Richard Kwang Kometa
27 September 2007
President Paul Biya like his African peers at the UN General Assembly attended a Security Council Summit on "Peace and Security in Africa", chaired by Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France on Tuesday from 3:05 to 4:45p.m in New York (9:05 to 10:45p.m Yaounde time.)
The Security Council meeting which held on Tuesday was qualified by the UN as a historic Summit on "Peace and Security in Africa". It centred on the situation in Darfur and Somalia as well as ways to enhance ties between the United Nations and the African Union. Besides the key speeches by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the African Union Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare there were over 15 other speeches from foreign dignitaries.
Heads of State who addressed the Council included Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Ivan Gasparovic of Slovakia, George W. Bush of the United States, Martin Torrijos of Panama, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, (whose country holds the rotating Council presidency), and Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani of Qatar. The Council also heard from Prime Ministers Romano Prodi of Italy and Guy Verhofstadt of Belgium as well as Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde, Foreign Minister of Peru, Yang Jiechi, Foreign Minister of China, and Kim Howells, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom.
In his opening address at the Council, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Africa remains at the core of the United Nations agenda noting that "Along the continuum from conflict prevention to peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace-building in Africa, I am committed to ensuring that the United Nations plays its role to the fullest extent possible." Ban Ki-moon pointed to the hybrid operation awaiting deployment in Darfur as a ground-breaking example of that expanded cooperation between the UN and regional organizations such as the African Union.
The Chairman of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare pointed out that despite the continent's resolve to work in partnership with the international community, it was vital that Africa's foreign friends should know that the era of colonialism is over. Konare guarded the international community against undue intervention in Africa.
In a concept paper to guide the Security Council discussions, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said as Africa takes charge of its destiny and undertakes to make considerable efforts to promote peace, stability and development on the continent, the international community must lend it renewed and determined support, with a view to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Talking about the importance of justice and "respect for humans," President Sarkozi said "we must be completely categorical about the respect of human rights, on the progression of the rule of law, the need for justice and on punishing criminals."
President Kufuor of Ghana said his country's tenure in the Security Council coincided with its chairmanship of the African Union, thus Ghana was anxious to see a speedy reversal of those negative trends that had made the continent the host of more than two thirds of all United Nations peacekeeping operations. There was a growing and widening interest in the continent's well-being, where many positive developments were taking place in such countries as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea and Burundi. However, the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, drugs as well as human beings trafficking remained challenges.
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