Central African Republic

Mr. President of the General Assembly;

Excellencies, Heads of State and Government;

Distinguished Delegates;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

It is with renewed honor that I take the floor before the entire world represented here, on behalf of the Central African Republic, my dear and beautiful country, to contribute to the general debate on the theme of this 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

By participating in this General Assembly, the Central African Republic reaffirms its commitment to contribute to the common search for trust, peace, security, international solidarity and mutual understanding, indispensable to the reconstruction of a peaceful world conducive to sustainable development and respect for the human dignity of present and future generations.

Before proceeding, I would like to extend to you, Excellency Philémon YANG, my warm congratulations on your brilliant and historic election to the presidency of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Your election is the symbol of a well-deserved honor and tribute paid to our continent, Africa.

It is also a source of immense pride and inspiration for the 51 million citizens of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), whose Conference of Heads of State I have the honor of chairing on a rotating basis, and particularly for the sister Republic of Cameroon, your beautiful country.

Your thorough knowledge of the international scene, as well as your great personal qualities, are an asset and a guarantee of the success of our work.

I am convinced that you will best serve the interests of the UN and all its Member States and will implement the vast UN reform program so that it becomes more effective, more inclusive, more representative, and better adapted to the evolution of the world and to the resolution of the serious and immediate problems shaking humanity as a whole.

You have, be assured, the full support of the Central African Republic in this regard.

I would also like to salute the excellent quality of the work accomplished and the results achieved by President Dennis FRANCIS during the past 78th Session.

May he receive here the expressions of gratitude and satisfaction of the Central African people.

To the Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency António GUTERRES, I would like to renew the gratitude of the Central African Republic and the full support of its Government for his various initiatives aimed at making the UN, more than ever, a place where the efforts of nations develop and harmonize.

As you know, on July 30th, the United Nations Security Council decided on the total lifting of the unjust, illegitimate and iniquitous arms embargo imposed on the Central African Armed Forces, which caused the country, for a decade, so much irreparable harm.

From this podium, I express the gratitude of the Central African people to the United Nations Security Council for this wise decision which, although belated, allows my country to continue its actions in favor of restoring national peace and security and to act, with the other States of the world, for peace, sustainable development and the human dignity of present and future generations.

I would like to take this opportunity to renew, to all of you who have kept the Central African Republic close to your hearts and supported this noble struggle, the full gratitude of the Central African people.

As a country with strong mining potential, the Central African Republic will, I am convinced, continue to benefit from your support for the total lifting of the diamond embargo imposed by the Kimberley Process, which limits its action for peace, sustainable development and the human dignity of present and future generations.

Mr. President;

The theme of this 79th Session of the General Assembly, namely: "Leaving no one behind: acting together for the peace, sustainable development and human dignity of present and future generations," contains particularly important recommendations that will carry great weight in the discussions on reforming the global peace and security architecture and on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Peace, as we know, is inexorably linked to sustainable development.

Unfortunately, while we gather each year in this great house of the world or on other occasions of equal importance, the world continues to face serious existential threats, becoming increasingly unstable and vulnerable.

Our 79th Session is being held amid a very turbulent global situation, undermined by growing geopolitical crises: the wars between Russia and Ukraine, between Israel and Hamas, in Sudan and in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, terrorism, the deterioration of economic conditions stifling growth in Africa, and rising fuel prices.

Convinced that only dialogue can bring a lasting end to conflict, the Central African Republic urges the parties in conflict in the various regions of the world to favor dialogue and diplomacy in order to find a solution to all the disagreements at the root of these conflicts and to save thousands of human lives.

In the Central African Republic, the security situation during the year 2024 has been relatively stable.

The country is preparing to strengthen its democratic anchoring through the upcoming organization of municipal and regional elections, which have not been held for four decades.

With this in view, special measures are being taken to neutralize the residual armed groups which, no longer able to control any portion of the territory, engage in acts of major banditry, illegal exploitation, and fraudulent trafficking of natural resources with the aim of acquiring military materiel and equipment.

The 10th Session of the DDRR Strategic Committee and the commemoration in Bangui of Africa Amnesty Month by the African Union Peace and Security Council, a few days ago, made it possible to properly appreciate the significant progress achieved thanks to the ownership and participation of all stakeholders in the overall peace and security process centered on the Political Agreement for Peace and National Reconciliation and the Luanda Joint Roadmap.

Despite this progress, the Central African Republic faces numerous challenges, particularly the construction of barracks for garrisoning units in defense zones closer to the threats, and the acquisition of military materiel and equipment for the benefit of the Defense and Security Forces.

Mr. President;

Climate change, with its dramatic effects such as deadly floods, drought, and the gigantic fires observed throughout the world, presents risks ranging from food and water insecurity, and competition for natural resources, to the loss of livelihoods, as well as population displacement.

These interdependent and cascading risks can have significant implications for peace, security and development across continents.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the epicenter of humanitarian crises, environmental disasters have this year caused more than 1,000 deaths and 4 million climate refugees, as well as inestimable material damage, particularly in neighboring Chad, where the death toll rose after days of heavy rains caused widespread flooding and forced evacuations.

From this podium of the United Nations, the quintessential symbol of human solidarity, I would like to express the solidarity of the Central African people with all the peoples of the world hard hit by natural disasters.

In this world tormented by bloody conflicts, periodically threatened by deadly and devastating weather phenomena, it is only the developing countries, impoverished by centuries of slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism characterized by interference of every kind in their internal affairs, by injustice in the pricing of raw materials, and by the heavy conditionalities imposed by the international financial architecture, that watch helplessly as security, financial, economic, food and environmental challenges unfold.

The promised financing for vulnerable countries is slow to materialize, and the mitigation measures adopted at the COPs in the face of the alarming rise in temperature change like the weather, according to the political, geopolitical and geostrategic interests of the great powers.

Aware of the dangerous nature of the climate phenomenon, my country has put in place sectoral policies whose effectiveness depends in part on climate financing that remains uncertain.

The Central African Republic urges the UN to work harder for the implementation of the Climate, Peace and Development Nexus, by creating synergy between climate adaptation and peacebuilding, in order to holistically absorb the vulnerabilities linked to climate change, as well as fragility and the risks of conflict.

Mr. President;

The world is dangerously approaching the abyss.

The current UN peace and security architecture is under enormous pressure.

The reasons put forward by Africa in support of its legitimate demand for Security Council reform and a right of veto are compelling.

A step has just been taken by the United States of America, which supports the creation of two permanent seats for Africa on the United Nations Security Council and a rotating seat for small island developing States.

This proposal is certainly commendable. But given the way the world is evolving, Africa, long left behind, must not content itself with such a proposal, which can only be interpreted as a perpetual denial of the right of veto.

It is also time to accelerate the reform of the governance of the international financial architecture in order to remedy inequalities, mobilize adequate financing to achieve the SDGs, meet the financing needs of developing countries, and reform the implementation and observance of multilateral environmental agreements in order to give concrete expression to our shared ambition to protect the planet.

Mr. President,

Demographers estimate that by 2050, half of the world's youth will live in Africa, and half of the 54 African countries will have seen their population almost double.

I welcome the Pact for the Future, to which the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations adopted at the Summit of the Future are annexed.

It is time to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs in the field of science, technology, innovation and digital cooperation, with an emphasis on equity, rights and universality.

Today, young people, essential agents of positive change and important contributors to sustainable development, respect for human rights, and global peace and security, face a number of vulnerabilities that prevent the realization of their full potential and the exercise of their fundamental rights.

We must therefore commit to transforming investment levels in favor of young people, women, girls and persons living with disabilities, in order to guarantee a better future for all.

As for the Central African Republic, the ambitious National Development Plan for the 2024-2028 period establishes a better balance between the needs and interests of present and future generations, retaining the development of human capital as one of its strategic pillars.

In closing, I hope that the spirit that led to the creation of the UN will continue tirelessly to exert its influence and help create a climate that will make it possible to resolve, in a manner satisfactory to all of humanity, the problem of threats to international peace and security and to sustainable development.

Thank you.