Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé)
Richard Kwang Kometa
22 October 2009
Multilateral and bilateral issues occupied President Paul Biya while in New York for the 64th United Nations General Assembly.
Over 100 world leaders including President Paul Biya of Cameroon had another historic occasion in New York last September to state their view on current global affairs and seek ways to contribute toward a better global order. President Paul Biya's return home yesterday offers a significant occasion to revisit the landmark contacts and activities he carried out along side the First Lady, Chantal Biya during the New York trip.
The 64th General Assembly debate of the United Nations (UN) and the high-level summit on Climate Change that held a day before the UN opening in prelude to December's Copenhagen meeting on the same issue were clearly the ideal moments for strategic discussions. With only few discordant voices, the debates at the 64th United Nations General Assembly this year were historic and President Paul Biya made it a point to be part of such a global challenge for Cameroon and the world.
UN General Assembly Debate
For one thing, over one hundred world leaders attended the Climate Change high-level summit on Tuesday September 22 convened by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. Also, all 192 member countries of the UN, including President Paul Biya, had a chance as tradition requires, to address publicly current world affairs.
For Cameroon and President Paul Biya, occupying the post of first Vice President of the General Assembly and having a Cameroonian, Jean Victor Nkolo earn the prestigious position of Spokesperson of the Presidency of 64th General Assembly were elements of pride and achievement for the country's diplomacy.
It was understandable therefore that when President Biya took the floor on Friday September 25, he called for a stronger UN that takes into consideration divergent view points from all its members. The President lauded the prompt action of the G-20 countries in April against the negative impact of the world economic crunch so as to rescue the global economy from further plummeting. He wished that such international solidarity could have been demonstrated toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Like the climate change issues, the President pointed out that Africa had no role in the financial crisis yet it suffers greatly from its consequences through a decline in capital transfers to the continent, a drastic drop in the price of its export products, a marked decline in investment, expanding budget deficits and an economic slowdown. He also expressed worries over food crisis, reducing poverty, global peace and security.
Multilateral Discussions
It was in the same spirit of getting Cameroon present at the centre stage that President Biya joined 24 other African leaders at the lunch on September 22 hosted by United States President, Barack Obama. The US leader was not only attending his first UN General Assembly, but was a world star at the occasion on several fronts. He won the admiration of many. As first African American President, an orator and pragmatic leader, capable of saying things the way he sees them, Obama invited his African peers, including President Paul Biya to collectively work toward tackling the problems of employment within the continent. The lunch that saw the participation of the Africa Union Commission President, Jean Ping, also allowed the US President and his African counterparts to look at agriculture, matters of economic and political development between the continent and the USA.
The New York outing was therefore an occasion for President Paul Biya to reaffirm Cameroon's international rating by marking the country's name on the golden book of a historic gathering of world leaders.
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