Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I should like first of all to welcome you to the United Nations Headquarters. Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to His Excellency President Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon and to His Excellency President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago of Equatorial Guinea for having accepted to dispatch high-level delegations to participate in this important meeting.

The presence of your two delegations today in New York underscores the commitment of your two neighbouring states to pursue peacefully the settlement of their border dispute through United Nations mediation.

In this regard, I note with pleasure the assurances given by your two Presidents to my High-Level Mission in April 2008 that they will pursue their efforts to find an amicable solution to the border dispute, through either negotiated settlement or adjudication by the International Court of Justice, so as to allow them to strengthen further their neighbourly relations.

Indeed, this shared determination to see peace prevail is a credit to both countries, and to the Central African sub-region.

We are all fully aware of the challenging task ahead of us. Since the United Nations began its mediation efforts in this matter in 2003, at the request of your two countries, only modest progress has so far been achieved. Your presence here today is therefore an important signal of your determination to stay the course.

In order to give the mediation process the greatest chance of success, two things are important. First, I encourage both parties to adopt, as agreed with the High-Level Mission, a constant and open communications policy with the United Nations mediation. Second, I strongly encourage both parties to continue to avoid mutual recriminations of any kind.

It is my intention to remain personally engaged, through the exercise of my good offices, until the settlement of your dispute. To that end, I intend to appoint soon a Special Adviser and Mediator to assist both Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to agree on a peaceful settlement of the border dispute.

I understand from Mr. Michel that today's session is devoted to an important objective, namely the discussion and adoption of a formal framework for the next phase of the mediation process, including an agenda for the next steps.

I therefore wish you every success in your work today. Thank you for your attention.