Note by the President of the General Assembly
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
United Nations A/75/592/Add.4 General Assembly Distr.: General Seventy-fifth session 13 January 2021 Original: English Seventy-fifth session Agenda item 8 General debate Note by the President of the General Assembly I have the honour to circulate, pursuant to decision 74/562 of 22 July 2020, the present compilation document of the statements delivered by Heads of State or other dignitaries by means of pre-recorded statements during the general debate and submitted to the President no later than the day on which the pre-recorded statement is played in the Assembly Hall. The statements contained in the present document were delivered on the morning of Thursday, 24 September 2020, at the 8th meeting of the General Assembly (see A/75/PV.8). Document A/75/592 and its addenda 1 through 11 contain the statements delivered in the 4th through the 15th meetings of the General Assembly (A/75/PV.4-A/75/PV.15). In accordance with decision 74/562, and without setting a precedent for mandated high-level meetings planned for future high-level weeks, the official records of the General Assembly will be supplemented by annexes containing pre-recorded statements submitted by Heads of State or other dignitaries, submitted to the President no later than the day on which such statements are delivered in the Assembly Hall. Submissions in this regard should be made to [email protected]. 21-00390 (E) *2100390* A/75/592/Add.4 13/01/2021 .Niger (see A/75/PV.8, annex I) Address by Mr. Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of the Niger Delivered on Thursday, 24 September 2020, at the 8th meeting of the General Assembly [Original: French] Mr. President, Excellencies Heads of State and Government, Ladies and Gentlemen Heads of Delegations, Ladies, Gentlemen, At the outset, Mr. President, I should like to extend my warm congratulations to you on your election as President of this 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly. I have no doubt that your personal attributes, your long and rich experience and your leadership constitute important assets that will enable the General Assembly to make progress in fulfilling the mandate entrusted to it by member States. I can assure you of the Niger’s readiness to provide you with all of the support you require in carrying out your duties. I would also like to pay a deserved tribute to the outgoing president, Mr. Tijjani Muhammad Bande, for his leadership in steering the 74th session, which was marked, as we all know, by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic situation. Finally, I would like to congratulate Secretary-General António Guterres for the exemplary work he has accomplished in making our Organization more capable of meeting people’s needs for greater solidarity, security and development, through the promotion of multilateralism. I commend his leadership in dealing with the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, in particular his strong advocacy in favour of developing countries. He has shown courage in implementing reforms. The Niger appreciates his personal commitment to a global ceasefire as a result of COVID-19 and his initiatives for climate and stability in the Sahel and West Africa. Mr. President, Since 1 January 2020, the Niger has been a non-permanent member of the Security Council, which it is presiding over during this month of September. I would like to thank member States for this mark of confidence and esteem in my country. We are working with members of the Council and with all other members of the United Nations to promote international peace and security. The General Assembly is certainly the best place to communicate with the international community directly. That is why I take this opportunity to solemnly announce that this is the last time I will speak as President of the Republic of the Niger. The next presidential election to be held in December in my country will be an opportunity for Nigeriens to choose their new leader. This deadline fills me with pride, in the knowledge that this is the very first time in its history that the Niger will experience a democratic transfer of power. This deadline will be a decisive moment for the Niger as part of its efforts to deepen its democratic process and political maturity. It is similar to other African countries in democratic transition. It is gradually strengthening its democratic 2/76 21-00390 13/01/2021 A/75/592/Add.4 institutions and I have no doubt that in the long term our country will leave behind the memories of the trials and tribulations that have characterized its institutional development for so long. This qualitative development is the result of the work carried out during my two mandates. Indeed, from the start of my first mandate, I made respect for constitutional texts and institutions a cardinal virtue of my governance for the renaissance of the Niger. My wish was to see the Niger undergo a transformation across all levels: political, economic and social. The results of ten years of implementing the renaissance programme have been largely positive. We have built roads, electrified villages, developed telecommunications infrastructure, fed Nigeriens thanks to the 3N initiative, “Nigeriens Nourishing Nigeriens”, educated and cared for our children, promoted access to water and sanitation and finally, created jobs, especially for young people. Furthermore, despite the threats from terrorist and criminal organizations rocking the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin, we have been able to preserve the integrity of our territory. Mr. President, At this time of international crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the theme chosen for our session is more important than ever. Decisions and consensus are expected of the United Nations so that the international community can act in the most effective way to jointly overcome the consequences of the pandemic. Now is the time to act on the Charter’s provisions, which forcefully stipulate that the United Nations was created to serve the people. We should therefore reflect on our common future, 75 years after the creation of the United Nations. It is essential that we take steps to make the UN better able to respond to the challenges facing the world. Democratic governance must be better reflected at the global level. We need a more inclusive multilateralism that is more responsive to developing countries and better reflects the realities of the world today. In this way, we will build a more effective multilateralism together for better global governance. We need to build confidence. We need to develop inclusion and transparency. We must reaffirm our collective commitment to multilateralism. We must return to resolute action in favour of efficiency, representativeness, responsibility and solidarity. Mr. President, The measures taken by the Nigerien government to tackle the pandemic have enabled us to control its spread while taking the appropriate measures to deal with its socioeconomic impacts. Therefore, our response plan covers both the immediate health response and broader economic and social alleviation measures. Key elements are already being implemented, such as food distribution, two months of free public services for the most vulnerable households and temporary tax relief for the most hard-hit sectors. We are also providing support to the private sector in the form of loan guarantees. COVID-19 is putting great strain on our health-care systems. It is also affecting our responses to combat malaria, tuberculosis and other tropical diseases that are too often neglected. Here I would like to reiterate my call for vaccination for all. In addition to the efforts to make the COVID-19 vaccine available, we must continue 21-00390 3/76 A/75/592/Add.4 13/01/2021 to support research into vaccines or improved treatments against diseases such as malaria, cancer, diabetes and the Ebola virus. In this regard, I am delighted that polio has been officially eradicated in Africa. Moreover, this is the place to commend and congratulate the health-care soldiers in the war against COVID19. I know that since 2013, world health worker week is celebrated at the beginning of April each year, at the initiative of the WHO. I propose celebrating an international day of front-line health workers given their role in the fight against COVID19. COVID-19 must lead us to strengthen our investments in the health system, in particular, care for women and girls. The needs are particularly important on the African continent, where approximately 17% of the world’s population is concentrated, for 1% of global health-care expenditure. It is also important that we rethink the issue of access to medicines because according to figures from the World Health Organization, 42% of medical products sold in Africa are substandard or counterfeit. The coronavirus pandemic reminds us that the global health system remains fragile. Coordinated, decisive and innovative political action, in partnership with the United Nations and other international organizations, is needed to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Defeating COVID-19 means including Africa in the global response based on Africa’s common continental Strategy. I would like to commend the efforts of the G20 and the United Nations Secretary-General, as well as other partners, in favour of granting a moratorium on the debt of the most fragile States. In combating the current emergency, our States need financial support, commensurate with the economic crisis they are going through. A simple moratorium on the debt will not be enough, given the challenges that must be met. We must write off the debt altogether, and design and implement a new paradigm to meet the development needs of the poorest countries. “The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones” said a prominent economist.