Fifty-seventh General Assembly

Plenary

10^th Meeting (AM)

ASSEMBLY HOLDS HIGH-LEVEL PLENARY MEETING TO CONSIDER SUPPORT

FOR NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT

Speaker’s Include Secretary-General, Presidents

of Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Senegal, Ghana, Gabon

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) would not be a success if Africa failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and the world as a whole could not achieve those goals unless they were achieved in Africa, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the General Assembly this morning as it began its day-long high-level plenary on the New Partnership.

Today's meeting, which also heard a statement by General Assembly President Jan Kavan (Czech Republic), focused on how to support NEPAD.  The New Partnership was established by the Organization of African Unity -– now the African Union, at its thirty-seventh ordinary session, held in Lusaka, Zambia, from 9 to 11 July 2001.

The Secretary-General went on to say that two separate, but related, priorities -– combating HIV/AIDS and promoting girls’ education -– were particularly central to that end.  What remained now was for the principles of NEPAD to be converted into action, so that it made a real difference for ordinary Africans.

South African President Thabo Mbeki noted that Africa’s success would be a victory for all humanity because poverty was a problem for all humanity.  The NEPAD would be the way forward for African people to attain the realization of Africa’s renaissance.  It would also result in a moving away from Africa’s donor relationship with the rest of the world, and translate despair into hope.  The NEPAD was the means whereby Africa would be able to extricate itself from its long night of misery.

The peoples and governments of Africa, said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, had taken their destiny into their own hands and were determined to make the twenty-first century the century of Africa.  The development of an African Peer Review Mechanism, he noted, marked a revolutionary innovation in Africa, which aimed at increasing the transparency and accountability of African governments.

Since peace and security were vital for development, said Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the African Union had decided, among other things, to create

a Council of Peace and Security, and an African Academy for Peace.  That peace endeavour would have positive impact on stability in the continent.  It implied a political, financial, technical and logistical commitment from the international community, and the United Nations system, in view of supporting and completing the efforts of Africans in that field. 

The Foreign Minister of Denmark, speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said that the overarching aim of the Millennium Development Goals was halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.  A vast number of those people lived in Africa.  The primary responsibility for facing those challenges lay with Africa, but that continent could not address them alone.  A renewed development partnership between Africa and the international community was needed to support Africa in its efforts. 

The time for talk had passed, stated Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.  Now there had to be action.  Africa had taken centre stage at the Group of 8 Summit held in Kananaskis in June.  Immediately after the Summit, Canada had committed $6 billion to Africa’s development.  Also, from 1 January, Canada would eliminate tariffs on products from developing countries.

Statements were also made this morning by the Presidents of Senegal, Ghana, Gabon, Zambia and Botswana, as well as the Prime Ministers of Lesotho and Cape Verde. 

The Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the following countries also spoke:  Norway, Egypt, Belgium, Luxembourg, China, Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Singapore, United States, France, Cuba, Ukraine, Philippines, Morocco, Bangladesh, Peru, India, Mongolia, Mauritius, Colombia, Belarus and Burkina Faso.

The high-level plenary will continue at 3 p.m. today. 

Background

The General Assembly met today to consider the final review and appraisal of the implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF) in a high-level plenary meeting to consider how to support the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).  The NEPAD was established by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its thirty-seventh ordinary session, held in Lusaka, Zambia, from 9 to  11 July 2001.

The Assembly had before it a report of the Secretary-General on an independent evaluation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (document A/57/156).  As part of preparations for the final review of UN-NADAF, the Assembly requested an independent evaluation of the New Agenda.  A 12-member Panel of Eminent Personalities established by the Secretary-General undertook the review.  The report provides lessons learned in the implementation of the New Agenda; proposals on modalities of future United Nations engagement with NEPAD; and recommendations to support the implementation of the New Partnership.

Among the lessons learned from the implementation of the New Agenda, the report says that peace and security are vital to development.  Development and cooperation with Africa requires a new orientation and commitments needed to be honoured.  Also, strengthened advocacy for Africa's development is essential and improved coordination and collaboration among United Nations agencies in Africa can be beneficial.

The report also contains proposals on modalities for future United Nations engagement with NEPAD, which is recommended as the successor policy framework for Africa's development.  African countries must first integrate the priorities of the New Partnership into their national development planning frameworks.  A focal point for the New Partnership within African governmental structures was needed.  African governments will need to allocate substantial financial resources from their capital budgets for the programmes of the New Partnership.  While Africa's developmental partners can help by reducing donor requirements, African countries have to strengthen their capacity for aid negotiations and management.

Renewed commitment by the developed nations to eliminate constraints on the export of Africa's processed, semi-processed and agricultural goods will benefit the implementation of the New Partnership, the report continues.  Aid to Africa would need to be at least doubled to increase investment in education, health and infrastructures, so as to stimulate productivity and economic growth, which are critical factors in poverty reduction.  The debt sustainability analysis for the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) should be based on more realistic projections of the export earnings of beneficiary countries.  There was no better time for Africa's development partners to convert technical assistance resources to capacity-building in Africa and to stimulate economic growth and industrial development.

The Assembly had also before it a report of the Secretary-General on the Implementation of the programme for the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa (document A/57/175), which is a follow-up to the implementation of Assembly resolution 56/187.  Since the overall task set up by the resolution is to make a review of the programme an integral part of the review and appraisal of UN-NADAF, the present report mainly reviews progress made in the implementation of the programme during 2001 and 2002.

The report concludes that in order to make globalization work for all and to accomplish the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), special emphasis should be placed on the promotion of sustainable industrial development through the building of competitive industrial capacities.  The problem of poverty alleviation cannot automatically be resolved merely by getting the macroeconomic and social conditions right and by opening trade and investment.  Policies to ensure sustainable productivity growth with equitable distribution of the benefits are also vital.  By attending to the structural aspects of industrial development, countries can greatly improve their industrial performances.

According to the report, strategies and policies should be tailored to developing economy needs.  By focusing on small, medium-size and micro-enterprises and industries, and helping them link up with the global economy, agro-industries and rural industrialization can play an important role in poverty alleviation efforts.  Within the process of globalization, the interconnection and interdependence between industrial development and trade is increasing. International trade is important for fostering industrial growth and the structural transformation of economies.

The report recommends that African countries should diversify away from traditional trade patterns, marked by excessive reliance on exports of raw materials and semi-processed goods and on traditional comparative advantages of raw materials and unskilled labour.  Manufacturing is a catalyst for shifting economies away from simple, low-value activities with poor growth prospects to activities with high productivity, increasing returns and strong growth potential.

The report notes that global industrial value chains, linking the entire sequence of activities from raw material extraction through delivery and disposal after use, opens up new avenues for industrial capacity-building and structural transformation of the economies of developing countries.  Enterprises can link up with outside entities to acquire technologies and skills to leverage external resources for industrial development.  While participation in global value chains can accelerate the process of industrial capacity-building by enterprises, domestic industrial capacity-building must be rewarding and sustainable for this to be successful.

The Assembly also had a draft resolution on the United Nations Declaration on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (document A/57/L.2/Rev.1), by which the Assembly would welcome NEPAD as an African Union-led, -owned and

-managed initiative, and recognize that it is a serious commitment to addressing the aspirations of the continent.  The Assembly would also welcome the commitment of African countries to take effective and concrete measures, inter alia, through the establishment of various institutional mechanisms and the development of strategies for the implementation of NEPAD.  That commitment would reflect the recognition that the primary responsibility for the implementation of NEPAD rests with the African Governments and peoples.

By the same terms, the Assembly would affirm that international support for the implementation of NEPAD was essential, and would urge the United Nations system and the international community, in particular donor countries, to assist with NEPAD's implementation.  It would call upon the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole for the Final Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s to consider how the United Nations would structure its support for NEPAD and take decisions to that effect.

The draft was sponsored by Algeria, Angola, Belize, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Slovakia, South Africa, Suriname, Syria, Tunisia and Venezuela.

Statement by Assembly President

General Assembly President JAN KAVAN (Czech Republic) opened the high-level session, saying that UN-NADAF, which the Assembly approved in 1991, was the culmination of a process of detailed discussions and reviews of the complex issues Africa faced at that time.  UN-NADAF had played a positive role in focusing the international community's attention on various aspects of development in Africa.  Many lessons had been learned from 10 years of UN-NADAF implementation, including that conflict and development were mortal enemies.  Accelerated development cooperation with Africa required a new orientation, especially in conducting multilateral and bilateral programmes.  Commitments had to be honoured and sustained advocacy for African development was needed.  Most importantly, interim evaluations during the implementation of UN-NADAF had highlighted the need for coordination and collaboration among the United Nations agencies in their developmental activities in Africa.

Although a number of corrective measures were undertaken during the UN-NADAF implementation, all the points of the Agenda had not been resolved, he said.  Africa remained a continent that suffered from widespread problems, including extensive poverty, HIV/AIDS, and inadequate access to water.  New challenges posed by globalization continued to rise.  With the NEPAD initiative, a new approach was set in motion.  For the first time, development needs and objectives were identified and defined by African countries themselves.  The NEPAD initiative was a collective pledge by African leaders, and was based on the common vision that they had a duty to address the development challenges facing their individual countries and the continent as a whole.  The concurrent discussion on UN-NADAF and NEPAD during the fifty-seventh session gave the Assembly a unique opportunity to learn from the lessons of UN-NADAF and outline the conditions required for the new initiative's success.

Statement by Secretary-General

Secretary-General KOFI ANNAN said that NEPAD was, first and foremost, a partnership between African leaders and their peoples, and between States within Africa.  In addition, it envisaged a new partnership between Africa and the international community, especially the highly industrialized countries –- based on mutual respect and interdependence, as well as transparency and accountability, including peer review and performance monitoring among both African countries and international partners.

The NEPAD, he continued, would not be a success if Africa failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the world as a whole could not achieve the MDGs unless they were achieved in Africa.  Two separate, but related, priorities -– combating HIV/AIDS and promoting girls’ education -– were particularly central to achieving the MDGs and realizing the promise NEPAD held for all of Africa.  Besides being key MDGs in their own right, promotion of girls’ education and control of HIV/AIDS would be the most powerful enablers for the achievement of all the other MDGs in Africa.

By framing its aims around the millennium Goals, NEPAD challenged Africa’s development partners to deepen their commitment to global poverty reduction.  NEPAD’s stated objective was to achieve the overall 7 per cent annual growth necessary for Africa to meet one of the MDGs -- halving poverty by 2015.  Meeting that target required more than doubling Africa’s recent growth rates.  What remained now was for the principles of NEPAD to be converted into action, so that the partnership made a real difference for ordinary Africans.

The implementation of NEPAD could benefit from two of the lessons learned  by the United Nations and others involved in Africa’s development over the past decade.  First, peace and security were vital to development.  Economic programmes and projects devised by NEPAD must be combined with real progress towards ending conflicts and deepening the roots of peace.  Second, development cooperation required a new orientation.  The international community must strengthen its support for the efforts made by African leaders.

Africa’s future would be determined by Africans, he emphasized.  To build that future, to end the conflicts, cure the diseases and alleviate the multiple hardships that had held it back, Africa would need all the wisdom, political will and creativity it could muster.  It would also need the support of the developed world in an effort that was grounded in a sober and realistic assessment of what needed to be done. 

Statements

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, said that with NEPAD, African leaders were addressing seriously the issues of poverty and underdevelopment on the continent.  The NEPAD was a holistic and integrated development initiative for the sustainable development of Africa, launched by the Organization of African Union –- now the African Union -– in 2001.  Since 2001, there had been widespread international support for NEPAD.  Through it, the goals of restoring peace and security in Africa, managing and preventing conflict, good governance, eradicating poverty and acute income disparities between rich and poor, promoting accelerated growth and sustainable development, and halting the marginalization of Africa would be pursued.  The peoples and governments of Africa had taken their destiny into their own hands and were determined to make the twenty-first century the century of Africa.

The NEPAD functioned at several levels, he explained.  At the global level, the partnership was between the international community, including multilateral institutions, donor agencies and development partners.  At the regional level, NEPAD was involved in framework cooperation between African States and regional institutions in joint ventures that would accelerate the process of integration.  At the subregional level, NEPAD utilized the regional economic communities as building blocks for growth and economic development.  At the national level, there was a growing partnership between the public and non-government sectors.

Detailing the way forward for NEPAD, he said that the first phase of the Plan of Action adopted at the inaugural summit of the African Union was a three-pronged strategy:  first, it sought to create the conditions for sustainable development needed to enhance and strengthen effective States and regional cooperation; second, it identified priority sectors that could speed up African integration; and third, it identified the means of mobilizing both internal and external resources for the effective implementation of policies, programmes and projects.

The development of an African Peer Review Mechanism marked a revolutionary innovation, he said, which aimed at increasing the transparency and accountability of African governments.  He added that, in the fight to halve the number of Africans living below the poverty line by 2015, Africa would need $64 billion annually for NEPAD projects.  The issue of debt cancellation, therefore, needed to be considered.

THABO MBEKI, President of South Africa, recalled that, at its inaugural meeting two months ago, the Africa Union had taken the decision to commend the New Partnership to the United Nations.

He listed the main goals of NEPAD.  The New Partnership aimed to change the old paradigm that drove the approach to Africa’s development. It would also be the way forward for African people to attain the realization of Africa’s renaissance. The partnership would also result in a moving away from Africa’s donor relationship with the rest of the world.  Finally, it would translate despair into hope.

He said Africa’s success would be a victory for all humanity because poverty was a problem for all humanity.  What had hindered Africa’s development in the past was absence of resources to facilitate the realization of its development objectives.

The goals outlined in NEPAD were consistent with the Millennium Declaration, and the United Nations system had a critical role to play in the realization of the NEPAD Plan of Action.  He acknowledged that the United Nations would have to agree on an appropriate mechanism to monitor progress in Africa.

The NEPAD was the means whereby Africa would be able to extricate itself from its long night of misery.  From this point on, it would make reality of the solemn declaration that Africa’s time had come. 

ABDELAZIZ BOUTEFLIKA, President of Algeria, said that NEPAD reflected Africa’s determination to embark on a new development path, the objectives and progress of which were set forth by Africans themselves.  Africa was increasingly marginalized within the global economy because of its conflicts, the spread and aggravation of poverty, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.  Therefore, it became necessary to move off the beaten track and identify a new approach, with new premises, bases and objectives, and new steps of implementation. 

The NEPAD, he said, had set forth the interdependent thrusts in fields of top priority for the revitalization of African development.  The African Union had launched a process to rationalize its mechanisms for action in order to restore peace and security to the continent.  It had decided, among other things, to create a Council of Peace and Security, and an African Academy for Peace.  That peace endeavour would have positive impact on stability in the continent.  It implied a political, financial, technical and logistical commitment from the international community, and the United Nations system, in view of supporting and completing the efforts of Africans in that field. 

To achieve the millennium Goals, further efforts were needed from Africa’s partners, particularly with regard to combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.  Agricultural and rural development, economic diversification and environmental protection were the other basic elements of NEPAD, for which African efforts needed to be backed by international cooperation.  Finance mobilization and investment were essential for the success of NEPAD in terms of growth and poverty reduction. 

To that end, he continued, it would be necessary to improve the environment of investment, and to complete the processes of banking, customs and fiscal restructuring and of creating and developing financial markets.  Africa’s partners should contribute to the fulfilment of an integrated approach embracing trade, official development assistance (ODA) and investment.  Hence, lifting the barriers in terms of access to world markets would be attractive to investors.  Equally, improving ODA and its modalities was indispensable as a spur to boost investment.  Finally, creating financing mechanisms and adapted regimes of guarantee were needed to encourage investors, and were meant to absorb Africa’s deficits in the sector of infrastructures.

ABDOULAYE WADE, President of Senegal, began by expressing support for each initiative calling for United Nations involvement in the Iraq situation, including the proposal made by France to set deadlines for Saddam Hussein’s compliance with Security Council resolutions.  Turning to NEPAD, he said it was not just another plan, but a new vision of Africa’s future, conceived by Africans themselves.  At its base were three main objectives:  good governance; large inputs from the private sector; and viewing the region as an integral operative space, instead of being divided into many States, too small for optimal economic performance.  In addition, there were a number of super-priorities, on whose development the focus would rest, including infrastructures, education, health, agriculture, energy, the environment and access to developed markets.

He noted that the international community had come full circle through all of its summit meetings in the last two years and now had only to act.  In each sector, regional projects had been identified; the task now was to find financing for them.  Urging that the international community reduce the number of “rehearsal” meetings that it held, he suggested that working meetings where projects were developed and financed would be more helpful.

Recognizing that the Group of 8 industrialized countries and private sector had made a true commitment to Africa, he said that the efforts made towards good governance and fighting corruption should be noted.  The Peer Review process had not yet been strictly applied, but the African heads of State were to meet to discuss the situation of children in the subregion.  He expressed the hope that the rhythm of credit consumption would be speeded up and reminded his African compatriots that humankind was at the centre of sustainable development in all of its phases.  Also, the different social and civil society actors needed to take the initiative and not wait for the creators of NEPAD to tell them how to integrate into the new African vision.

JOHN AGYEKUM KUFUOR, President of Ghana, said, “We have come here as a new generation of African leadership committed to the welfare of our people.”  African leaders must commit themselves to ensuring that the Peer Review Mechanism worked, and that no leader was allowed to hide under the umbrella of solidarity, or any other excuse, when he or she failed to measure up to the principles underlying NEPAD.  “Our people deserve good leaders”, he said.

The need to ensure balance in the enforcement of the principles of NEPAD was perhaps as important as ensuring good governance, he said.  Some African countries might have to go through a period of transition before they would be able to fully implement the principles of NEPAD.  During that period of transition, care should be taken not to impose sanctions that might gravely destabilize entire communities, regions and neighbouring countries.  To attain that balance, Africa and its partners needed better collaboration, under the auspices of the United Nations.  It was also important to focus at the global level on a number of issues, which were critical in creating the conditions for Africa’s development. 

He said making Africa’s local entrepreneurs a vital bedrock for expanded investments and thriving markets on the continent required not just the policy and regulatory environments that African governments must provide, but also required access to substantial volumes of long-term concessionary credit and venture capital.  Also, Africa must be assured of levels of support that would enable the continent to sustain the minimum acceptable standards of health, education and nutrition for all, irrespective of social standing.  Also, he added, there were many other bottlenecks in the implementation of NEPAD.  Those included the crippling debt burden, declining levels of ODA, limited market access, and the lack of trade and investment insurance.  Those bottlenecks must be addressed urgently.

EL HADJ OMAR BONGO, President of Gabon, said that, in the era of globalization, sharing, partnership and solidarity must become the watchwords of relations among the peoples of the world.  He was gratified by the welcome given to NEPAD by the international community, particularly the Group of 8.  That welcome reflected a heightened interest and new respect for Africa.  All of which was owed to the tremendous work done by the Presidents of South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal and Egypt.

The NEPAD brought the full responsibility of Africa to bear, he said.  With NEPAD, Africa was giving the international community the ways and means to participate in Africa’s development in a mutually beneficial way.  Time was of the essence.  Everyone must work together to achieve sustainable development.  He expected the international community and external financial stakeholders to work with Africa to set up projects under NEPAD, which would bring progress and well-being to the peoples of Africa. 

JEAN CHRÉTIEN, Prime Minister of Canada, said NEPAD could mark a turning point for the people of Africa.  It was a turning point that would bring an end to Africa’s decline.  Others could draw inspiration from this new approach to development.

A multiplicity of problems, including HIV/AIDS, had served to undermine Africa’s development.  Canada looked to this debate to make NEPAD a centrepiece of the United Nations agenda.  It was his privilege to chair the G-8 summit in June where discussion had focused on Africa.  G-8 leaders had identified much-needed resources that could aid Africa in its development. Taken together, NEPAD and the G-8 plan would transform the relationship between the continent and the G-8 States.

The time for talk had passed, he said.  Canada had taken action immediately after the G-8 summit, committing $6 billion to Africa’s development.  From

1 January, Canada would eliminate tariffs on products from developing countries. He spoke out against subsidies to aid farmers in developed countries, and noted the huge disparity between such subsidies and current levels of ODA.  He called for the end to such subsidies.  Helping the developing world to move forward would serve to eliminate the basis for terrorist activity.

PAKALITHA B. MOSISILI, Prime Minister of Lesotho, said that NEPAD encouraged good governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights.  That could only be realized where democracy was the order of the day.  Indeed, democracy was also a sine qua non for economic growth and sustainable development.  Those noble ideals were the bases for the African Peer Review Mechanism, to which African leaders would submit themselves. 

The underlying notion of NEPAD was genuine partnership between African countries and the international community, based on shared responsibility and the mutual interest of all parties.  In the long run, NEPAD sought to reverse the marginalization of Africa from the globalization process and the social exclusion of its 340 million people who were currently living on less than $1 per day. 

The NEPAD recognized the role of private-sector participation in Africa’s development, he said.  Mobilization of requisite domestic resources for investment in key sectors, such as infrastructure, information technology, human resource development, agriculture and market access, were dependent on a healthy and economically functioning private sector.  He was cognizant of the gap that existed between the least developed countries and the industrialized countries in terms of resource distribution and technological know-how.  Therefore, he called on the latter to complement Africa’s efforts to achieve the objectives of NEPAD. 

He stressed that NEPAD was an African Union programme.  The Union served as the apex of the institutional framework for African socio-economic and political development, so that Africa could ultimately extricate itself from the bondage of marginalization and exclusion in the globalizing world.

LEVY P. MWANAWASA, President of Zambia, said that NEPAD had originated in the realization that Africa’s poverty levels and global marginalization had continued to increase.  Breaking the vicious circle of impoverishment in Africa had been attempted before, and critics of NEPAD were asking what difference this new plan would make.  The answer was that NEPAD differed from its predecessors because it was a holistic, comprehensive and integrated strategic framework for the social and economic development of Africa.  It was developed by African leaders themselves, and it clearly faced the problems confronting the continent and identified a programme of action to resolve them.

The primary objective of NEPAD, he said, was to eradicate poverty and to place the countries of Africa, both individually and collectively, on the path of sustainable development while halting the marginalization of Africa in the global process.  Through implementing the priority sectoral plans of bridging the infrastructure gap, developing human resources, and building agriculture, manufacturing, science and technology capabilities, Zambia was confident that the continent would shrug off the shackles of poverty.

Although NEPAD was an African initiative, he reminded the Assembly that Africa still needed debt relief, foreign direct investment and ODA, in addition to domestic resource mobilization by the countries of Africa themselves.  In that connection, the bilateral and multilateral support already shown for NEPAD was encouraging, as was the support shown by other developing regions.

FESTUS G. MOGAE, President of Botswana, said NEPAD represented a strategy for addressing peace and security, democratic and accountable governance, poverty eradication and observance of the rule of law.  Achievement of the NEPAD goals would contribute meaningfully to a more just and secure global environment.  The NEPAD framework recognized the cardinal role development stakeholders such as government and political leaders, labour, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, civil society and the international community had to play.  It did not place the onus for raising living standards of the African people on ODA, although it recognized its catalytic role in the early phases of the turn-around.

He said NEPAD was being criticized, even from within Africa.  That was yet another manifestation of the democratic tide sweeping through the continent.  Some of the criticism would contribute to sharpening the programmes of NEPAD.  He asked the dogmatic opponents of NEPAD to come up with viable alternatives.  Even then, isolationism was not an option in today's increasingly interdependent world.  The NEPAD should not be judged by isolated episodes but by the general advancement of the majority of the inhabitants of the continent.  It was obviously unrealistic to expect all countries to attain the same goals overnight. It was also unfair to hold the entire NEPAD programme to ransom on account of developments in a few countries.

The NEPAD could not succeed without the support of the international community in solving some of Africa's intractable problems, such as intra-country and cross-border conflicts, the debilitating external debt, declining levels of ODA, the widening digital divide, and, above all, restricted access of African products to developed country markets.  Paying tribute to the Group of 8 leaders for their G-8 Africa Action Plan, he implored the rest of the international community to follow their example and make concrete commitments of support for the revitalization of the African continent.  He reaffirmed Africa's commitment to upholding high standards of political, economic and corporate governance, democratic and accountable rule, and respect for human rights.  This was not the time for ideological pronouncements, but for action, he said.

JOSE MARIA PEREIRA NEVES, Prime Minister of Cape Verde, said the NEPAD initiative would serve to reverse the fatalism that had been linked to Africa’s development. Broad support for NEPAD gave hope for a genuine partnership that would be beneficial for all.

He pointed out the need for the involvement of civil society in ensuring that the people of the continent felt ownership of the process involved.  He also said it was important to integrate South-South cooperation as an element of the NEPAD development process. 

Small island developing States, whose peculiar difficulties had engaged the attention of the Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg, also needed to be integrated into the global economy, he said.  Their extreme vulnerability made it difficult for them to penetrate the global marketplace.

The NEPAD should learn from the problems which had affected the feasibility of development projects in other countries.  It should work to reduce the insularity of small States, which must be integrated into Africa’s development projects.  With the launching of NEPAD, it would be possible to rebuild the future for millions on the continent.  People should be the main beneficiaries of Africa’s development.

JAN PETERSEN, Foreign Minister of Norway, said the creation, by African leaders, of the African Union and NEPAD opened up an historic opportunity for Africa to take control of its destiny.  In initiating NEPAD, African leaders had created a powerful conceptual base for addressing the challenges facing the continent, which were enormous and diverse.

In pledging to consolidate democracy and build good governance, to promote peace and security and to uphold human rights, NEPAD could unleash and set in motion the great potential inherent in the peoples of Africa, he said. He appealed to the leaders present to show true leadership in translating those intentions into concrete action and to continue to address that issue, also vis-à-vis all leaders of the continent.  He said NEPAD built on the many earlier initiatives to promote development in Africa.  Those initiatives did not always work as well as they were intended to, often because of lack of political commitment.

“The international community must admit its share of responsibility”, he said.  “We must have the courage to admit that absence of accountability and responsibility in governance has played an important part, as well.”  He pledged that Norway would actively support the development of the NEPAD peer review mechanism that was created to address those problems.  In particular, he said, Norway welcomed the call on development partners to include the monitoring of their own policies and practices in the review process.

AHMED MAHER EL SAYED, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Egypt, said that what Africa was putting before the Assembly today through NEPAD was its integrated vision of the problems and questions facing the continent, as well as a comprehensive strategy aimed at addressing those problems and questions.  He said it was backed by a firm political will and a conscious realization of the responsibilities of the African peoples and their leadership for the achievement of the desired objectives.

He said the insistence on “African ownership” of NEPAD by the continent’s leaders did not mean that they ignored the need for an equitable and healthy partnership between them and those capable of assisting them.  They were aware, he went on, that the concept of “interdependence” was the basis of relations between economic entities on the international arena, and thus looked forward to the establishment of such partnership with the United Nations, the other international institutions concerned with the questions of socio-economic development, and the developed and donor countries. 

“This would respond to the legitimate demands of Africa”, he said.  “It would correct Africa’s economic marginalization.  It would address the imbalance in the world economic system and in the international trading system.  This will be in the interest of all peoples and countries, developed and developing alike." While reaffirming anew that NEPAD was not a list of financial demands nor was it a statement of Africa’s needs of outside assistance, Africa reiterated its objective of establishing a partnership with the developed countries -- a partnership that was based on the concepts of justice, common responsibility and the need for each side to honour its commitments and obligations.

PER STIG MOLLER, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark, speaking on behalf of the European Union and Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, and Iceland, said the development challenges facing Africa were enormous.  The overarching goal of the MDGs was halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.  A vast number of those people lived in Africa.  The primary responsibility for facing those challenges lay with Africa, but that continent could not address them alone.  A renewed development partnership between Africa and the international community was needed to support Africa in its efforts.

Strongly supporting NEPAD, the Union considered it the best basis for a renewed partnership, he said.  The NEPAD could be seen as an African spearhead for reinforced development of the continent, effectively breaking the deadlock of the past.  The NEPAD could be very important to the newborn African Union in helping to shape its course and giving it real content.  The Union considered NEPAD as a crucial initiative that should provide the overall policy framework for the international community's relations with Africa.  The central feature of NEPAD was that it recognized an operational link between economic growth, development and the principles of political and economic good governance, the rule of law, democratization and respect for human rights.  The African Peer Review Mechanism would be central in making those principles become a reality.

The Union was in the process of preparing a platform on further developing relations between the Union and Africa, to be discussed at the European Union/Africa ministerial meeting on 28 November in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and at the next Union/Africa Summit in April 2003.  In that context, the Union very much looked forward to developing relations with NEPAD.  The NEPAD, as a new pan-African context, gave a new political opportunity to strengthen and develop the Union/Africa dialogue and partnership.  The Union would remain responsive to the wishes of NEPAD and of the African Union for dialogue and cooperation.  Business as usual would not promote development in Africa.  The African leaders and people had raised the stakes with the adoption of NEPAD.  The international community should be prepared to match it.

LOUIS MICHEL, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belgium, said that NEPAD had opened the way to a new relationship for Africa with the international community.  It was based on the noble concept of doing something for the people, and gave to the international community the unavoidable responsibility to break with the paternalistic cooperation that characterized the past relationship.  The NEPAD affirmed that there was no development without good governance, no democratization without respect for human rights.  It was a commitment to submitting governmental policies to rigorous examination.

In a time when millions of Africans were threatened with famine, HIV/AIDS, misery, violence and despair, NEPAD was a new hope that could not be allowed to fail for lack of foreign support, he said.  The volume of foreign assistance to Africa was not what it needed to be, if the Millennium Development Goal of poverty eradication was to be achieved.  The adoption of political statements was insufficient; only actions counted.  There was a need to address financing for development, the debt, and access to international markets in regard to Africa.

Belgium was committed to Africa, he said.  The government had increased its foreign aid allotments for the fourth consecutive year and of that more than

60 per cent went to Africa. He was convinced that NEPAD would become the framework for partnership between Africa and Europe.  It was no more and no less than the most noble ambition -- to liberate Africa from pain, inaction and exploitation.  Belgium owed its support to Africa, because a large part of Africa’s history was the history of Belgium and the new page needed to be written in the ink of dignity and respect.

LYDIE POLFER, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Luxembourg, said that since NEPAD’s adoption, a fresh wind seemed to be blowing across Africa.  Luxembourg welcomed and was gratified by that new impetus.  The NEPAD was an invitation to a new constructive relationship between Africa and the international community to decrease the development gap. 

Over the years, she said, Luxembourg’s development cooperation had been the subject of carefully considered change.  The old approach had been replaced by a pragmatic, multi-year approach, and emphasis was given to principles such as the rule of law, good governance and human rights.  The watchword of her country’s cooperation was partnership.  It had established special partnerships with six African countries.  Thus, more than 80 per cent of its bilateral cooperation was devoted to infrastructure and social services.  There was broad convergence of vision and approach.

Good governance, she said, was rightly recognized as essential for the success of development activities.  The NEPAD had provided for a Peer Review Mechanism, which was one of the specific features of the partnership.  It was the commitment of African leaders to their people, as well as the commitment of Africans to their leaders.  African countries could count on the support of her country in their efforts. 

TANG JIAXUAN, Foreign Minister of China, said that African countries had in recent years made positive progress in maintaining political stability, promoting economic development and accelerating regional cooperation.  As a result, Africa was now playing a greater role in international affairs.

However, African countries had yet to enjoy the benefits of economic globalization, and the gap between Africa and the world’s overall development level was still widening.  He said that was not only a challenge to African countries, but also an issue that the international community must endeavour to address.  The United Nations had a responsibility in promoting African development in that regard. 

He said that China had for long maintained a good and cooperative relationship with African countries, and was following closely the progress of the continent. Strengthening cooperation with African countries for common development was an important component of China’s foreign policy.

A.M.A. VAN ARDENNE-VAN DER HOEVEN, Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, praised African leaders for taking responsibility to solve their own problems.  The NEPAD was a sign of their resolve to prevent conflict and promote peace and development.

However, Africa could not achieve its goals alone.  It should have support from rich countries.  Development assistance was a common strategy to deal with a common problem.  What had to be evident, in her view, were better results from the resources committed to development.

Recent developments in the Netherlands had not weakened her country’s commitment to providing developing aid.  The world had to open its markets. Agricultural subsidies had to be discontinued, for otherwise the rich countries would not be true development partners.  The private sector had a role to play.  So too did women.  African leaders should give women the necessary space to be involved.  They constituted half of the world’s human resources.

ANA PALACIO, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain, said there was a shared responsibility to change the impact that HIV/AIDS, infant mortality, illiteracy, refugees and internally displaced persons had had on the African continent.  The NEPAD was a crucial initiative that dealt with the political, economic and social priorities of Africa in a consistent and balanced way, promoting peace and security, political, economic and business governance, human resources and the establishment of basic facilities, access to global markets and the protection of the environment.  In short, there were two priorities for NEPAD:  conflict resolution and poverty eradication.

One of the major contributions of NEPAD, she said, was the responsibility that African leaders had undertaken for managing their own development.  Another was the Peer Review Mechanism, designed to monitor the degree of compliance with the partnership’s criteria of good governance.  Now there was a need for the establishment of clear and transparent guidelines within the framework of NEPAD in order to increase the flow of private investment to Africa

Women played a unique role in poverty eradication in Africa, she said.  For that reason, it was essential to insist that the education of girls, food safety, access to drinking water, and health services were taken into account in all development projects in Africa, in conjunction with the NEPAD objectives.  Key historical changes, she said, did not begin when things started to go wrong, but when it was discerned that they could be changed.

BRIAN COWEN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland, said that the bedrock themes of NEPAD were building hope, taking stock, looking to the future and meeting challenges.  As such, it was a courageous and honest blueprint for action for all countries, not just those of Africa.  The task of implementation would require a lot of courage, hard work and determination.

The NEPAD challenged the international community to build a creative new partnership for Africa, he said, but at heart it was an initiative for Africa, by Africa.  Building on earlier initiatives, it offered goals and targets matched by an operational framework for meeting those targets.  The way forward for the international community was clearly stated therein; a dual partnership both within and for Africa needed to be developed between the developed and developing States.  The basic task of the international community was to support economic growth and sustainable development through:  tackling the structural causes of poverty in Africa; offering fair market access to African countries; mobilizing financial, technical and investment resources that allowed Africa to compete fairly; and tackling unacceptable levels of debt.

There were four main themes of special importance in implementing NEPAD, he said.  First, the main strength of NEPAD was its recognition of strong links between advancing sustainable development and political and economic governance.  Second, it allowed for creative interaction at a structural level, so that political and economic actions and sustainable development policies advanced in harmony.  Third, NEPAD needed the support of the international community to be successful.  Fourth, the United Nations needed to provide strong and active leadership in support of this new partnership for Africa.

ANTÓNIO MARTINS DA CRUZ, Foreign Minister of Portugal, said that today, more than ever, the African people were asking their leaders for the possibility of making their dreams come true, with confidence and optimism for a better future.  Africa, more than any other continent, had been lacking that for far too long, and poverty, starvation, disease, war, debt and corruption had all been growing and were widespread.  Due to them, Africa had become “the forgotten continent”.

He said NEPAD could be considered a stepping stone, the first single policy that aimed at changing an entire continent.  Its endorsement by the States of the African Union emphasized its African leadership and ownership of the development process.  At the same time, it was calling for a new partnership based on shared responsibility and mutual interest.  Its vision, however, did not take away its realism, he said.

Continuing, he said that NEPAD, shaped by a heritage of poverty and suffering, recognized the enormous potential of the African peoples, underlined the need to reinforce peace, democracy, good governance, human rights and sound economic management.  But, as any partnership, it was a two-way street whose obligations were reciprocal.  As far as non-Africans were concerned, it would mean efforts to make development assistance more effective, as well as ensuring that markets were open to business with Africa.  That was the only way to allow capital flows to have a real impact in reducing poverty and increasing opportunity for African investments.  Europeans had not dedicated enough resources to Africa, and some African leaders have resisted implementing measures to promote equitable income, human rights and the rule of law.  “It is time to change this”, he said.

S. JAYAKUMAR, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore, said despite setbacks in pursuit of its development, Africa had given birth to a new crop of positive leaders. The international community must not let the opportunity slip.

He advocated the establishment of good political governance in Africa.  The NEPAD stressed the need for such governance.  Development depended not only on economic factors, but political as well.  The Peer Review Mechanism formulated by African leaders, therefore, represented a bold initiative in that regard.

As a small country, Singapore stood ready to help in a practical and concrete manner on the way forward, he said.  The Singapore Cooperation Programme provided technical assistance to help other developing countries. The international community should also build on the existing momentum for development in Africa. He pointed out that the United Nations working relationship with NEPAD should be clearly defined.

COLIN POWELL, Secretary of State of the United States, said that President Bush and the American people cared deeply for the people of Africa.  Everyone wanted to live in dignity, free from despair and disease.  Focus must not be lost of the need to combat the greatest threat facing Africa, that of HIV/AIDS.  The United States was committed to supporting Africa’s efforts to improve the lives of its people.  The international community was meeting at a time of optimism.  It had come together around a common vision of shared responsibility to achieve development goals.  Countries had agreed that development must begin at home with sound political and economic governance at all levels. 

The Johannesburg Plan of Action was an important part of efforts to implement a blueprint for sustainable development, he said.  But plans were not enough.  Only effective action could provide jobs, prevent disease and provide clean drinking water.  The United States was stepping up to the challenge.  It was poised to move towards greater trade-based prosperity.  Among other things, $5 billion in new money would go every year to developing countries which were committed to good governance and sound economic policies.  Also, at Johannesburg, the United States had proposed effective partnerships to increase access to clean water and food security. 

Africa was also stepping up to the development challenge, he said.  With NEPAD, African leaders had accepted primary responsibility for Africa’s development. They had committed themselves to open their governments and strengthen their economies.  Countries that failed to live up to the principles of NEPAD would suffer.  The real test was yet to come.  The NEPAD would be judged on whether it was reflected in concrete change.  Countries that adhered to the reforms NEPAD stood for had a better chance of achieving development goals.  He assured the international community that the United States was committed to helping the people of Africa to build a prosperous and democratic future.  The NEPAD showed the way for that future. 

DOMINIQUE DE VILLEPIN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of France, said that now, when many principal crises in Africa had been stabilized, after considerable effort by the international community, it was essential to foster Africa’s economic development, without which there would be no lasting peace.  In that context, NEPAD constituted a promising initiative, allowing Africa to take her destiny in her own hands. 

The current meeting presented an opportunity to take stock and to set new targets, he said.  First, NEPAD was a project common to all of Africa.  Second, it provided for institutions to advance its objectives.  Third, many African heads of State were personally involved in the effort.  That being so, there was every reason for optimism.  The NEPAD had laid down good objectives, around which a Peer Review Mechanism had been provided.  It set in place, at the same time, both objectives and their means for achievement.  There was also reason to feel encouraged by the behaviour of developed countries, who had recognized the general urgency of the fight against poverty.

The African countries needed to state with precision their main objective, to elaborate the concrete mechanisms they wanted to put in place and to explain the role of the African Union therein, he said.  All of Africa’s living forces needed to be mobilized in order to give concrete effect to their will.  There was also an urgent need to structure a new partnership between the North and South.  France intended to proceed in two ways -- by increasing foreign aid levels by

50 per cent in five years, and by encouraging the private sector to invest in Africa.

FELIPE PEREZ ROQUE, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba, expressed his country’s full support for NEPAD.  Cuba did not see Africa as the promised land for investment or easy profits, but as an area in which Cuba’s brothers lived.  Almost 1,000 Cuban medical personnel were working free of charge in rural areas of 12 African countries.  There were a number of requirements for NEPAD to have a future.  First, all the external debt of African countries must be forgiven.  Second, Africa required special and differentiated access to markets for their products.  Why was it that Africa only accounted for 2 per cent of world trade? 

Africa also required access to technology and the creation of human resources, he continued.  Were the developed countries prepared to stop robbing African countries of their professionals?  What development were we talking about?  In addition, Africa required increased financial resources without any strings attached.  Had the G-8 leaders really considered the fact that many of Africa’s problems stemmed from centuries of colonial exploitation?  Furthermore, Africa required help in fighting HIV/AIDS.  What future awaited the more than 13 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS?  Without such remedies, African efforts would only lead to frustration. 

ANATOLIY ZLENKO, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, traced the long history of cooperation between Ukraine and Africa.  He hailed the African Union as a historic step and expressed the hope that it would become a driving force behind the continent’s development.  He took note of the intergovernmental meeting held in Algeria on the prevention of terrorism.

He said the main principles of NEPAD -- ownership, partnership and responsibility -– provided a strong foundation for reaching the goal of Africa’s development.  Today, Africa bore the world’s heaviest burdens, he observed.  Those burdens represented great impediments to the continent’s development.  The responsibility for overcoming that situation was a shared one.  The United Nations had an important role to play in the new partnership.  It should be provided with the necessary resources to carry out its mandate in that regard.  Ukraine stood ready to offer assistance in implementation of NEPAD.  It would do so in such fields as education, agriculture and transport.

BLAS F. OPLE, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, said that just as Africa had won the battle against apartheid, it would now have to do the same for development.

While global developments favouring development were important, the experience of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) indicated the importance of regional developments, as well.  Those experiences should be a model for Africa.  He felt there was much that could come of cooperation between the two regions.  He assigned to the developed countries the task of helping Africa build key institutions.  And access to global markets would form part of the foundation for the continent’s development.

For its part, the Philippines would share its experiences with all stakeholders, especially business and civil society.  And his country supported the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) because debt relief was important.

MOHAMED BENAISSA, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco, said that NEPAD was the starting point for integrated development:  its implementation would depend on the political will of each African country to translate it into their own national policies.  The United Nations, through its main bodies, would be called on to play a central role in the success of NEPAD.  It was important to determine the ways and means for the United Nations to demonstrate its commitment to that partnership.  If the tools of coordination and programming of the United Nations system were to be made available, the major challenge lay in adapting those tools to NEPAD and the national priorities concerned.

While funding of NEPAD for African countries stood as the greatest challenge, the main task of the United Nations was to plead for resources and to facilitate new models of cooperation.  In that regard, he was satisfied at the commitment expressed by the G-8, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  He hoped that commitment would be reflected in concrete support and partnership.  The success of NEPAD also involved the strengthening of the global economic system and improved access of African exports to markets of wealthy countries. 

Likewise, he added, particular attention should be given to the problems of the HIPCs.  The servicing of debt continued to absorb enormous financial resources from the African countries.  Morocco’s King Mohammed VI had recently announced his decision to cancel the external debt of African least developed countries and to open his country’s markets to the products of those countries.

MORSHED KHAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, said he had seen for himself the challenges that faced the continent today, among which were ending armed conflicts, rebuilding societies ravaged by war, social and economic progress, HIV/AIDS, the environment, and famine.  The international community had long been aware of Africa’s needs, but its efforts to support African development needed a new orientation.  Among the lessons learned through past efforts were the fact that the international community needed to honour its commitments; that peace and security were necessary preconditions for sustainable development; and that Africa needed to “own” its development strategies.  In that respect, African leaders deserved commendation for effectively articulating their problems and envisioning the ways to address them.

Bangladesh, he said, had long been involved in United Nations peace and development efforts in Africa.  There had hardly been a peacekeeping mission in Africa in the last two decades in which Bangladesh did not participate.  As a member of the Security Council, Bangladesh had pursued a policy of activism, pleaded for greater United Nations engagement and tried to match her political commitment with presence on the ground.

While conflict impeded development, many of Africa’s conflicts were rooted in endemic poverty, underdevelopment and a weak institutional basis for development, he said.  The international community needed to fulfil the commitments of the Programme of Action outlined at the Third United Nations Conference of the Least Developed Countries last year.  As Africa proceeded to confront these challenges, the hand of cooperation should be extended to her.  On the economic front, Africa’s debt burden needed to be addressed, her economies rebuilt, and her market access ensured.  Within the framework of South-South cooperation, countries like Bangladesh should share the experiences and lessons learned through their own attempts to deal such problems.

ALLAN WAGNER, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Peru, hailed NEPAD as an effective and bold step to tackle the problems affecting African countries.  His country had been closely following major developments in terms of independence for Namibia and the end of apartheid in South Africa.  Peru took pride in its involvement in peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia and Eritrea. 

He highlighted the commitments taken on by African leaders in NEPAD in terms of strengthening democracy, human rights, accountability and transparency.  Democracy was crucial and directly linked to sustainable development for people.  Peru stood ready to work with African leaders in their efforts.  He agreed with NEPAD’s vision, which gave prominence to reform in the social sector, as well as the recognition of the leading role to be played by the private sector.

Peru had been promoting a proposal in its region to reduce defence expenditures and distribute those saved resources to the social sector, he said.  Any sustainable development strategy would not achieve the desired results if it was not accompanied by an effective increase in ODA and access to the markets of developed countries. 

YASHWANT SINHA, Minister for External Affairs of India, said that in NEPAD Africa had accorded the highest priority to democracy.  Like India, it saw democracy as a moral imperative that provided the basis for durable peace and stability because conflict and instability were anathema to economic development.  Democracy was, therefore, a necessary condition for progress and prosperity.

He cautioned, however, that democracy alone did not provide an instant recipe for economic salvation, as economic development also required sound economic policies.  The only workable policies, he said, whether economic or political, were those which were chosen by the people themselves.  Overriding reliance on liberalization, privatization and market-based reforms had, in many cases, proved counter-productive in accelerating development and alleviating poverty.

He further observed that Africa had suffered, in the past, from policies imposed from outside.  “National ownership is not a mere principle to be paid lip- service to.  The restriction of democratic space is not only morally unacceptable; it is also, we find, economically and socially counter-productive and could often prove to be disastrous.  This is, in our view, a principal lesson which the international community needs to learn from the experience of the past,” he said.

LUVSAN ERDENECHULUUN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, said it was now widely recognized that securing peace and tranquillity for the sake of economic progress was the highest priority -- and the primary responsibility of all African countries, individually and collectively.  There were many unresolved conflicts in Africa, while still others that were dormant now could flare up at any moment.

With the support of the international community, he said, Africa, which had suffered too long from armed conflict, was now seriously engaged in resolving many continent’s conflicts.  In expressing Mongolia’s support for NEPAD, he noted that the New Partnership was designed by the Africans and for the Africans, based on the lessons of the past decade.  The African countries had committed themselves to take effective measures for its implementation and the initiative had already won widespread international endorsement.

ANIL KUMARSINGH GAYAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of Mauritius, said that the New Partnership embodied not only the hopes and ideals of Africans and their leaders, but also their determination to have a new paradigm for the continent.  However, since there had been many plans for Africa’s development in the past, NEPAD risked being subjected to a degree of cynicism and charges of déjà vu.

“We are, however, of the view that NEPAD is not just another plan; it is an African plan designed by Africans in order to meet achievable targets over set time frames.  We are determined to prove the cynics wrong and to accompany NEPAD in meeting the goals and targets agreed at the Millennium Summit”, he said.

He said that as a member of the Implementation Committee, Mauritius believed that the success of the programme depended on the involvement of the totality of the international community, adding, “we urge the international community to welcome NEPAD and to support it wholeheartedly in order to rescue Africa”.

CAROLINA BARCO, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia, reaffirmed that the benefits of peace, independence and development to which all aspired had been an historic commitment of the United Nations to Africa.  The actions undertaken by the United Nations in that field have the legacy of all Member States.  The United Nations needed to continue responding to the special needs of Africa by working towards Africa’s most favourable integration into the globalized economy of today.

The voice of Africa had broadcast its vision for economic and social development, democracy with transparent government and peace and security throughout the continent, she said.  Those elements would become the reference points bridging the gap between North and South, Africa and the rest of the world.  The NEPAD reflected the commitment made by African countries to guide their own development and eliminate some troublesome aspects of external assistance.  But, for better or worse, the African renaissance would depend on the contributions that the international community could make in terms of human, technical and financial resources, as well as on African rulers and social leaders’ will to act.

The decision to establish a Peer Review Mechanism was a particularly well intentioned and courageous one, she said, and the United Nations and other international organizations needed to respond to the peoples of Africa with an approach based on that new reality.  During the 20 months that Colombia had held a seat on the Security Council, it had become quite plain that, in the absence of peace, there could be no development and no integration into the rest of the world.

MIKHAIL KHVOSTOV, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belarus, praised Africa for its determination to break loose from its situation.  Practical assistance from the international community gave rise for hope of the continent’s transformation into a dynamic region.

Assessing recent history, he said the cold war confrontation had caused funds to be diverted away from development.  There now existed a more active model of cooperation in the post-cold war period.  The emergence of NEPAD coincided with the creation of the African Union, which provided testimony of the seriousness of the continent’s aspiration to assume a dignified place in a modern world order largely influenced by globalization.

Over the last few years, Belarus had intensified its cooperation with the countries of the region after becoming a full-fledged member of the Non-Aligned Movement.  His country could offer assistance in a number of areas that would help to build the continent’s infrastructure.  Within the NEPAD framework, Belarus was ready to cooperate with Africa in many areas of technology, including biotechnology.  It could also assist in the fields of health, especially with regard to AIDS, and the agricultural sector.  Belarus would consistently advocate the continuation of unimpeded United Nations efforts to help with the revival of Africa.

YOUSSOUF OUEDRAOGO, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso, said that NEPAD was born of the political will of African leaders to give a new Africa a complete democratic rebirth and achieve sustainable development for the benefit of all African people.  With NEPAD, the world was seeing a more enlightened Africa, determined to take in hand the reins of its own destiny.  The review programme and the Peer Review Mechanism were the best demonstrations of that.  Africa’s takeoff required coordinated action and required the mobilization of external partners. 

From that standpoint, he welcomed the holding of today’s meeting and the support promised to NEPAD in various international forums, including the G-8 Summit and the Johannesburg Summit.  Today’s meeting was a place to identify new areas of cooperation and partnership.  Burkina Faso was committed to the harmonious development of the African continent in an environment of peace.  He appealed to the international community, particularly to the United Nations, for an acceptance of NEPAD worldwide as the new strategy for Africa’s development.  The present debate would give rise to concrete proposals which would give NEPAD real chances for success. 

* *** *