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Mr. President,
For the third year in running this Assembly is considering jointly the
progress in implementation and international support for the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development (NEPAD); and the recommendations of the Secretary General
in his report on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and
sustainable development in Africa. We welcome this practice. It is in line with
the long-held view, also recognized recently by the 2005 September Summit, that
development and peace and security are interlinked and mutually reinforcing.
2. Durable peace can only be achieved through a comprehensive strategy
comprising conflict prevention, addressing the root causes of conflict,
strengthening long-term capacities for peaceful settlement of disputes,
peacemaking and peacekeeping; and a coherent system wide response to
post-conflict peace-building, reconstruction and development.
3. The two complementary reports of the Secretary General under the agenda item
present a comprehensive picture of the progress made in promoting sustainable
development and peace and security in Africa over the past one year. The reports
also list the formidable challenges that must be surmounted to consolidate the
gains and positive trends and to make the progress irreversible.
4. Economic and social threats, including poverty, infectious disease and
environmental degradation; and internal conflicts continue to afflict the
continent. The Secretary General has noted that while the attention of the
international community has been forcefully directed to the importance of these
threats, there is concern that the financial and human resources required to
solve the multidimensional interlinked problems will fall well short of what is
needed.
Mr. President,
5. Africa is the only continent not on track to meet any of the goals of the
Millennium Declaration by 2015. Many of the challenges and special needs of
Africa were addressed as part of the September Summit. The Summit outcome
welcomed the progress made by the African countries in implementing their
commitments with regard to NEPAD. It resolved to strengthen cooperation with the
NEPAD by mobilizing internal and external financial resources to support Africa.
6. The 2005 Summit also reaffirmed that development is a central goal by itself.
Pakistan strongly believes that development should be used as the best means for
preventing conflict in the first place, not just to prevent the relapse of
conflict.
Mr. President,
7. We commend the African leadership for their vision in launching NEPAD -- an
Africa-led, Africa-owned, and Africa-driven initiative providing integrated and
comprehensive framework for Africa’s sustainable growth and development. NEPAD
sets out a broad vision for Africa’s future, outlines a strategy for achieving
that vision, and spells out a programme of action focused on a number of key
priority areas.
8. The Secretary General’s report (A/60/178) on progress in implementation and
international support on NEPAD rightly calls attention to the challenges and
constraints in the implementation of NEPAD. Secretary General has made several
important recommendations in this report. We support those recommendations
calling for:
Firstly, building the capacity of the national and regional institutions that
are entrusted with the tasks of implementation of NEPAD.
Secondly, ensuring greater coherence and coordination between national
development plans and NEPAD priorities.
Thirdly, promoting greater involvement of the private sector in the
implementation of NEPAD programmes and projects.
Fourthly, international community to honour commitments made, and deliver the
pledged support.
Fifthly, African countries to show their commitment to social and economic
reforms through sound economic management and implementation of NEPAD
priorities.
9. We welcome the World Bank’s initiative to develop the Africa Action Plan.
Funded with adequate resources, this plan offers considerable promise and
potential, and a real opportunity to improve the lives of people in the world’s
most under developed region. We wish the African people and governments, the
Bank and the donors every success in its implementation.
Mr. President,
10. The Secretary General’s report (A/60/182) highlighted in particular the need
for special attention to post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building, which
is of significant relevance to Africa. Resolution 255 adopted by the General
Assembly last year emphasized the need for continued collaboration between the
Economic and Social Council and the Security Council in generating a coherent
approach to the challenges of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and
post-conflict reconstruction in Africa.
11. In the context of peace and security, a major achievement of the September
Summit was the decision to establish the Peace-building Commission. The Assembly
has already begun its work under your guidance, Mr. President, to formalize and
operationalize the Peace-building Commission by the end of this year.
12. Africa also stands to gain immensely from the Summit’s decisions on pacific
settlement of disputes, conflict prevention, peacekeeping, rule of law, IDPs,
refugee protection and assistance, protection from genocide, system-wide
coherence in particular for humanitarian assistance, and cooperation with
regional organizations.
13. The challenge ahead is to implement all those decisions and commitments in
development, peace and security and socio-economic fields. That requires
continued and sustained support of the international community. We welcome in
that context the commitment for long-term support to Africa from the European
Union and the G-8.
Mr. President,
14. On its part, Pakistan has consistently backed the political and economic
aspirations of Africa. Pakistan has always actively supported efforts to address
the problems and crises faced by the countries of Africa. We strongly support
effective and speedy implementation of NEPAD’s objectives. In the field of peace
and security, Pakistan is proud of its contribution to the UN peacekeeping
operations in Africa. Our military and civilian personnel have been part of UN
operations in Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone,
Somalia and Western Sahara.
15. In the context of South-South Cooperation, Pakistan has been providing
assistance to the African countries in various fields. Under the Government’s
special technical assistance programme for Africa, hundreds of young African
professionals have received training in Pakistan in various fields including
banking, public administration, diplomacy and civil aviation. Pakistan also
offers military training to officers from a number of African countries. We are
in the process of further expanding the scope and scale of our assistance and
cooperation programmes for Africa.
Mr. President,
16. I wish to conclude by saying that the challenges faced by Africa are
colossal. But the opportunities, means and resources to address those challenges
are also immense. NEPAD presents a realistic framework for action. The African
Union is emerging as a dynamic factor promoting African ownership in tackling
Africa’s problems. The sub-regional organizations in Africa are also playing an
important role. We are hopeful that these regional and sub-regional mechanisms
will be able to devote more attention and resources to social and economic
development in the future as conflicts and crises that sap most of their energy
at present are brought under control. Important and far reaching international
commitments are there to assist Africa. With commensurate political will on part
of the international community in particular the developed world, to faithfully
implement those commitments, Africa can hope to realize its full political and
economic potential thus contributing to international peace and security.
I thank you, Mr. President.