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| Excellency, the Chairperson of the African Union , I take the floor before this august Assembly to express how highly indebted we are to you personally, and through you, to your great people and the government of your country for having so graciously hosted this 4 th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union. We are indeed indebted to you for the tremendous efforts you have been exerting in favour of the organization, and to the courageous people in of Nigeria for their commitment to the eradication of polio, a commitment which paves the way for us to “jettison” this deadly disease from our continent by 2006. Mr. Chairperson, We owe a debt of gratitude to you, Heads of State and Government, for so kindly gracing this meeting with your illustrious presence. Similarly, the significance of Kofi Annan's presence today in our midst is not lost on us; Kofi Annan – a valiant son of Africa , a great man; Annan the Nobel Peace laureate and twice elected UN Secretary General. We also owe a debt of gratitude to all our partners, our numerous friends, the representatives of African civil society and private sector for their support. History will do you great honour, Heads of State and Government, for having legitimized Afro-Arab fraternity, “this part of Africa”, and for having recognized and upheld the principle of Diaspora, “this other Africa”, thus ensuring that we do not remain indifferent to any developments of concern to Haïti. Our tribute goes to you, President Obasanjo, for having so rightly reminded us about the Tsunami; for, our sense of solidarity must never falter. We must, as a matter of fact, keep the fire of solidarity burning, because we always have something to share; and, beyond our numerous modest gestures, the Tsunami remains for us, a reminder of the need to preserve the world's biodiversity, and of the dangers inherent in global warming. Lastly, Excellencies Heads of State and Government, let us also commemorate the 60 th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps – an occasion designed to keep humanity always on guard against forgetfulness and against banalization; an occasion to say “No” to barbarism, anti-Semitism and racism – attitudes that are becoming increasingly evident in external signs and racist manifestations so frequently observed in sports; an occasion to say “No” to the absurd rejection of the foreigner, an occasion to advocate a just and noble peace in Palestine. We pay tribute to Yasser Arafat, to his valiant people and to his worthy successor. This duty of memory, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, requires us, on this eve of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Bandung Conference, to hail the fiftieth anniversary of the Algerian revolution which helped to hasten the history of decolonization in many of our countries, an event which strikingly exemplified the great values of African solidarity and internationalism. We also wholeheartedly hail the Nasser Revolution, as embodied by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the advent of the “Black Star” with Kwame Nkrumah, the Great Jamahiriya Revolution, the struggle of our brothers and sisters in the frontline States, the emergence of the Rainbow Nation, the great national conferences, etc… Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Excellencies, First Ladies, Excellency, Secretary General of the United Nations, Excellency, Secretary General of the Arab League, Madam Speaker of the Pan-African Parliament, Excellencies, Executive Secretaries of Regional Economic Communities, Excellencies, Former Secretaries General of our continental Organization, Honourable Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, This meeting, which you have decided should take place bi-annually, will focus on the security situation in the continent because, if the security situation of the continent does not improve, there can be no development. The recent Summit meeting of the Peace and Security Council in Libreville , Gabon , will go down in history as a milestone, given the significant strides made on all the issues discussed. However, I believe that, given recent developments in some situations, we shall need to take frank decisions and robust measures, while preserving our indispensable African solidarity, or risk facing catastrophies which we will be unable to contain. African solidarity must not translate into “silence” or “blind pursuit of policy”, which is wrongly referred to as doing things the African way. African solidarity is deep-rooted in humanism and justice, and thrives on truth and the rule of law. Since the causes of conflicts are within ourselves and since, for the most part, we hold the keys to resolving them, the Libreville meeting upheld the following key principles: • rejection of exclusion; • need for our countries to unite and to respect diversity and pluralism; • rejection of the use of violence and seizure of power by unconstitutional means; • promotion of dialogue among parties; • respect for the commitments made with respect to Darfur , The Sudan, particularly the immediate cessation of attacks; • political openness, reunification and disarmament in Côte d'Ivoire ; • continued support to the transition process in the Democratic Republic of Congo; • urgent neutralization of the Interhamwe and all destructive forces in the DRC and Rwanda ; • maintaining the consensus that has so far underpinned the transition in Burundi ; • greater attention to sustaining the new momentum for peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea ; • and lastly, increased solidarity with emerging Somalia .
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, We need to improve the way our defence mechanisms work, to enable us to deploy troops more rapidly. We must be able to mobilize our respective national forces in the service of African causes, alongside regional mechanisms. We need to send out a message to all our partners to discourage opposition movements which have sought asylum in their countries from resorting to the use of arms when opportunities exist for dialogue under conditions guaranteed by the international and African community. And, I repeat, when opportunities exist for dialogue under conditions guaranteed by the international and African community. We must also make it very clear to some of our partners that they must “dismantle their network of mercenaries”. And I repeat, make it very clear to certain countries to dismantle their network of mercenaries. We must clamp down on merceniarism.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, We believe that it is incumbent on us, and as you have always directed, to be uncompromising in our fight against the use of child soldiers, violence against women, particularly rape, and ritual crimes. We should take timely action, based on the principle of non-indifference. Let us not reject assistance from our brothers and neighbours who are willing to lend us support unless we want others to solve our problems for us.
Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Ladies and Gentlemen, This Summit will also address issues pertaining to the reform of the United Nations system, aimed at achieving genuine multilateralism and greater democracy in international organizations, particularly economic and financial institutions, for effective management of security issues in the context of human security vision. For us to achieve our objectives in this area, we must expand and strengthen our representations abroad and improve our negotiating skills and mechanisms. We must speak with one single, strong and united voice. We need to advocate an African “influence strategy”.
Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, This Summit could also point us in the right direction as we prepare Africa 's contribution to the debate on the status of the Millennium Programme. If we do not assume greater responsibility in the implementation of this Programme and if new resources are not mobilized, the goals set for 2015 will not be attained in the next century. It is gratifying to note today that the issue of debt reduction is at the core of your deliberations, more so as your debate at the next Summit , in July 2005, will focus on this topic. We must ensure that we avoid falling into the trap of conditionalities, and that we prevent the exclusion of some African countries from the debt reduction initiative. We must also remember that the total debt cancellation and the doubling of Official Development Assistance will not provide a lasting and comprehensive solution to the problem of financing our development; for, we need a critical mass of resources to pursue our development objectives. Indeed, we are all aware that the promises made more than thirty years ago have not been kept and there is good reason for this. We must support the idea of seeking alternative resources by taxing various international transactions without sticking rigidly to such approach as the only solution. We must ensure that, for the coming year, we do not fix objectives without specific resources, and without defining our responsibilities and the obligations of our partners. We must take ownership of our destiny by developing concrete actions which are not mere fantasy; and I repeat, concrete actions that we need to transform our harsh realities and help us regain the initiative. I am referring to concrete actions as defined under NEPAD programme insofar as they concern: • realization of transport and energy infrastructure such as the Inga Dam in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dakar-Djibouti and Cape-Cairo Highway and Railroad. These are not fantasies. It is what we need to change our harsh realities; • bridging the digital gap by establishing a Digital Solidarity Fund; • production of generic drugs in Africa to combat AIDS, malaria and other endemic diseases; • developments of large agricultural production areas in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Southern Africa, Madagascar and elsewhere; • development of vital industrialisation projects; • creation of centres of excellence in the fields of research, training and education. The above actions which are not fantasies but rather prerequisites to change our harsh realities, feature in our work programme alongside others that are of utmost importance, namely: • the proposed African passport to be issued in stages, and I emphasize, in stages; • border programme which, under our prevention policy, will enable us to demarcate, in ten years, all the borders between African countries, and accept them as boundaries, not to question them but rather to better transcend them; • university exchange programmes; • programmes to enhance the image of Africa and enable the continent to participate in the major world debates on GMOs, on the environment, on global governance, etc...; • initiatives to prevent Africa from becoming the “dustbin of the world”. We intend, in the spirit of NEPAD, particularly with respect to good governance and transparency, to make use of the principle of subsidiarity vis-à-vis countries and the Regional Economic Communities, the building blocks of our organization. The rationalization of these Economic Communities is vital and has been placed on your agenda for 2006.
Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, In July last year, you clearly spelt out the missions of our organisation; you came up with the vision and showed the way forward; last July, you set guidelines for preparation of programmes which, though ambitious, were realistic and pragmatic. We have no doubt that you will subscribe to our solidarity budget by providing us with the resources to fulfil our mission, especially since we cannot work without a timely provision of necessary resources. Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, We believe you will ensure that the dynamics of our Organization is always underpinned by legality. Admittedly, vital issues are still pending in this field and important instruments adopted by the Summits are yet to be signed or ratified. We are convinced that you will strengthen the resources of African Union institutions, the Commission naturally, the Pan-African Parliament which needs to be further popularized, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council to be established before the end of April, the Court of Justice and the financial institutions.
Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, We pledge to remain guided by your leadership because it is an honour; it is an honour for us to be constantly guided by your leadership, in the name of ONE Africa, in keeping with your desire, an Africa united from North to South and from East to West; an Africa that is neither Black nor White and neither Western nor Eastern, neither Pre-Saharan nor Sub-Saharan; an Africa that is first and foremost African before being Anglophone, Francophone, Hispanophone or Lusophone; in short, a pluralist and diverse Africa. The history of our peoples is our best teacher. In the past, we were able to rise to the formidable challenges of nation building, which should not be minimised or distorted. These huge challenges - slave trade, colonisation, apartheid, globalisation and nation building - were successfully addressed because of our unity and solidarity, and because we made huge sacrifices and built vital alliances. You have made the choice and we should now project a view of the African Union and African Unity, not as a factor of foreign or external policy but rather as an integral part, and indeed, an increasingly relevant pillar of our national policies.
Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, As we stated in July last year, thousands of African women, youth, entrepreneurs and the majority of Africans are aware that their destiny lies in their own hands. They are yearning for peace and they want to move freely everywhere in Africa . They are proud to be Africans. They are ready to fight side by side with you and under your leadership, to achieve African Union and speed up our endeavours towards a United States of Africa, our endeavours of tomorrow perhaps, and the day after tomorrow perhaps, our inescapable and necessary initiative to ensure our survival and our salvation much faster than the sceptics think.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Africa can win the fight! Africa will win the fight. May God inspire you and help us! May God bless Africa ! Full success to your deliberations
I thank you.
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