{Addressing the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the start of what he called a \u201ccrucial year for global action to secure our global future,\u201d the United Nations Secretary-General today said he looked forward to African countries realizing their massive cultural, human and economic potential.}<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrican countries have been the backbone and leading Member States of the United Nations since the day they achieved independence,\u201d Mr. Ban said, noting their growth in numbers from four States in 1945 to 54 in 2015. \u201cIn this critical year, we need Africa to help guide the way to a world of sustainability and dignity for all the people, where nobody will be left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout his speech, the Secretary-General stressed the centrality of Africa to the UN\u2019s work and promised that the UN would stand with Africa as a partner and the \u201cstrongest supporter\u201d of the continent\u2019s efforts to achieve peace and security and all aspects of sustainable development.<\/p>\n
The President of the General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, also spotlighted the importance of the year ahead and specifically, his selection of the theme \u2018Delivering on and Implementing a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda\u2019 for his Presidency of the 69th Session.<\/p>\n
Having launched the negotiating process for the successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Mr. Kutesa said the post-2015 agenda\u2019 overarching objective would be poverty eradication. Adequate means of implementation \u2013 such as financing and technology development and transfer \u2013 and mobilisation of resources at the national level, through public and private channels, by attracting more foreign direct investment and by strengthening global partnerships, would be essential and he said he would convene a High-level Thematic Debate on \u201cMeans of Implementation for a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda\u201d in New York on 9-10 February this year.<\/p>\n
The Secretary-General pointed to gains already made thanks to the MDGs and looked forward to adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, including a set of sustainable development targets, and to a meaningful, universal climate change agreement in Paris in December. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo continent has more at stake in these negotiations than Africa,\u201d he stressed, underlining the importance of the Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa in July. \u201cWithout resources, our commitments to sustainable development will amount to little more than fine words on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fulfilling the aspirations and wishes of the continent\u2019s people required leaders to listen to their people. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople around the world have expressed their concern about leaders who refuse to leave office when their terms end,\u201d he said. \u201cI share those concerns. Undemocratic constitutional changes and legal loopholes should never be used to cling to power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside that call, the Secretary-General highlighted the AU\u2019s long history of supporting democratic transitions, saying that he hoped elections due to take place in African countries over the course of 2015 would be as peaceful and successful as those in Tunisia, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and others in 2014. <\/p>\n
He noted other positive developments from the previous year, including affirmation by the AU\u2019s Human Rights Commission of the rights of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals and the Cotonou Declaration on the abolition of the death penalty in Africa. He was also pleased to welcome the AU Commission of Inquiry report on South Sudan and the final report of the Commission of Inquiry for the Central African Republic.<\/p>\n
The focus of the African Union\u2019s \u201cAgenda 2063\u201d on gender equality and the empowerment of women was another positive step and he hoped for its formal adoption during the Summit. However, he called for even quicker action, urging African States to make a deep and lasting difference to the lives of women and girls by 2020. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have much more work to do to unleash [their] tremendous potential,\u201d emphasized the UN chief. \u201cThey need better access to secondary education, decent work and economic opportunities. They need more help to combat maternal mortality and poverty, and genital mutilation. They need more protection from the scourge of violence at the hands of men and boys.\u201d<\/p>\n
The General Assembly President also took up the AU Summit\u2019s \u201cimportant and timely\u201d focus on women\u2019s empowerment and Africa\u2019s development and said he would mark 20 years of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by convening a High-level thematic debate on the subject on 5 March.<\/p>\n
The event aims \u201cto galvanize political commitment and action towards achieving greater gender quality and women\u2019s empowerment,\u201d he said, citing equitable land distribution, property and inheritance rights, and access to credit and markets as critical steps for the empowerment of women. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn this new era of Africa\u2019s progress, we must not shy away from taking bold decisions to empower women and girls,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Secretary-General pointed to the need for Africa\u2019s development agenda to provide affordable, quality healthcare, a fact illustrated most clearly by the impact of the Ebola crisis. Having recently visited Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Mali, he praised the support, solidarity and generous contributions of African Governments and people to their efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing clear signs of progress,\u201d he said. \u201cI urge the international community to commit more resources at this critical time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooperation is also essential to the progress seen on the peace and security front, he said, pointing to several examples of combined operations, including the joint mission with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Burkina Faso, the partnership between the UN, the AU and the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) in Somalia, and continued collaboration between the UN and AU in Sudan and Libya.<\/p>\n
Peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Great Lakes region required joint decisive action, and it was time to redouble joint efforts towards peace and stability in South Sudan. He also welcomed the specific focus of the AU\u2019s Peace and Security Council on the issue of Boko Haram in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe humanitarian consequences are enormous, with up to one million people forced from their homes,\u201d he said. \u201cThis group continues to kill Christians and Muslims, kidnap women and children, and destroy churches and mosques. We will never forget the girls and boys kidnapped from Chibok last April, and I will never stop calling for their immediate and unconditional release.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the UN reviewed its peace operations, including its peacekeeping missions and special political missions, he stressed that African troops remained vital to the UN\u2019s peacekeeping capacity. In that field, as in others, cooperation with African mechanisms would again be essential and he welcomed progress on the African Standby Force and the African capacity for crisis response.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kutesa also called for strengthened cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organisations in Africa, pointing to the \u201ctangible positive results\u201d achieved so far. He said a thematic debate would be held in May on strengthening cooperation. <\/p>\n
He also took up the issue of the threat of terrorism and extremism, stating the need to address it by promoting dialogue, tolerance and reconciliation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recent terrorist attacks in Nigeria, Somalia, Kenya, Pakistan, France and elsewhere around the world are a stark reminder of the threat posed by groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need collective action to defeat them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, Mr. Kutesa said he was also prioritising reform of the Security Council to make it better reflect modern global realities. <\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the Security Council is one of the most undemocratic organs of the United Nations,\u201d he said. \u201cMy effort is to work towards text-based negotiations, within the Inter- Governmental process. The need for unity and cohesion of the African Group on this issue cannot be overemphasised.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Secretary-General held a series of bilateral meetings with leaders attending the Summit, including Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Chairperson of the African Union Commission. They discussed UN-AU cooperation and committed their two organizations to deepening their strategic partnership. The Secretary-General commended Dr. Dlamini-Zuma for her leadership of the AU Commission and her continuous efforts in seeking additional resources to support the work of the AU.<\/p>\n
They exchanged views on the situations in a number of countries where the UN and AU are cooperating, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo\/Great Lakes region, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and the Sahel. They also discussed the security threat posed by Boko Haram and the need to mobilize the international community even more on the regional response.<\/p>\n
In his other talks, the UN chief met with Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of Somalia; Aminu Wali, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria; Michel Kafondo, Transitional President of Burkina Faso; Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia; Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea; Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya; Mohamed Beji Caid Essebsi, President of Tunisia; and Edgar Lungu, President of Zambia.<\/p>\n
Also on the margins of the Summit, the Secretary-General met with King Felipe VI of Spain.<\/p>\n
{{Source: UN}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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