Statement by H.E. Mr Peter Thomson, President of the 71st Session of the General Assembly, at the African Union Permanent Representatives Committee
30 March 2017
H.E. Excellency, Mrs. Sidibe Fatoumata Kaba, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Guinea to the African Union, Ambassador to Ethiopia, and Chairperson of the Permanent Representatives Committee;
H.E. Excellency, Mr. Thomas Kwesi Quartey,
Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honor to be here today to address the Permanent Representatives Committee.
I would like to thank the Government of Ethiopia and the African Union for the warm hospitality that has been provided to me and my team since our arrival in Addis Ababa.
I would also like to congratulate H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat on his recent election as the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, and to acknowledge the important achievements that were made over the last five years under the leadership of the former Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
My Brothers and Sisters,
I have long had the good fortune of enjoying a close relationship with African countries at the United Nations, whether as the Permanent Representative of Fiji, as Chair of the Group of 77, President of the Executive Board of UNDP, or as President of the UN General Assembly.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank the countries you represent for the support that has been extended over the years, including in my election as President last year, and through the generous secondment of staff to my Office.
Soon after being elected as President, I hosted a lunch for the New York-based Ambassadors of the African Group to discuss priorities for the 71st Session and work on measures to be taken to achieve a world of sustainable peace and development for all.
It was clear from those and subsequent discussions that when it comes to achieving sustainable peace and development, the success of the United Nations and of the African Union are deeply intertwined.
Africa has achieved significant economic advances over the last decade and can be rightly proud of these, including the fact that, 7 of the world’s top 10 fastest-growing economies have been produced on this continent during the last 15 years. At the same time, Africa continues to face serious socio-economic and development challenges while still struggling in many quarters to consolidate peace and security. The continent remains home to more than 70 percent of the world’s Least Developed Countries and to 9 out of 16 UN peacekeeping missions.
Given the inseparable nexus of sustaining peace and sustainable development, the stakes are high for Africa for meaningful implementation of the mosaic of multilateral agreements committed to by the community of nations. I refer in particular to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and of course the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Excellencies,
At a time when the international community should be heavily focused on implementing these agreements, we are being subjected to a period of uncertainty.
From increasing peace and security threats, to the largest refugee and humanitarian crisis since World War II; from the growing threat of terrorism and violent extremism, to social unrest arising from population growth and rising inequality; from large-scale environmental destruction, to the devastating impacts of climate change – , we find ourselves combating forces which undermine our communal ability to achieve the noble goals of sustainable development and sustaining peace in our world.
One need only look at the catastrophic drought currently affecting Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen and South Sudan, to observe how quickly hard-won development gains can be reversed.
Excellencies,
In this challenging global environment, achieving sustainable peace and development calls for a number of key steps to be taken.
Firstly, we must recognize and operationalize close cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations. With its many and multi-faceted achievements, the African Union is a seminal example of a regional organization with which the UN has a strategic partnership. This partnership can and must be further strengthened to our mutual benefit.
Partnerships are key. By bringing together all relevant peace and development actors, including Governments at all levels, relevant sub-regional organizations, civil society, the private sector, and grassroots actors, with the aim of pursuing smart, integrated and coherent approaches to implementing the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063, our hands are immeasurably strengthened. By leveraging partners’ comparative advantages, including for resource mobilization, implementation will receive a significant boost.
Secondly, we must promote peace, security and stability as a prerequisite for implementing Africa’s sustainable development and integration agenda.
In this regard, I commend the African Union’s efforts over recent years to scale up cooperation with the United Nations on international peace and security, at the same time for establishing its own Peace and Security Architecture including pursuit of a cost-sharing structure to fund AU Peace Support Operations.
Taken together, Africa now represents the largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, with over 46,000 troops from 39 nations currently serving worldwide, including side-by-side with servicemen and women from my home country of Fiji in Sudan and South Sudan.
Thirdly, we must recognize that, while investments in peacekeeping are essential, sustaining peace must be prioritized as a core development and economic imperative. It must be pursued as part of integrated efforts to prevent conflict, address its root causes, achieve sustainable development, and guard development gains from reversal.
With United Nations Secretary-General Gutérres placing sustaining peace and conflict prevention at the heart of UN reform efforts, a critical opportunity exists to further strengthen UN-AU cooperation, in line with the Agenda 2063 priority of achieving “A peaceful and secure Africa”.
We have in Antonio Guterres a true champion of Africa’s best interests.
Fourthly, we must recognize the destructive impacts that climate change is already having on our efforts to build sustainable peace and development. In all our efforts we must factor in the expected effects of climate change.
Fifthly, we are required under the 2030 Agenda to take an inclusive and people-centered approach to our sustainable peace and development efforts. The mantra remains, “leave no one behind.”
This includes empowering women and girls as equal agents of change, reaching out to minority communities, and investing in quality education for young people so that Africa’s demographic dividend benefits the economy of the continent.
And finally, we must tap into innovation and technology as the new paradigm for the implementation action needed to achieve sustainable peace and development across Africa.
To this end, on 17 May in New York, I will be hosting a High-Level SDG Action Event on Innovation and Connectivity, to bring together leading innovators from around the world with Member States and other key stakeholders, to explore ways to harness the exponential power of technology in support of SDG implementation.
This event is part of the programme of High-Level Action Events I am convening during the 71st Session, to bring global attention to key enablers and means of implementation for the Sustainable Development Goals.
I have already this year organized High-Level Events on the nexus between Sustaining Peace and Sustainable Development, as well as one synergising Climate Action with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. On 18 April, I will be convening an SDG Financing Lab to examine ways to leverage private and public financing for the SDGs, as well as a High-Level Event on 28 June on the importance of inclusive and equitable, quality education as a pre-requisite and driver of peace, development, and prosperity for all.
And from 5 to 9 June, the UN campus will be turned over to hosting The Ocean Conference. SDG14 is the only universally adopted measure we have to save life in the Ocean and the June conference sets in motion a process of accountability to hold us true to SDG14’s implementation. It will be a coming together of stakeholders from across the world to drive global action to reverse the cycle of decline in which the Ocean is currently caught.
Excellencies,
Before coming to Ethiopia I visited Senegal, where I also had the opportunity to hear from the Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Economy about the plan the Senegalese Government has adopted covering climate adaptation and Ocean issues such as overfishing, marine pollution, acidification and Ocean warming. Following this meeting the Minister kindly arranged a field visit where I had the great pleasure to visit a vibrant local fishing community. I learned a lot about how their daily lives are affected by these issues. The local perspectives and expectations, which are common to many African countries, are important components of SDG 14 and will be an integrated part of The Ocean Conference.
Given the importance of the health of the Ocean to Africa, including for food security, livelihoods, and economic growth, and as reflected in 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy, I strongly encourage you all to attend the conference in New York this June, and to register in advance your bold voluntary commitments for action.
Details on how to participate at each of these events can be found online.
Excellencies,
During a recent meeting with the new Deputy-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms. Amina Mohammed, she put it to me straightforwardly, “If Africa succeeds, the Sustainable Development Goals succeed’.
I could not agree more.
If we are to achieve a global transformation that puts humanity on the path towards a sustainable future for all, Africa’s interests must be central to our efforts.
And to this end, let us work together, bringing our comparative advantages to the communal thrust to achieve an Africa that is united, integrated, peaceful and secure; an Africa in which prosperity is built on inclusive growth and sustainable development; and an Africa in which democracy, human rights, good governance, justice, and the rule of law prevail for the benefit of all.
I thank you.