João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço - Remarks at UNGA 2024
It is with a very particular sense of honour that I address you and all the participants in this 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which is taking place within a very worrying international context, where tensions in international relations are worsening due to the multiplicity of conflicts of different natures and intensities in various parts of our planet.
It is understandable, of course, that in an environment of such instability and insecurity, it is much more challenging to achieve the major Sustainable Development Goals and others set by this organisation, so that we can achieve all the goals we have set ourselves.
Since the creation of the United Nations, after the end of the Second World War, the peoples of our planet have longed for peaceful coexistence at a global level, believing that any episodes that could jeopardise harmony, peace and universal security would be the object of careful attention and preventive measures taken within the framework of our organisation, so that they would not degenerate into conflicts and wars that would bring back to life the distressing moments experienced during the period from 1939 to 1945.
Almost eight decades on, the objective observation we can make today is that not only has this perspective not been realised, but we seem to be moving away from the founding purposes of the United Nations.
Faced with this reality, we need to consider 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 conflict prevention, the strengthening of world peace and security, the strengthening of trade and international co-operation, to ensure the prosperity of nations and the wellbeing of the peoples of our planet.
Today we are witnessing an attempt to undermine, ignore or even replace the role and importance of the United Nations in resolving the major issues that afflict humanity, particularly those that have to do with universal peace and security.
In this context, there is no more appropriate stage than this Magna Assembly to reverse this reality and assume the urgent need to reform this institution, placing special emphasis on adapting the Security Council to the realities of the contemporary world.
Its current format and composition still reflect the reality of the post-war period, far outstripped by the time and development of other regions of the planet, many of them colonised countries that are now independent members of the United Nations.
The reform of the United Nations Security Council and of the international financial institutions that emerged from Brettonwoods is urgent and necessary in order to give a voice to the countries of the global south, namely Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent.
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.
It is in this spirit that the Republic of Angola is deeply committed to the process of finding solutions to conflicts in Africa, noting that the greatest effort at the moment is focused on the conflict developing in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, without neglecting those taking place in Sudan and the Sahel region.
As part of the Luanda process, a ceasefire was reached in the east of the DRC, which came into force on August 4 this year. In order to consolidate the gains made, a proposal for a peace agreement has been put on the table by the Republic of Angola, involving the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, the terms of which are being discussed by the parties at ministerial level, with the prospect of them reaching an understanding with each other that will justify the convene of a summit meeting to seal the signing of the definitive peace agreement and the reestablishment of relations between the DRC and Rwanda.
We are very seriously concerned about the situation 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 must seek to converge its efforts and act in co-ordination with the African Union in order to promote and achieve lasting peace.
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 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.
Russia's war against Ukraine has seriously and profoundly shaken stability and security in Europe, with strong repercussions for the rest of the world in terms of economic stability and food and energy security. We have witnessed a continuous escalation of this conflict, which has been escalating in a disturbing way, with devastating effects on the internal situation of the contending countries, through the use of increasingly lethal weapons, without any prospect of a solution to this intricate problem.
Although increasingly sophisticated military and other means are being deployed in the theatre of operations, no military victory is in sight in this war, which has a tendency to spread to the rest of Europe, unless a negotiated solution is found, based on respect for the principles of the United Nations, which safeguard the sovereignty of states and the indivisibility and territorial integrity of countries.
Non-compliance with the principles of the United Nations Charter is at the root of many of the problems and tensions that proliferate all over our planet, where particular geopolitical interests and ambitions, contrary to the values defended by the international community, often affect the security and stability of entire regions of our planet.
In the Middle East, we witnessed and condemned the killing and kidnapping of defenceless Israeli civilians on October 7 last year. As a result, although Israel has the right to protect its territory, to guarantee the safety of its citizens and to try to rescue hostages whose whereabouts are still uncertain, because it has the responsibilities of a state, it should do everything it can to prevent the genocide that the world is witnessing live in the Gaza Strip and the attacks by settlers and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
In this conflict, the main victims are defenceless and vulnerable human beings, namely children, women, the elderly and the sick, killed indiscriminately not only by aviation and artillery bombs, but also because they are prevented by the force of arms from accessing and enjoying the most basic rights, access to food, drinking water, medicines, housing and medical and medication assistance, by the destruction of the main school, hospital, housing, energy and other infrastructures.
We are witnessing the deaths in alarming numbers of journalists from international networks, United Nations officials and workers from international humanitarian organisations, which is unacceptable and reprehensible.
It can no longer be allowed that in just 11 months, in a small territory with no escape, nearly 43,000 people are killed and that the perpetrators are not held accountable by the international community. The international community cannot remain indifferent to this situation that threatens the existence of the Palestinian people, who have the same right to live in peace and security in the territory of their ancestors as the Jewish people do.
We are concerned about the escalation of this conflict to other countries, because it threatens peace and security throughout the Middle East and opens up the dangerous possibility of the direct involvement of the major world powers and thus the internationalisation of the conflict with all the possible consequences on a global scale. This is a fact that once again highlights the role of the United Nations, its decisions and resolutions, which, if strictly and rigorously observed, will resolve the impasse surrounding the creation of the State of Palestine, the only way to put a definitive end to the problem that the Middle East has been facing for decades.
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.
As part of the collective effort undertaken by the nations of our planet to consolidate peace, African countries have sought to make an increasingly effective contribution to United Nations missions aimed at stabilising countries and regions in conflict. Often, these peace operations are not carried out as often and as effectively as they should be due to the financial constraints of the countries willing to take part.
Fortunately, this constraint seems to have finally been overcome at the Security Council level, which represents a decisive step in strengthening the operationality and effectiveness of the peace and stability missions led by the African Union, which now has a more appropriate funding mechanism for its operations.
I warmly welcome these developments, especially since Africa wants to be increasingly present not only in the approach, but also in the decision-making and resolution processes regarding the world's major issues.
We want to be part of the construction of a new international financial architecture, in which closer co-operation between states is needed, with a view to effectively combating the illicit flow of capital and recovering assets, which is often incomprehensibly hampered by the countries that hold the funds under their control.
It is important to note that the resources that come from asset recovery have a direct effect on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and therefore on improving the general living conditions of the population.
Angola has made important progress in the fight against corruption, with concrete cases of citizens tried and convicted who have seen their assets recovered in favor of the state, by virtue of the sentences handed down in court and confirmed by the competent court of appeal.
Unfortunately, not all the countries that agreed to receive these corrupt assets without questioning their origins at the time now respect the mandatory sentences handed down by our courts. Some of these countries even arrogate to themselves the right to question the credibility of our courts, almost wanting to review the judgments issued by them, as if they were extraterritorial appellate bodies. These assets are the property of our states, which have already been impoverished during the colonial period.
We will therefore continue to fight with all our might for the recovery of the assets embezzled from the public purse, which are sorely needed for the construction of school, hospital, energy and water, and road infrastructures, among others. Excellencies Ladies and gentlemen.
The Republic of Angola advocates the urgent implementation of reforms that lead to a fairer representation of African countries within the main international financial institutions, in order to defend decision-making and policy-making that impacts on the daily lives of the populations of the countries they target.
We are firmly committed to “leaving no one behind, acting in a position to promote peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations”. Around this motto of the 79th Session, we must mobilise efforts, capacities and all the resources at our disposal to promote policies, measures and programmes that make it possible to achieve the intentions it contains.
Nowadays, one of the main priorities for the African continent is development based on promoting and intensifying trade, for which it is essential to build infrastructures that guarantee connectivity between African countries, the mobility of economic operators and encourage free trade between them, within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
* João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço is the President of the Republic of Angola. This is an edited version of his statement at the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York on September 24, 2024.