Construction Corporation Partnership and the African Talents Programme. China will continue to support African countries in their efforts to combat diseases, such as malaria and AIDS. The Chinese Government has paid close attention to the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. At the beginning of the year, when Ebola first appeared in some West African countries, the Chinese Government immediately extended a helping hand. In April, August and September, we provided the two affected countries with humanitarian assistance totalling RMB 34 million, including supplies for prevention, control and treatment, food and cash. We also dispatched nearly 200 experts and medical personnel to the affected areas to fight the epidemic with the people of those countries. We are deeply worried about the worsening Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Premier Li Keqiang announced at the Asia-Europe Summit in Milan, Italy, that China will provide to West African countries a fourth instalment of assistance worth at least RMB 100 million, including 60 ambulances, 100 motorcycles, 10,000 prevention and control kits and 150,000 units of personal protective gear. In addition, China will dispatch another group of dozens of experts and plans to train 10,000 health-care workers and community prevention and control personnel. As we speak, the Ebola epidemic is still spreading in West Africa. We will continue to stand together with West African countries in this time of need, jointly overcoming the difficulties, and will continue to combat the disease until we have secured a final victory. I would like to conclude by reiterating that China will continue to support NEPAD and the African Union’s programme for 2063 and to make greater contributions to promoting the development and prosperity of Africa.

My delegation would first like to reiterate its congratulations to the President on his accession to the presidency of the General Assembly at its current session and to offer him its full support in his conduct of our work. In today’s meeting of the Assembly, my delegation ‑ which associates itself fully with the statement delivered by the representative of Malawi on behalf of the Group of African States ‑ would like to emphasize implementation of the initiative to roll back malaria in developing countries, particularly in Africa. Sadly, malaria remains a serious public health problem in Africa in general and in Togo in particular. It is one of the major parasitic diseases in my country in terms both of morbidity and mortality, owing to climatic conditions that are particularly favourable to the breeding of mosquitoes. It is the single largest cause of doctor visits, hospitalization and death in health facilities in the country. Children under five and pregnant women are its most vulnerable targets. In 2013, for instance, approximately 881,600 cases were reported in Togo, of which 40 per cent were children under five. Over the same period, 4 per cent of deaths recorded in my country’s health facilities were related to the disease. The heavy toll that malaria takes on African children continues to concern regional organizations, particularly the African Union. In a declaration adopted at the Special Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria held in Abuja, in July 2013, it asked member States to take urgentsteps to reduce or eliminate children’s vulnerability, considering that we live in a time when effective diagnostic tools and treatments are available. For its part, my country is implementing its third national strategic anti-malaria plan, for 2011-2015, based on meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and on universal access to serious treatment of the disease. Our five-year plan is supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, in a project designed to strengthen universal access in Togo to malaria prevention and support services. With the help of other partners, my country has begun administring sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine to pregnant women, managing uncomplicated cases of malaria with combination therapies based on artemisinin derivatives both in health facilities and the community, and routinely distributing insecticide-treated nets to the most vulnerable groups, including pregnant women and children under five. Since our 2005, 2006 and 2008 national campaigns for mass re-treating of ordinary household mosquito nets, we have added two national campaigns for distributing long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets, one in 2011 and the second, most recent, in September 2014. They have enabled us to distribute about 4 million long-lasting treated nets all across the country. My delegation would like to take this opportunity to thank all the technical and financial partners who have continued to support Togo in the fight against malaria. Our goal now is to increase the people’s use of treated mosquito nets to at least 80 per cent, to ensure comprehensive protection for pregnant women through intermittent preventive treatment, and to deal promptly and properly with every confirmed case of malaria. To achieve those goals, we need greater involvement on the part of external partners, and my delegation calls urgently on them to strengthen the global partnership against endemic diseases and the optimal mobilization of financial resources that it requires. At a time when our countries are working to improve their health systems, including by implementing programmes and strategies focused on the MDGs, the appearance in West Africa of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever virus has dealt a severe blow to the public health efforts of States dealing with limited resources. In the face of the spread of this epidemic, whose epicentre is unfortunately located in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, my country hopes very much that, as with the mobilization against malaria, the solidarity we have seen in the response to Ebola ‑ demonstrated by the dispatching of health workers, financial contributions and the provision of materials and equipment ‑ will continue and will lead to the establishment of more sustainable and efficient health-care systems. It is only through sustained and coordinated efforts that we can stop the progression of the epidemic in West Africa and prevent it from spreading around the world.

I would like to thank you, Sir, for giving me the floor in order to address today’s agenda item. Zambia aligns itself with the statement delivered earlier by the Ambassador of Malawi on behalf of the African Group. Zambia acknowledges the Secretary-General’s reports on the agenda item. They coincide not only with the final stretch of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, but also with the ongoing deliberations on the post-2015 development agenda, the sustainable development goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. While significant progress has been recorded on various aspects of Africa’s development, as the Secretary-General’s reports suggest, a lot more must be done to sustain and build on the gains recorded so far, especially in the area of health, which my statement will focus on. The fight against HIV and other communicable diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis should therefore be intensified. At the same time, the recently escalating danger of Ebola disease must be controlled. In that regard, I should stress that my delegation has already expressed its concerns in other General Assembly meetings during this session. Ebola is a danger whose potential consequences should not be underplayed in any forum. Malaria remains a major public health concern in Zambia. It disproportionately affects children under the age of five, pregnant women and society’s poor and vulnerable members, and it imposes severe social and economic burdens on individual households and communities at large. My Government strongly believes that a malaria-free Zambia is possible. We have put policy and legal frameworks in place to ensure that there are no obstacles to efforts to eliminate malaria in Zambia. The Government has articulated that resolve in major national development policies, notably our national health policy and our more specific national strategic plan for malaria. The Government’s strategies include waiving taxes on the importation of malaria commodities such as mosquito nets and the chemicals used in indoor residual spraying and increasing its budget allocations for malaria programmes. Currently, the main prevention interventions include indoor residual spraying, long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and intermittent presumptive treatment for pregnant women. The curative interventions are based on prompt and effective case management, which is primarily focused on providing care for those suffering from malaria. A key component of that is the use of confirmatory diagnostic tools such as malaria rapid diagnostic tests and microscopy. Zambia has made remarkable reductions in the incidence of malaria over the Decade to Roll Back Malaria, which has been attributed to the integrated approach of malaria control activities. To that end, my country has leaned on the ambitious national malaria strategic plan for 2011-2015, to which I alluded previously. The plan is envisioned to be implemented through the use of surveillance as a type of intervention, in tandem with strengthening all other key interventions. It hopes to increase access to potential victims through the use of community structures by ensuring the availability of all required commodities and through continued monitoring and evaluation. Community health workers are critical to guaranteeing access to health care and to providing holistic and integrated management of diseases including malaria, pneumonia and so forth. Further, the response involves using community leaders and opinion makers in malaria control activities. The aforementioned measures have resulted in the establishment of strong institutional structures by the Government and its cooperating partners. Zambia has joined and commends the linkages created at the regional and international levels through initiatives such as the joint regional malaria commemoration events in the context of the Southern African Development Community Malaria Week, formation of regional networks to attain common goals in the prevention and control of malaria such as the Southern Africa Regional Network, and the establishment of cross-border initiatives between countries in the region and beyond. In conclusion, I wish to underscore the overall positive impact created by the strong political will that can be seen in the increased budgetary allocation for funding malaria control and the forging of additional new partnerships at all levels. In all the foregoing, we have learned that scaling up the integrated package of cost-effective malaria interventions yields positive outcomes. We believe that with more collaboration, we can do even better.

My delegation aligns itself with the statement delivered by the representative of Bolivia on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, as well as the statement delivered by the representative of Malawi on behalf of the Group of African States. Further, my delegation would like to express its appreciation to the President of the General Assembly for convening this meeting. In addition, we would like to thank the Secretary- General for his reports on the agenda item, as they come at a critical time for us, with the target date for the Millennium Development Goals fast approaching and as we prepare to enter the era of the post-2015 development agenda. We see today’s meeting as an opportunity to review what has been done since 2000 and to align the post-2015 development agenda with Africa’s own priorities going forward, as enshrined in Agenda 2063, an inspirational and aspirational vision of the Africa we want, and as outlined in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). That having been said, the international community still needs to make every effort to meet past commitments aimed at assisting the continent in attaining its Millennium Development Goal targets. I also wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge with appreciation the coordinating role being played by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, which has seen us engage in a very successful Africa Week, focusing on regional collaboration within NEPAD and with international efforts through the United Nations. Our continent continues to make progress in infrastructure development through the implementation of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative (PICI) chaired by South Africa and spearheaded by seven dedicated Heads of State and Government. The P1CI is part of the PIDA, as it is an initiative to bring strategic political leadership to bear on fast-tracking the implementation of important projects from the PIDA Priority Action Plan by identifying and dealing with blockages, missing links and choke points. For example, progress is being made in closing the missing link of the trans-Saharan highway project covering 4,500 kilometres between Algeria and Nigeria, and $40 million has been secured towards its continued construction. It is expected to be completed in 2016. The fibre optic component of the same project has seen substantial progress, having reached 60 per cent of completion. Egypt recently held the first steering committee meeting of the footprint States of the navigational route between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea. Progress also continues to be made along the North-South corridor with a number of hard and soft infrastructure issues and projects being addressed. One of the key impediments that the Dakar Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure in June 2014 revealed, however, is the need for extensive support in the area of capacity-building for project preparation. Projects have been identified and finance is generally waiting for bankable projects to emerge from the project pipeline, but the key bottleneck is the ability to bring identified projects to the point of bankability. Africa urgently needs support to address that key gap in the infrastructure development process. Apart from infrastructure, the other key priority for African development is agriculture. My delegation would like to commend the African countries that have met the target of allocating 10 per cent of national budgetary resources to agriculture, in accordance with the African Union Assembly decision taken in Maputo in 2003. Through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), we have also all committed ourselves to achieving a 6 per cent growth rate in agricultural productivity per annum. Some 45 African countries are now engaged in the CAADP process, which is important because agriculture is pivotal to Africa’s transformation and development and in responding to poverty, hunger and joblessness. It is also important because it illustrates the idea that Africa is committed to leading and taking action on its agreed priorities and actions. The role of international partners is to help scale up and accelerate Africa’s own efforts. The industrialization of agriculture by way of agroprocessing is the catalyst that will spearhead structural transformation. Agroprocessing is one component of a larger drive to beneficiate at the source ‑ to add value to our own resources rather than perpetually remaining suppliers of raw materials. There is much more that can and must be done in the health sector, however. In that regard, we would like to emphasize the importance of increased long- term investment in health technology and innovation. The horrific crisis currently posed by the Ebola virus in West Africa clearly illustrates the fact that it is in all our interests to ensure that Africa has a strong health system. It also clearly demonstrates the link between health and development, as the virus is proving devastating to the economies and social progress, particularly to those of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, quite apart from the tragic loss of life. Therefore, we call upon the international community to rapidly increase all efforts to deal with the scourge of Ebola. NEPAD always made the point that it is a holistic, integrated agenda that is premised on the idea that there can be no development without peace and no peace without development. It is for this reason that we continue to see Africa providing African solutions to African problems through mechanisms such as the African Union Peace and Security Council and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises. Every effort is being made by African leaders to ensure peace, security and stability in Africa, including by putting troops on the ground and providing resources. It is therefore crucial that we continue to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council. In order to foster and promote good political, economic, social and corporate governance in Africa, we remain committed to the African Peer Review Mechanism. I am informed now that membership has risen to 34 in 2014, and 17 countries have been reviewed to date. This system of self-assessment is unique in the world in terms of its transparency and its scope, and the underlying benefits cannot be overstated. We urge that support be given to countries that have been reviewed and have developed their national plans of action. In conclusion, we are grateful to Mr. Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Training and Coordination Agency, for all the work that he and the Agency have done and continue to do. We all need to do more to support the work that he and the Agency do in terms of coordinating and facilitating the implementation of Africa’s identified priority programmes and projects as a key technical body of the African Union. Equally, we need to ensure that all our efforts are aligned to, and in support of, the realization of Agenda 2063. We continue to appreciate the structured approach of the United Nations system to supporting the implementation of NEPAD as the socioeconomic development agenda of the African Union. In particular, the ongoing work, advocacy, cooperation, coordination and support of the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, the Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Development Programme in that regard are much appreciated. Together we can — and must — still achieve a great deal to attain the Africa we all want and to establish and sustain growth and the good story of Africa rising.

At the outset, I would like to say that it is a great privilege for me to speak at this meeting on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) because, until very recently, I was in Tokyo and deeply involved in the question of African development through the process of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) and the elaboration of its framework for development assistance as Director-General for African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I therefore feel very fortunate and vindicated that our efforts through the TICAD process are duly and appropriately described in the Secretary-General’s report on NEPAD (A/69/161). In paragraph 58, it is noted that the first ministerial meeting of the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD-V), held in Yaoundé in May, endorsed a massive Implementation Matrix that includes 617 concrete projects and illustrates the willingness and passion of the international community to work for African development. TICAD-V, held in June, was not simply a conference about funds and figures. When I say “funds and figures”, I am referring to things such as Japan’s commitment to provide an assistance package for Africa of up to $32 billion, utilizing private and public resources, from 2013 to 2017, of which Japan is already implementing the equivalent of roughly $6 billion. Rather than focusing only on such funds and figures, mention must be made of the fact that TICAD-V mobilized our collective political will and developed a robust policy framework to be shared by African countries, Japan and the international community. That policy framework acknowledges three basic priorities. First, infrastructure construction and human resource development are essential for African economic growth. Secondly, agriculture needs to be made profitable, which is to say that it needs to develop past basic subsistence towards economic self-reliance ‑ more farm-to-earn, rather than farm-to-eat. Thirdly, trade and investment in the private sector should be encouraged in addition to official development assistance. I am therefore delighted at the fact that those priorities are properly reflected in the Secretary- General’s report. I would like to express my appreciation for the hard work of the Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa, Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz, as well as the Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency, Mr. Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki. In addition, I would like to emphasize the importance of the roles that Africa regional economic communities play in African development, which includes the achievement of peace and stability. In that connection, last month in New York, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a round- table summit with the Chairs of the seven African regional economic communities on the improvement of infrastructure in Africa. We reaffirm another principle of TICAD-V: prolonged peace and stability are the fundamental prerequisites for socioeconomic development in Africa. As described in the discussion of the causes of conflict in the report of the Secretary-General (A/69/162), there are several alarming cases of emerging or ongoing conflicts in Africa, in spite of the very important progress that has been made throughout the continent as a whole. Japan shares the serious concern about those issues and is making its own efforts in that regard. For example, Japan committed to providing $1 billion over five years for development and humanitarian assistance in the Sahel region. We have already provided more than $220 million. The loss of peace and stability, if they are not properly restored, can potentially set back the great strides in Africa’s development, making our goal of eradicating poverty more difficult and ultimately becoming an enormous burden on society internationally. That is to say that we must take rapid action to quell conflict, stem its deterioration and restore peace and stability. I am greatly encouraged by the Secretary-General’s report, with its discussion of the causes of conflict and acknowledgment that African countries are enhancing their own efforts to tackle the issue. I would like to welcome the robust efforts by the African Union and the regional economic communities in the context of strengthening the African Peace and Security Architecture. That effort illustrates African ownership, the most fundamental principle of TICAD. Japan places great importance on the role of regional institutions in African development in the area of peace and stability. I said that rapid action was very important, and that is also applicable in the health sector. Japan believes that emerging health crises such as the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa gravely jeopardize the well-being and development of Africa and need to be addressed immediately and with a sense of great urgency. At the high-level event on the response to the ebola virus disease outbreak, held during the week of the general debate at the sixty-ninth session, Prime Minister Abe pledged additional assistance totalling $40 million in order to reinforce measures already announced. Japan has already allocated $22 million of that pledge to relevant international organizations and is now considering how to allocate the remaining $18 million. I would also like to touch upon another theme of today’s debate: malaria. We welcome the significant progress made in responding to malaria in many countries. At the same time, we are concerned about the continuing high burden of the disease in a number of countries. Last year, Japan announced that it would make a contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in the amount of $800 million in the coming years, starting in 2014. We believe our contribution to the Global Fund will strongly support African countries’ efforts to fight malaria. I would like to conclude my remarks by expressing strong appreciation and support for the activities of Africa Week. There are lots of themes and very important issues are being taken up, but I would like to stress the importance of resilience with regard to natural disasters, including droughts and floods in Africa. Japan will host the Third World Conference on Disaster Reduction, in March 2015. I would like to invite attendance from all Member States, including African countries, at the highest possible level.

It is a distinct honour for India to participate today in this important debate on the development and welfare of Africa. As a common expression of the collective vision for the socioeconomic development of Africa, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has made commendable progress. India attaches high importance to the main objective of NEPAD, which is to generate broad-based and equitable economic growth that allows Africa to reduce poverty and be better integrated into the global economy. Africa has made impressive progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), even though progress remains uneven and halting. Many of the Goals and targets remain unmet, and a renewed effort and final push is required in the final year to overcome challenges. As the international community negotiates a new development agenda for the post-2015 period, it is time, we believe, for us to collectively recommit ourselves to giving the highest importance to the interests of Africa. The needs and priorities of Africa must be at the centre of the post-2015 development agenda. Sustained and robust inclusive economic growth is indispensable for eradicating poverty, and is therefore also a central policy objective. One of the Secretary- General’s reports on this agenda item (A/69/161) shows that aggregate African growth grew 1 per cent faster than the global average in 2013. Furthermore, the African Economic Outlook 2014 forecasts that economic growth in Africa will pick up to the pre-crisis level of 6.5 per cent. That is welcome. Yet economic growth would need to pick up considerably for Africa to make a sustained dent in poverty levels. To sustain that growth momentum, continued and enhanced support to the NEPAD priorities by the international community is vital. Scaled-up investments in infrastructure, both economic and social, and in productive capacity for industrial development are needed. That is an area of priority for India’s partnership with Africa as well. The report of the Secretary-General correctly points out that a strengthened and sustained global partnership is of critical importance for Africa to sustain recent development gains and accelerate progress towards reaching the MDGs. The commitments made by the international community must be met at the earliest possible time. While official development assistance (ODA) disbursements to Africa increased marginally in 2013, the share of Africa in ODA allocations remains unchanged, and the overall ODA levels, as we know, remain far short of the 0.7 per cent mark. The issue of debt sustainability, which is at the centre stage of discussions during this session of the General Assembly, is of critical concern to Africa. International Monetary Fund analysis suggests that almost 20 per cent of African countries are at a high risk of debt distress. In that context, the mandate of resolution 68/304 for a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes acquires significance. The debate today comes at a time when countries in Africa are confronted with what the World Health Organization (WHO) has called the most severe acute public health emergency in modern times. The serious challenge and threat posed by the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa requires urgent coordinated action by the international community. India has an established track record of participating actively in multilateral efforts to tackle public health emergencies, such as in our response to the HIV/AIDS issue a decade ago in Africa and Asia. In the current crisis, India provided immediate financial assistance to three of the affected countries ‑ Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Republic of Guinea ‑ and offered $500,000 to the WHO to scale up its efforts. Subsequently, India has followed this up with a contribution of $10 million to the Secretary-General’s Ebola Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund and an additional $2 million for the purchase of protective gear to tackle Ebola. The Secretary-General’s report on NEPAD (A/69/161) confirms the continued growth of Africa’s engagement and cooperation with India. Indian investment in Africa has expanded considerably and, as the report confirms, provides benefits to the African economy in sectors as diverse as information and communication technologies, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, engineering, energy and chemicals, to name but a few. Today’s India’s partnership with Africa is multifaceted. What is more, that partnership is aligned with Africa’s own development priorities and road maps. Having grown at a robust 31.8 per cent annually between 2005 and 2011, India’s trade with Africa, cumulatively, was estimated to be over $72 billion in 2013-2014. Indian investment in Africa is estimated to be over $35 billion. During the past decade, India extended more than $6.7 billion worth of concessional lines of credit to African countries, which in fact comprises over two thirds of the total lines of credit extended by India. Thousands of African students and experts have availed themselves of training facilities in India under various schemes, including the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme last year. During the same period, a number of capacity- building institutions were set up, and several others are being set up. India has also been a steady contributor to the maintenance of peace and security on the African continent since 1960. At present, over 6,500 Indian peacekeepers are deployed in Africa. Over the years, India’s committed participation in United Nations peacekeeping in Africa has helped many African countries to cope with inter- and intra-State conflicts, weak institutions and collapsing economies, besides assisting in the resettlement of millions of internally displaced people. In conclusion, allow me to reiterate India’s abiding commitment to deepen and strengthen its partnership with Africa for the attainment of the development priorities identified by the African countries under NEPAD. India will also attach high importance to the interests of Africa in the post-2015 development agenda.

At the outset, I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his reports (A/69/161, A/69/162 and A/69/163) on the agenda items under discussion. I would also like to thank His Excellency Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Africa, and the Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordination Agency for all the efforts that they are making on behalf of Africa. I would like to express the solidarity of my delegation with the statement delivered earlier by the representative of Malawi on behalf of the African Group. NEPAD, which was launched more than a decade ago, is one of the main instruments that emphasizes the commitment of African leaders and countries to advance the continent through a real partnership. That partnership will realize the African vision as a progressive and developed continent that provides a dignified life for its people and contributes to international peace and security. Despite all the progress achieved over the past years in promoting development, economic growth and social development, thereby achieving many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the continent still faces many obstacles and challenges preventing it from achieving others, especially in the fields of health, water and sanitation and energy. In view of the great challenges facing Africa ‑ whether in trying to achieve the remaining Millennium Development Goals or in achieving the sustainable development goals that will constitute the focus of the post-2015 development agenda ‑ Africa requires that developed countries fulfil the commitments they made to it during the main conferences held by the United Nations. Those commitments include supporting African countries by helping them to achieve economic stability, attracting investment, with effective private sector involvement, and facilitating technology transfer, notably in the field of poverty eradication, which remains a very pressing issue. Therefore, more efforts should be made to increase agricultural production, in accordance with the Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security, while reorganizing priorities and using technology and investment in agriculture to provide food for all the inhabitants of the continent in appropriate quantities and quality. With regard to development, where the individual is the main instrument and goal, I would like to refer to the grave health situation in Africa owing to the widespread existence of communicable and non-communicable diseases, in particular the lethal disease Ebola. Currently, some 10,000 people may be infected weekly in West Africa. That means that a great danger is really threatening Africans and may find its way to other countries around the world, while Africa, with its modest capabilities, cannot contain it. Therefore, it is imperative and urgent that we mobilize all our efforts and technologies to combat the epidemic before Ebola destroys the population of Africa and becomes widespread all over the world. With regard to peace and security in Africa, we need to increase institutional cooperation, prevent disputes, maintain peace, ensure human rights, achieve disarmament and consolidate democracy, the rule of law and good governance in order to achieve political and economic stability in Africa. In conclusion, my delegation would like to stress that Libya ‑ despite the dire security situation and instability prevailing in our country, and with our economy and development coming to a standstill ‑ would like to work very effectively, once we recover, with African countries to move NEPAD forward in order to achieve progress, growth, and prosperity for African countries. We would achieve that through coordination, joint work and commitment by means of the cooperation conventions that have been signed with a number of African countries. That will enable us to implement the remaining MDGs and prepare ourselves to achieve the post-2015 sustainable development agenda, especially since Africa is very rich in young human resources and vast natural resources that will enable it, once they are put to good use, to achieve Africa’s ambitious vision of becoming a very progressive continent, one able to contribute positively to the progress of humankind ‑ its stability, happiness, prosperity and well-being.

At the outset, allow me to thank the President for convening this important meeting and to extend a warm welcome to Mr. Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Training and Coordination Agency. Algeria welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on NEPAD (A/69/161) and the insights it provides. We also wish to thank the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa and its skilled and devoted team, headed by Under- Secretary-General Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz, for their valuable work in enhancing international support for Africa’s development thanks to its advocacy and analytical work. My delegation associates itself with the statement made by the Permanent Representative of Malawi on behalf of the African Group. Launched in Abuja in 2001 to spearhead the African Renaissance, the idea of NEPAD was born out of the political imperative for Africans to rely primarily upon themselves to lift the continent out of poverty and to bring to an end the marginalization of Africa from the globalization process. For that purpose, NEPAD has placed the questions of peace, security, democracy, good governance, human rights, women’s empowerment and sound economic management at the heart of sustainable development. While recognizing the political, economic and social difficulties that have beset Africa’s development for decades, NEPAD is also the expression of Africa’s will to establish a new partnership anchored in the principles of African leadership and, above all, ownership. As the international community is about to embark on the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda, it is crucial that Africa be given special attention in the process. For its part, over a year ago, the African Union (AU) successfully adopted the Common African Position (CAP) on the post-2015 development agenda. In addition to reaffirming the Rio principles, in particular that of common but differentiated responsibilities, CAP also reiterates the principles of the right to development and equity, mutual accountability and responsibility. CAP will also ensure a policy space for nationally tailored policies and programmes for Africa, including appropriate support for the implementation of NEPAD. Moreover, by adopting peace and security as its fifth pillar, in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive development that truly leaves no one behind, CAP also gives special attention to peoples living in States experiencing or recovering from high levels of violence. After a decade of implementation, NEPAD, as a programme of the African Union, has produced a number of encouraging results. The promotion of infrastructure development as a driving force for Africa’s integration and development led to the adoption in 2010 of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa by the AU Heads of State. With respect to the implementation of the project championed by Algeria to complete the trans-Sahara highway and gas pipeline, which would link Algeria and Nigeria, we are pleased to note that the securing of $40 million to finance the missing link of the highway project, covering more than 4,500 kilometres, will allow the project to be completed by 2016. We also note with satisfaction that the optic fibre component of the project, linking Algeria, the Niger and Nigeria, has witnessed substantial progress, with 60 per cent of the project completed. Furthermore, significant progress has also been made within the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which aims at achieving a 6 per cent growth rate in the agricultural sector through the allocation of 10 per cent of national budgets. Today, 45 countries have committed themselves to CAADP, of which 39 have already adopted a national agriculture investment plan. Although there has been progress in the past year in accelerating growth and social development, persistent challenges, including limited progress towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), linger. Therefore, sustained international support will be crucial if Africa is to meet internationally agreed development goals, including and through a global partnership for development. To that end, we call on development partners to pursue efforts to deliver on their commitments to Africa, including those relating to official development assistance, which witnessed a decline of 5.6 per cent in 2013. All stakeholders need to make a strong push in favour of Africa’s development, the only region that is unlikely to attain the MDGs by 2015. In that context, we welcome the Secretary- General’s report on the review of the implementation of the commitments made towards Africa’s development (A/69/163), as it is likely to encourage efforts towards their full realization. We know too well that the world’s prosperity cannot be achieved without that of Africa. Africa’s efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, create jobs and ensure sustainable development must be complemented by sustained support from our international development partners. As the international community pursues its work in defining the new agenda, ensuring that its efforts fully reflect African needs and priorities will go a long way towards strengthening the continent’s progress while consolidating its recent development gains.

At the outset, allow me to associate myself with the statement made by the Ambassador of Malawi on behalf of the African Group. I would also like to commend the Secretary-General for the quality of reports being considered under the agenda items for this meeting (A/69/161, A/69/162 and A/69/163. With regard to New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), we should emphasize that today’s debate takes place in a context marked by a broad scope of various processes that impact Africa’s development. First, I should like to mention the successful conclusion of the work of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, which the report rightly mentions, as do other reports concerning particular situations in African countries, as does the policy statement on African development needs and NEPAD. I should also note the publication of the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing (A/69/315), which emphasizes the need to give substance to our financing commitments, notably the funding of development in Africa. The Secretary-General emphasizes quite pertinently that the publication of his report on NEPAD coincides with the Dakar Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure, held on 14 and 15 June, in which participants adopted the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) for financing priority regional infrastructure projects. He also mentions the solemn declaration adopted at the twenty-first Summit of the African Union on 26 May to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the organization, in which the main priorities for the development programme in Africa were identified for the next 50 years, with particular emphasis on industrialization. Allow me to comment on two issues crucial to Africa’s development, namely, infrastructure and industrialization. The lack of infrastructure is one of the major challenges we face, in that it seriously undermines Africa’s integration and competitiveness in the global market. That deficit also mortgages development efforts and efforts to integrate Africa in socioeconomic and environmental areas. In that regard, my delegation welcomes the acceleration of the implementation of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, launched in 2010 as a strategic framework for the development of infrastructure at regional and continental scales. Nevertheless, as astutely underlined in the Secretary-General’s report, the financing of PIDA remains a challenge. In that respect, I welcome the presidential initiative on the NEPAD infrastructure. The initiative establishes a model policy framework on interregional priority infrastructure projects taken on board personally by seven African Heads of State and Government. In the same spirit, the Dakar programme of action proposes speeding up the implementation of pilot infrastructure projects. Finally, I am pleased to highlight the African Development Bank’s launch of the Africa 50 initiative to mobilize more than $100 billion from the public and private sectors to finance priority regional infrastructure projects on the continent over the next 50 years. With regard to industrialization, my delegation considers it essential that the structural transformation of African economies will create added value and economic diversification. Industrialization is a powerful tool capable of generating inclusive and sustainable economic development leading to productive employment and decent work and, finally, to lifting millions out of poverty. As highlighted by several reports, the closed structure of most African economies tends to concentrate economic activity in the mining sector and the production of raw materials, without any real impact on other sectors. In that context, with respect to sub-Saharan Africa, the report of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing notes that foreign direct investment is primarily in the extractive industries, with limited impact on the rest of the economy. That situation generates few jobs, as it directs wealth to those sectors rich in natural resources, promotes inequality and contributes to social unrest. To overcome that problem, Africa has no choice other than industrialization and building production capacity. The recognition of that reality in Agenda 2063 and in the report of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals provides reason for hope. Industrialization will help African countries strengthen domestic resource mobilization through the establishment of wealth and taxation systems, which in turn can help in achieving other development goals. In view of the foregoing, national efforts to strengthen the industrial fabric and continental priorities set out in the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa should be supported. The integration of NEPAD priorities into the national development programmes of African countries is a cause for satisfaction. With particular reference to Cameroon, several initiatives have been undertaken in the past 12 months. I will mention just a few examples. With regard to agriculture, a few months ago the Government of Cameroon approved its national agricultural investment plan, which seeks to invest more than $6.5 billion in agricultural development over a seven-year period. Cameroon aims to mobilize 58 per cent of that sum on its own, in accordance with the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, which we signed on 17 July 2013. As part of the implementation of the Programme, the NEPAD Agency has partnered with Cameroon’s Dschang University to conduct training and capacity-building in the management of agricultural risks in the Central African subregion. Similarly, Cameroon is one of the six countries that conducted a study on best practices in adapting agricultural systems to climate change. Moreover, in the area of gender, Cameroon is one of the five African countries that launched a five-year programme to support efforts on gender, climate change and agriculture. With regard to science, technology and innovation, Cameroon has maintained its active role in Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action, including through the African science, technology and innovation indicators initiative, in which Cameroon is one of the pioneers. With respect to health, Cameroon is taking part in the second phase of the project to train nurses and midwives in Africa, whose main objective is to improve the skills of nurses and midwives at the graduate school level, and particularly the professional masters level. In terms of subregional integration, on 21 and 22 October 2013, Cameroon hosted the fifth session of the subregional coordination mechanism on United Nations system support to the African Union and NEPAD in Central Africa. In those meetings, 116 projects were approved for the period 2013-2016 in the following areas: infrastructure development, governance, peace and security, industrial development, trade, market access, agriculture and food security, science and technology, combating HIV/AIDS, employment, training and improving institutional frameworks for development. Cameroon takes note of the Secretary-General’s analysis of international support for African development. According to his report, “The response of the international community has been mixed”. (A/69/161, para. 52) With regard to official development assistance (ODA), although preliminary figures indicate a 5 per cent increase in assistance to Africa, our continent receives only 38 per cent of total ODA, a situation that the Secretary-General said did not comply with the declared commitment to prioritize Africa in the distribution of such assistance. Moreover, the commitments made at Gleneagles in 2005 by the Group of Eight to double the amount of assistance to Africa are far from being honoured. The debt burden has gravely undermined the efforts of developing countries to achieve the sustainable development goals. Several initiatives have been implemented to date to resolve that problem, such as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative (HIPC) and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. Despite the positive impact of those initiatives, we share the view of the Secretary-General that debt forgiveness alone is not a miracle cure for the development problems of the HIPC countries. While it is a necessary condition, it remains insufficient and requires additional assistance in both financing for development and capacity- building. Africa’s access to global markets and fair trade are of the highest importance for the continent. As mentioned in the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO), “there is need for positive efforts designed to ensure that developing countries, and especially the least developed among them, secure a share in the growth in international trade commensurate with the needs of their economic development”. Furthermore, international trade has been identified as one of the six fundamental areas whereby developing countries can mobilize financing for development. The outcome document of Rio+20 refers to international trade as a driver for development and sustained economic growth. However, the current situation remains a matter of grave concern for Africa, which accounts for only 3 per cent of the global export market. We welcome the adoption of the first multilateral trade agreement, approved by the WTO on the occasion of the ninth ministerial conference held in Bali in December 2013. We hope that provisions for its facilitation will be beneficial for Africa on account of the reduction in customs duties that might come from it. Nevertheless, my delegation remains of the view that the Doha Round, the third International Conference on Financing for Development and the post-2105 development agenda must guarantee a favourable trade system for development in order to reduce measures that distort trade; improve the access of African products to markets; build trade capacity, including through the diversification of exports; and, finally, in order to develop intra-African trade. Let me conclude my remarks with a word about the United Nations support for NEPAD. Cameroon welcomes the strengthening of the regional coordinating mechanism of United Nations organizations and agencies working in Africa in support of the African Union, NEPAD and the cluster system. It is encouraging, as recalled in the report of the Secretary-General, to see that the fifteenth session of the mechanism, which took place in March in Abuja, highlighted the need for all cluster groups of the mechanism to be aligned with the strategic vision of the African Union, the strategic plans of NEPAD for 2014-2017 and Agenda 2063. Cameroon notes, as indicated by the Secretary- General in paragraph 17 of his report (A/69/163), that there was insufficient time for the method used for the first biennial review and therefore the method should be revised in the future. In that regard, the role played by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, for which we reiterate our strong support, remains crucial. Its strengthening, decided by resolution 68/247 A should, I am sure, help make it more effective in carrying out its mandates. We have no doubt that it will meet our expectations in implementing resolution 66/293, in particular the satisfactory operation of the monitoring mechanism to review the compliance with the commitments made towards Africa’s development. Africa Week ‑ the whole week that has just past ‑ has shown us all what the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa can do. We thank it for its efforts.

In accordance with resolution 2011 (XX), of 11 October 1965, and decision 56/475, of 15 August 2002, I now call on the observer of the African Union.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the African Union. I am pleased to warmly congratulate Mr. Sam Kahamba Kutesa on his election as the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. We are confident that his tenure will witness global recommitment to durable peace, inclusive development and cooperation. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is central to the continent’s transformation efforts. African leaders have renewed the necessary political determination to help deliver the accelerated implementation of NEPAD under the African Union. The foundation for Africa’s renewal is premised on reforms of the governance systems under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), created in 2003. The Mechanism is the epicenter for deepening democracy and disseminating best practices among African Union member States, thereby reflecting the commitment to improving governance in all its ramifications. (spoke in French) Thirty-four States members of the African Union have voluntarily joined the Mechanism, 17 have been peer reviewed and the second cycle of the review process is ongoing. (spoke in English) At the institutional level, the APRM is being re-engineered, with its integration into the African Union and the development of stronger collaboration and synergy with relevant regional organizations and programmes. In that regard, the APRM secretariat has been repositioned to effectively serve as Africa’s premier institution on governance. As the technical body of the African Union, the NEPAD Agency focuses on the strategic coordination of the implementation of the continent’s priority programmes and projects. That role is now more critical in the context of the African Union Agenda 2063 and the African Common Position on the post- 2015 development agenda. NEPAD continues to spearhead the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. With 2014 having been declared as the year for transforming Africa’s agriculture and food security, we are taking forward the Malabo Declaration adopted by the African Union Summit in June 2014 and forging a strategy for 2025. In addition to scaling up our efforts to increase agriculture investment financing by upholding the Maputo 10 per cent public spending target, we have a strong accountability and results framework. In collaboration with the African Union Commission and development partners, the NEPAD Agency is also implementing the Climate-Smart Agriculture and Gender and Climate Change Support Programme. Furthermore, we have established the African Climate-Smart Agriculture coordination platform with regional economic communities, development partners and non-governmental organizations. The ultimate goal is to reach a target of 25 million farm households by 2025. Infrastructure development remains a critical enabler for sustainable and inclusive growth, while the current economic landscape provides a unique opportunity to collectively address the infrastructure deficit. Under the leadership of President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal and NEPAD Chair, the Dakar Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure was convened in June. With the support of the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the landmark Summit inspired the mobilization of investment towards the construction of modern infrastructure, starting with 16 identified projects from the Priority Action Plan of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa. Based on the Dakar Agenda for Action and the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative, chaired by President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, the NEPAD Agency is focusing on accelerating development corridors and infrastructure project preparation in cooperation with the Africa50, operated by the African Development Bank. The collective support of the African private sector in Africa and worldwide is necessary to effectively raise the required investment resources to implement the regional infrastructure projects. Overall, the NEPAD Agency has continued its programmatic coordination by designing and implementing the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa for 2014-2024; and the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization framework, which is aimed at increasing timely access to high- quality and efficacious medicines in order to boost the implementation of the Africa medicine manufacturing plan. The place for a new Africa in the global arena is vital to durable peace, stability, progress and security. The post-2015 development agenda can be catalytic to Africa’s efforts only if the whole programming approach is informed by the understanding that development is a process of empowerment and self-reliance. But key challenges still abound in Africa. A case in point is the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which compels the imperative for united global action and solidarity. A swift, collective and well-coordinated policy response is vital, and we therefore welcome the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. That challenge shows us the importance of strengthening the capacity of the public health systems in many African countries. The multisectoral dimensions of addressing public health issues, including malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Ebola, cannot be over-emphasized. It is in that context that the African Union will launch Agenda 2063 as a long-term strategy. Africa devoted the past 50 years to defeating colonialism and apartheid. The African Union believes that the next 50 years should focus on structural transformation and inclusive development for socioeconomic change to happen. With seven aspirations prioritized, Agenda 2063 is a call to action to fulfil Africa’s development objectives. Importantly, Africa will be working with the international community on “Delivering on and implementing a transformative post-2015 development agenda”. The overriding factor is that the new global agenda must support and complement Africa’s own priorities and development efforts. In particular, the target of ending extreme poverty through a multidimensional approach is critical for Africa and is fundamental to the implementation and delivery of a second decade of NEPAD. We are convinced that structural economic transformation will help defeat extreme poverty. The evolving commitment to strengthen the means of implementation and build stronger global partnerships is a defining approach that NEPAD embraces. Recently, our leaders endorsed the establishment of the Africa Global Partnership Platform as an umbrella mechanism for new and existing international partners of the continent. Finally, we appreciate the continued international support of Member States and agencies for NEPAD implementation. The inspiring leadership and strategic steering of the work of the United Nations by Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon is commendable. We welcome the United Nations monitoring mechanism, adopted by resolution 66/293, to review the delivery of commitments to Africa’s development as a step in the right direction. We commit to supporting the mechanism through the measures put in place by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa. Let me thank Under-Secretary-General Mr. Maged Abdelaziz, as well as ECA and UNDP, for their very strong support. The NEPAD Agency and APRM, as key institutions of the African Union, recommit to sustaining the partnership and cooperation with the United Nations. (spoke in French) The transition that we will undergo as we move from the Millennium Development Goals to the post- 2015 development agenda is an opportunity for Africa to renew its capacities to meet the challenges of the continent and our shared global challenges.