Cultural Evening – Africa Week

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72^nd Session of the UN General Assembly, at the Cultural Evening – Africa Week

Good evening everyone.

I want to start by thanking the organizers of tonight’s reception, in particular the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa.

I am very honored to participate in this penultimate event of Africa Week 2017. I have been following the discussions of this Week closely, through the diligent reporting of my team.

From what I have seen, very clear messages were delivered. I’ll focus on five of them this evening.

The first was that more must be done to harness the opportunity presented by Africa’s abundant natural resources. This applies to the resources that lie under African soil. Importantly, it also applies to the resources that live above it. Here, I am of course talking about Africa’s most valuable resource of all: its people. This week featured calls for a surge of investment in Africa’s youth. This is the only way to ensure that the continent can harness its demographic dividend. Moreover, we saw a focus placed on the participation and leadership of women. African women are acting as key agents of both peace and development. They are mediating in local conflicts. They are guiding national development planning. They are launching new businesses. On this note, I commend the recent establishment of the African Women Leaders Network. It will serve to support even more women across the continent to participate in decision-making processes.

The second message we heard is related to the link between development and peace. This link is often discussed in scholarly writing and academic articles. It is also a regular feature of our discussions here in New York. However, for African people, this link is a part of their everyday reality. They have seen how conflict can strip away the conditions necessary for development to take hold. Similarly, they have seen how an absence of development can sow the seeds of violence. This week, our discussions highlighted the efforts of African countries to harness this link, for the good of its people. They are investing in conflict prevention and mediation. They are working to make institutions stronger, to create economic opportunities and to build resilience to climate change.

Thirdly, Africa Week highlighted both the challenges and opportunities when it comes to financing the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063. Simply put, if we continue to raise funding as we are currently doing, we have no chance of meeting our goals. On the bright side, our discussions this week reaffirmed that the money we need is already out there. It must, however, be redirected. Extra support needs to be given to the efforts of African countries to mobilize domestic resources, and to stem illicit financial flows. More must be done to engage new actors by highlighting how Sustainable Development can benefit all – including the private sector. Additionally, Overseas Development Assistance will continue to play a key role. This is why international commitments towards Africa must be fulfilled.

A fourth, and related, takeaway from Africa Week is the message that partnerships do work. This is why we need more of them. And this is why we need to make the ones we have even stronger. Cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union cannot be something which happens only at high-level events. It must be an ongoing priority for those who work for – or are represented by – both organizations. Sub-regional organizations, civil society, financial institutions, businesses, and academia must also play an important role in a revitalized partnership for development.

Financing and partnerships will be key priorities for my presidency. I look forward to engaging with African partners on these issues throughout the 72nd Session.

Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, the strongest message to come from this week is that Africa is rising.

Remarkable progress has been achieved. And in a short space of time.

In fact, when this hall was first inaugurated, most African countries had not yet even gained their independence. And now, we are standing outside of it, toasting to an entirely different Africa.

An Africa that is a leading partner in global multilateralism. An Africa that is driving forward its own development agenda. An Africa that is, very clearly, on the rise.

Thank you!