Luanda - The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, spoke Tuesday at the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA, where he defended, among other things, the reform of the UN and the prevention and resolution of conflicts in the world.
In his speech, the Angolan Head of State emphasised the need for urgent reform of the UN Security Council and the international financial institutions that emerged from Breton Woods, in order to give a voice to the countries of Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent.
João Lourenço conveyed Africa's desire to help build a new international financial architecture, spoke of Angola's progress in the fight against corruption and the priorities of the National Development Plan.
He also spoke of the Angolan government's actions to improve the national social framework and to create factors that boost the development of industry and agriculture, particularly by taking the path of electrifying the country.
Here are some key phrases from the President's speech:
‘We are firmly committed to leaving no-one behind, to acting together to promote peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.’
‘Today we are witnessing an attempt to undermine, ignore or even replace the role and importance of the United Nations in the great issues that afflict humanity, particularly those that have to do with universal peace and security.’
‘The imperative of multilateralism must prevail as the only framework truly capable of safeguarding the common interests of all humanity, within which we must reaffirm our resolute commitment to diplomacy, inclusive dialogue and the use of peaceful means to resolve conflicts.’
‘We are putting to the benefit of peace in Africa the experience gained by Angola in resolving its internal conflict, which after several decades was definitively resolved through an inclusive dialogue between the warring parties.’
‘We are very seriously concerned about the situation prevailing in Sudan, where a violent war is raging with humanitarian consequences of dramatic proportions in the face of a certain apathy on the part of the international community, which should seek to converge its efforts and act in coordination with the African Union in order to promote and achieve lasting peace.’
‘We have learned from our own conflict that there is no peace without dialogue and no peace without concessions on both sides. This is a path that cannot be neglected in the context of all efforts to resolve the serious security crises facing the world today.’
‘I would like to take this opportunity to call once again for an end to the embargo against Cuba and the sanctions against Zimbabwe, the current President-in-Office of our regional economic community, SADC, because they are unfair and inhumane, because they increase the suffering of their peoples and greatly hinder the economic and social development of those countries.’
‘We need to analyse where we have failed and what collective measures we should take to make the United Nations' intervention more active in the search for solutions that contribute to the prevention of conflicts, the strengthening of peace and world security, the strengthening of trade and international cooperation, to guarantee the prosperity of nations and the well-being of the peoples of our planet.’
‘We intend to be part of the construction of a new international financial architecture, in which closer collaboration between states is required, with a view to effectively combating the illicit flow of capital and the recovery of assets, which is often incomprehensibly hampered by the countries that hold the funds under their control.’
‘The Republic of Angola has established partnerships at international level to guarantee the operationalisation of the Benguela Railway, the mineral and commercial ports of Lobito as part of the great transnational transport and logistics project of the Lobito Corridor.’
‘Interested investors now have the opportunity to sell electricity produced in Angola to customers in the mining areas of the DRC and Zambia, as well as to the SADC countries in general, especially the largest industrial and domestic consumer, South Africa.’
‘The Republic of Angola is a hospitable country, open to the world and always available to act as a proactive partner to help increase global cooperation, in favour of development and the implementation of joint and complementary actions that help respond to the permanent challenges of combating international terrorism and other threats to peace, world security and sustainable development.’
‘We will therefore continue to fight with all our might for the recovery of the assets embezzled from the public purse and which are sorely needed for the construction of school, hospital, energy and water and road infrastructures, among others.’
DC/DAN
