Cameroon

Mr. President,

I am honoured to deliver before this august Assembly the full address that H.E. Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon and Head of State, has authorized me to deliver on his behalf. I quote:

"Allow me first to once again extend to you my warm congratulations on your election to the Presidency of this 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Your accession to this high office is a source of pride for your country, Cameroon, for Africa, and a source of satisfaction for the international community.

I would like to express our full gratitude to the Member States that supported your candidacy for election, particularly those of Africa who unanimously designated you as our continent's candidate.

I salute the work and achievements of your predecessor, Ambassador Dennis Francis of Trinidad and Tobago, who conducted the proceedings of the 78th session of the General Assembly with dedication.

Finally, I take this opportunity to reiterate Cameroon's support for and appreciation of the Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, who, despite the numerous contingencies our world currently faces, is tirelessly investing himself in advancing the ideals, goals and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the standing of our common Organization.

Mr. President,

You have chosen to place at the centre of this 79th session's general debate the theme that seeks to leave no one behind, to act together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations. This theme reflects, it must be emphasized, the imperative and urgency of common action, in a difficult and complex international environment, marked at once by challenges and opportunities.

Among the challenges, it should be noted that our common home, planet Earth, is the victim of extreme climate disruption that threatens the physical survival of certain countries, forest areas and coastal zones in various regions of the world.

Torrential rains and the devastating floods that follow, as we have seen in recent months in Africa, Europe and Asia, heat waves, and landslides are the most visible manifestations of this, with some countries suffering more than others. Today, those displaced by climate change are now as numerous as refugees and internally displaced persons who are victims of war. This is no longer a mere abstraction, but a painful daily reality here and elsewhere.

Yet we agreed upon a set of measures to combat these scourges, in the Paris Agreement as well as in numerous subsequent commitments.

Cameroon, a State Party to this Agreement and part of the great forest massif of the Congo Basin, spares no effort in seeking relevant solutions, in consultation with neighbouring countries, to the current global climate crisis. Accordingly, it issues an urgent appeal for the measures jointly adopted in the Paris Agreement to be effectively implemented, without obstacles and without delay.

Unfortunately, the financial and technological resources, which constitute the main levers for implementing this Agreement, have so far been mobilized only sparingly.

Mr. President,

To this climate crisis are added conflicts and hotbeds of tension, old and new, which spare no geographic region. The Sahel, Sudan, Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine are the most illustrative examples.

Such a situation fuels the arms race, including in space and in the seas and oceans. It also fuels an increasing use of small-calibre weapons and weapons of mass destruction. Finally, it constitutes a serious threat of recourse to the use of nuclear weapons.

It also generates geopolitical tensions, rivalries of all kinds, and distrust among States that threaten international peace, security and stability. If nothing is done urgently, we could be forced to relive, in the near future, another dark period of human history, as was the case at the beginning of the 20th century.

For Cameroon, it is important to reverse this trend as quickly as possible. We must do so in order to free ourselves from war and its scourges, so as to preserve future generations in keeping with the ideals championed by the founding fathers of the United Nations.

My country remains convinced that recourse to dialogue, consultation, consensus, preventive diplomacy, and the establishment of confidence-building measures must always prevail in order to guarantee lasting peace in our world.

To that end, we must proceed with a reform of the Security Council to ensure that it continues to fully fulfil its original mandate as the principal organ responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Given that Africa remains, to this day, the only continent without a permanent member on that Council, it has become imperative and urgent that this injustice be corrected and that our continent be granted, as is only right, equitable representation as a full member of this important body. This calls for the granting of two permanent seats with the right of veto and two additional non-permanent seats.

Mr. President,

When we adopted the document entitled "The Future We Want," as well as the Sustainable Development Goals for the 2030 horizon, we intended to wage a decisive battle against underdevelopment.

Four years ago, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, we made new commitments, reaffirming that the Sustainable Development Goals are our plan of action, the implementation of which is a matter of survival.

As we draw closer to the 2030 horizon that we set for ourselves, it must be noted that the expected results are far from being achieved, as attested by various progress reports presented by the Secretary-General.

As we observed above with regard to the Paris Agreement for safeguarding the planet, the financial and technological means of implementation have not been fully mobilized. This is why Cameroon calls for renewed political will and more decisive action to overcome this situation.

The new Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for Small Island Developing States, the programme concerning landlocked countries that is to be adopted at the upcoming Gaborone Conference in December, the African Union's Agenda 2063 with its second ten-year implementation plan, and the African Continental Free Trade Area constitute, it seems to us, frameworks for guiding and encouraging the development of the poorest countries that must be actively implemented if we truly wish to "leave no one behind."

In this regard, Cameroon has undertaken a number of structural projects in the fields of energy, transport infrastructure, communication and telecommunications, extractive and processing industries, and many other sectors, with a view to achieving emerging economy status by 2035.

Recovery and reconstruction plans, projects and programmes, as well as humanitarian actions, have been established to meet the special and pressing needs of populations, especially those in rural areas or those affected by the atrocities of the terrorist sect Boko Haram in the Far North, and those arising from the socio-political crisis in the North-West and South-West regions.

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely and warmly thank our bilateral and multilateral partners for their constant support for our national agenda of progress and development, and to invite them to continue honouring us with their steadfast support.

Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

All the efforts undertaken by developing countries cannot produce the expected results as long as the global macroeconomic framework is not reformed. This framework, need it be recalled, rests on institutions that have been in place since the Second World War, which have become obsolete and whose structure and organization are largely responsible for the disruptions, imbalances, dysfunctions, and even inequalities that continue to hinder the full development of poor countries and the Global South.

Cameroon therefore joins the call and the momentum aimed at reforming the international economic and financial architecture. This call and this momentum concern, in particular, better representation of developing countries within these institutions, fairer taxation, appropriate monetary policy, more sustainable debt, a better-adapted energy transition, healthy agriculture, well-managed industrialization, and decent work.

Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We welcome the holding, here itself on 22 and 23 September 2024, of the Summit of the Future, in which we took part, and above all the adoption of the related Pact together with its two annexes on the Digital Compact and Future Generations.

This Pact commits us anew to actively pursuing peace, sustainable development and human dignity through a series of concrete actions that require substantial means of implementation.

We cannot shy away from these actions, which are capable of paving the way to the future we want, within the framework of a revitalized multilateralism, underpinned by the ideals, goals and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

At stake here are safeguarding the planet, consolidating peace, establishing sustainable development—starting with the eradication of poverty—shared prosperity, and full respect for human rights centred on human dignity.

Without a firmly affirmed political will and without the means to actively implement the provisions agreed upon in this Pact and its annexes, we risk failing to achieve, as desired, the envisaged results, thereby disappointing present and future generations.

At this point, allow me to issue a call for mobilization on all fronts in order to resolutely implement these provisions and prove wrong the skeptics who have lost all hope in the UN.

At a time when our common Organization is preparing to celebrate its 80th anniversary, let us give it the means to modernize itself, to respond effectively to the expectations placed upon it, to meet the challenges of the moment, and to keep alive the flame of a more humanistic international cooperation.

Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are living through a period of threats and challenges to peace and development, but also one of great opportunities. We have at our disposal the necessary means, thanks to the prodigious advancement of science, technology, and artificial intelligence. It is therefore incumbent upon us to overcome selfish interests and to act in solidarity, with a sense of collective responsibility, in order to jointly address the challenges that no country can face alone.

In doing so, it is our duty to make wise use of these means to ensure the well-being and survival of the planet and of humankind, today and tomorrow, through constant vigilance, an awakened conscience, and thorough reflection by the international community on a well-managed globalization." End of quote.

Thank you for your kind attention.