Equatorial Guinea

Mr. President of the Seventy-Ninth Session of the United Nations General Assembly; Excellencies, Heads of State and Government and Heads of Delegation; Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations; Distinguished Delegates; Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of and representing His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, allow me first to congratulate His Excellency Mr. Filemon YANG on his unanimous election as President of this Seventy-Ninth Session of the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the members of the Bureau. We assure him with absolute certainty that he can count on the support and cooperation of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea throughout his presidency.

Likewise, we congratulate His Excellency Mr. Dennis Francis, the outgoing President, whose presidency was marked by the adoption of very important resolutions that reflect the brilliant leadership and outstanding dynamism he was able to impart during his term.

Mr. President; as the theme of this Seventy-Ninth Session of the General Assembly aptly states: "Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations." This is a theme very much in line with the current global situation, which encompasses enormous global challenges such as armed conflicts, the exacerbation of the presence of armed groups, terrorism, crises generated by climate change, organized criminal gangs, the prospect of new health crises, discrimination, as well as the food crisis resulting from armed conflicts that cause or are likely to cause famine in various countries.

Indeed, this panorama compels us all to recognize the need and importance of giving greater priority to multilateralism and international cooperation, so essential to addressing these global challenges facing humanity today, as well as to promoting sustained economic growth and sustainable development in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and recent United Nations conferences.

Equatorial Guinea remains steadfast in its position regarding the conflicts currently occurring in all regions and in some countries, on the need to prioritize, by all means, the search for pacification and the prevalence of peace in the world, through preventive diplomacy, negotiations and inclusive dialogues to put an end to these conflicts.

We call upon the countries embroiled in current conflicts and all governments that, directly or indirectly, are involved in them due to geostrategic, economic, neocolonialist or other interests, to prioritize dialogue and inclusive negotiations in a realistic and pragmatic manner in order to resolve these conflicts.

The proliferation of so many conflicts in all regions of the world is the clearest evidence of the obsolescence, incapacity and ineffectiveness that the United Nations Security Council has come to represent today. What we currently witness in this decision-making body are struggles over geostrategic interests that increasingly hinder the adoption of unanimous decisions capable of resolving these conflict situations and alleviating the suffering of populations and the loss of innocent lives.

This is why there is an urgent need to reform the United Nations Security Council, in order to put an end to its obsolete configuration dating back to 1945, which persists to this day, with Africa as the main victim, suffering grave historical injustice and the lack of application of international law, being the only continent without permanent representation on the Security Council.

Africa, within the framework of the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, has for more than 20 years been demanding the correction of this injustice; that is, the allocation to Africa of two permanent seats with all the prerogatives and rights reserved for members of that category, and five additional non-permanent seats on the Security Council.

We hope that the contacts currently taking place between the permanent members and the African Union's Committee of Ten (C10) on this matter will achieve satisfactory results that benefit all interested parties, in order to have a Security Council capable of promoting a more just, peaceful, equitable and prosperous world for all.

Mr. President;

Equatorial Guinea is deeply concerned about the increasingly serious situation facing the countries of the Sahel, with very negative implications for the development of these countries, directly and indirectly affecting the countries of the subregion.

This situation is the result of the interference, pressure and obstruction to which countries of the Global South are subjected by certain countries, whose sole purpose is to provoke destabilization and paralyze the efforts of African countries to achieve prosperity for their peoples.

There is no country that is exempt from internal problems. However, some countries have taken it upon themselves to act as judges and arbiters, intervening and lecturing other sovereign and equal countries, meddling blatantly in the internal affairs of others.

All countries of the world, as sovereign states, have the right to decide with which country they wish to maintain relations and sign bilateral agreements that benefit their respective governments and peoples.

Mr. President,

We do not understand why, to this day, it has not been possible to fully lift the embargo against Cuba and put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade that has been imposed on this country for several decades. Equatorial Guinea calls for the immediate lifting of the embargo imposed against Cuba and its removal from the so-called list of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism.

The lifting of this embargo is all the more necessary at this moment, as we adopt by consensus the Pact for the Future, which champions leaving no country behind.

It is more than clear that African economies can become important participants in global supply chains, taking advantage of their vast resources of raw materials needed for high-technology sectors and their own growing consumer markets.

This is why Africa deserves priority attention in development support and financing initiatives, with a decisive fulfillment of commitments to finance Sustainable Development, for the implementation of the goals contained in the UN's 2030 Agenda and the African Union's Agenda 2063, leaving no one behind.

Equatorial Guinea is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights as a global issue, including the agenda on children's rights, the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, the rights of persons with disabilities, the right to food, to housing, and the right of countries to exploit and market their natural resources in order to meet the needs of their populations.

In this context, there are also humanitarian rights, whose systematic violation is observed in ongoing armed conflicts, depriving populations in conflict zones of the necessary humanitarian assistance, both in terms of food and health care.

Equatorial Guinea expresses its great concern over the crises affecting Haiti and considers it necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of the chronic crisis situation that has been devastating this country, in order to find a sustainable solution; to this end, we continue to propose the convening of a United Nations International Conference for Haiti.

I conclude my remarks by reiterating our congratulations to our brother, His Excellency Mr. Filemon Yang, and wishing him resounding success during his 79th presidency of the General Assembly, assuring him of the full support of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

Thank you very much.