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Thank you Mr. President,
I would like to thank Mr. Kalomoh for the update he has given on the situation
in Guinea-Bissau and we are also thankful for the briefing provided by His
Excellency Mr. Ramos Horta on behalf of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking
Countries. We commend the work being done by you, Sir.
We agree with Mr. Kalomoh that the situation has been pulled back from the brink
and we welcome that the major stake-holders seem to have reached a consensus on
transitional arrangements. We must heed his note of caution that serious
political and social problems persist that require careful management. The need
for continued international engagement and generous assistance can not be
overstated.
Mr. President,
The United Nations has put a lot of time and effort into trying to assist
Guinea-Bissau in overcoming the various challenges that it faces. Guinea-Bissau
can be termed a test case for the United Nations system, the regional
organizations, the donor countries and in fact the entire international
community. The success or failure of this venture in Guinea-Bissau is going to
be crucial, not only for the people of that country, but for the credibility of
the United Nations and its effectiveness to deliver, keeping in mind that
Guinea-Bissau is the focus of the attention of two principal organs of the
United Nations simultaneously, the Security Council and the Economic and Social
Council.
The coordinated efforts of the Security Council and the Economic and Social
Council in the case of Guinea-Bissau were being seen as a window to further
strengthening and institutionalizing of the United Nations response, at the
intergovernmental level, to the complex crises and situations characterized by
inter-linkages among security, political, cultural, social, economic and
developmental issues. It is important that we should not fail in Guinea-Bissau.
It is a small country with a population of only about 1.3 million and its
economy, though debilitated, is also small in size. This entails a
correspondingly smaller international assistance requirement to fix
Guinea-Bissau’s problems and to make it self-sustainable.
Extreme poverty and under-development are the main problems; 88 per cent of the
population lives on less than one dollar a day. The Security Council mission to
Guinea-Bissau reported that wider-spread unemployment, especially among young
people, posed a potential long-term threat to peace and stability. Fortunately,
and rather surprisingly, the situation has remained calm despite depressing
socio-economic conditions and political tensions.
The response of the international community to the peace-building and
developmental needs of Guinea-Bissau, spearheaded by the United Nations, should
constitute a determined effort based on principles but displaying operational
flexibility, as our delegation has said on earlier occasions. The democratic
transition has to be supported whole-heartedly with all available resources.
It is surprising to know that a country such as Guinea-Bissau, which is not even
able to pay salaries to its functionaries, has been making regular repayments,
along with interest, to the International Monetary Fund. We agree with the
observation of Mr. Ramos Horta that there is a need to show special
consideration and pragmatism by the Bretton Woods institutions to the ability of
Guinea-Bissau to make these repayments.
During the public briefing on Liberia on 27 August, the Foreign Minister of
Ghana, while drawing the attention of the Council to the situation in
Guinea-Bissau, had informed it that the commitments by the international
community to provide assistance to Guinea-Bissau were too slow in materializing.
And earlier in June, in a preparatory meeting prior to the Council’s West
African mission, the then-permanent representative of Guinea-Bissau had pleaded
her country’s case for international assistance in these words: “Yesterday it
was President Nino, today it is Kumba Yalá, tomorrow it will be someone else,
but the problems of Guinea-Bissau remain the same”. I think we need to reflect
seriously on those words and devise practical approaches that could bring real
benefit to the people of Guinea-Bissau.
I thank you.