YouSaid · the spoken record

Jean-Marie Ehouzou

lines on the record: 40
first: 2009-09-24
most recent: 2010-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“This is the thought that inspires us in this year when we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of 17 African countries.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Here Benin renews its firm commitment to continuing to contribute to the ongoing adaptation efforts of the Organization, which is solidly anchored in its main principles of the sovereign equality of States, respect for human dignity, the promotion of development cooperation and the search for the best solutions to the world’s problems. In this spirit, I should like to conclude by making an urgent appeal for the strengthening of international cooperation. International cooperation is neither a form of social assistance nor an organized hybrid system of begging and deception. It should be based on legitimate mutual interests — a joint effort towards a contract of solidarity, which would enable us together to attain the means to forge conditions for humanity to live in greater dignity and with ever-greater creativity.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Let us avoid trite formulations that evade the very essence of reform, which is to ensure the equitable representation of States in both categories of membership and to guarantee that the Council’s decisions have the transparency, legitimacy and authority necessary for it more effectively to uphold its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. In this respect, Benin reaffirms, from this rostrum, Africa’s legitimate aspirations. The democratization of the United Nations also means a stronger commitment to respect for national and international law on the part of Member States.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Their institutional mandates should be redefined so that they better help to mobilize resources in support of the development of the least developed countries, while ensuring the stability of the international financial system. The Security Council is an essential instrument for global governance. Its long-awaited reform cannot be postponed indefinitely. Reform efforts are being held hostage by the inherent contradictions in today’s international relations and remain hopelessly at a standstill despite the crucial importance we all recognize them to have for the effectiveness of the Organization. The ongoing negotiations towards reform must be carried out in good faith and with a keen sense of responsibility in order to preserve the credibility of the Organization, which has been beset by heavy liabilities.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“To date, this programme has helped to empower almost 600,000 women by providing income- generating activities. The programme should be expanded, which will require additional financial support from the international community and, in particular, from technical and financial partners. Promoting the rule of law at the international level requires the effective participation of all peoples in the management of world affairs in the interest of current and future generations. In particular, the representation of developing countries should be strengthened in the decision-making bodies of the international financial institutions, as should their accountability.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“We urge all Member States to give concrete substance to the International Year of Youth, in line with the situation in their countries. The theme of the Year, “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding”, aims, moreover, to foster alliances among the generations. The Government of Benin is determined to make its modest contribution by supporting the effective holding of the United Nations Conference on Youth, which is currently being prepared, to mark the Year. With a view to ensuring that the potential of women, who represent more than half of the population of my country, is fully realized, the Government has set up a National Institute for the Promotion of Women. A 10-54833 52 microcredit programme for the poorest women was also launched to ensure the promotion of their economic activities.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Respect for human rights and civil liberties means that human beings must be placed at the centre of sustainable development efforts, and it is the duty of the international community to ensure this. It is essential that respecting human rights become a way of life and the essential standard that validates human behaviour on a daily basis so as to promote mutual respect, equal opportunities in life and the full realization of the potential of every individual. In this context, I would like to highlight the important role young people and women have to play in the development of our countries. In declaring the year that began 12 August 2010 as the International Year of Youth, the General Assembly highlighted the contribution that young people make to society.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“We appeal to all peoples and to all citizens of the world to respect the value of human life and to work in a spirit of peaceful coexistence and good-neighbourliness to resolve their disputes through cooperation, exchange and seeking mutual understanding, promoting a culture of peace and dialogue among religions for the common good of all humankind, at peace with itself. To this end, we must pay greater attention to efforts to eradicate the underlying causes of conflict and in particular to put an end to the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons that leads to their proliferation and thus to lawlessness and insecurity in our towns and countryside.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Terrorism, which we condemn without reservation in all its forms and manifestations, also continues to indiscriminately afflict innocent civilian populations, including humanitarian workers and United Nations personnel despite the specific international protection they enjoy. We are concerned by these serious infringements of the humanitarian principles relevant to conflict situations. We must work to strengthen the authority of international humanitarian law and the multilateral international justice institutions in order to increase their deterrence capacity with respect to serious crimes. Here my country reiterates the importance it assigns to the responsibility to protect, and we will spare no effort to ensure its operationalization in accordance with the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“I am confident that, through dialogue and Benin’s creative genius, which ensured the outstanding success of the national conference of political stakeholders in February 1990, Benin will be able to meet this challenge and once again surprise the world. I call on the United Nations and the international community to continue to support the efforts of the Government of Benin to work successfully to address the major challenges of today and the future. We must maintain international peace and security. This is the first of the major tasks assigned to the United Nations. In spite of the tireless efforts of the Organization alongside regional organizations, humankind continues to suffer as a result of ongoing armed conflicts, the destructiveness of which leads to unimaginable suffering for affected populations.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“After 20 years of democracy during which elections have been organized on the basis of manually recorded lists, my country’s Government, in collaboration with the United Nations and its development partners, has finally decided to create a computerized permanent electoral list that will ensure transparent elections and significantly reduce complaints and other post-electoral difficulties. The political class of Benin agrees unanimously on the need for such a computerized list, but differences remain with respect to the process, the timing of its implementation and its use for the presidential and legislative elections in March 2011.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Adaptation and mitigation measures should be implemented with a sense of heightened urgency in order to help regions affected. Financial and development institutions should pay special attention to programmes to revitalize soil and to promote irrigation farming and reforestation, using species that 51 10-54833 can increase food availability. We reaffirm our sympathy for countries that have been struck this year by natural disasters, in particular earthquakes, and Haiti in particular, with which we share close lineage and cultural ties. My country, Benin, will hold presidential and legislative elections in March 2011.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“In the framework of efforts to diversify agricultural production, the Government of Benin is also working to promote crops for marginal farming land to produce biofuel. The goal is to reduce dependence on and the rising cost of hydrocarbons, which have been exacerbated by the drastic drop in hydroelectric power caused by climate change, which has also seriously affected the country’s economic activity in recent years. West Africa has been deeply affected by soil degradation, coastal erosion and the effects of frequent floods due to climate change. Here, we express our appreciation for the awareness-raising undertaken by the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. It is important to devote more resources to implementing the Convention in the framework of fighting climate change.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“In that regard, the Government of Benin is working to promote synergistic growth and the fight against poverty in order to align democracy and new-found freedoms with shared prosperity by carrying out the social transformations necessary to ensure the effective participation of all sectors in national development efforts. The Government of Benin is working to promote agricultural mechanization, but given that the latter cannot have the desired impact without water management, we are also planning for rational management of that resource in order to maximize its use and ensure its sustainability. These investments will allow us to make the work of farmers less difficult and to limit post-harvest losses in order to ensure that agricultural production covers national needs and generates surplus for export.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“What is predictable should be predicted in order to define a long-term approach and to build, on the basis of available scientific data, a desirable future for our countries and peoples, who must cooperate to that end. In this respect, the proposal to increase the agricultural share of official development assistance from 3 per cent to 10 per cent is a strategic approach that should be implemented with common political will commensurate to the challenge. Here, I pay tribute to countries that have already made concrete commitments to providing additional resources to that end. Benin is an agricultural country, and agriculture must serve as a springboard for its development.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“In the short term, priority focus should be on strengthening social protection systems in low-income countries and on reactivating dormant local production capacity by promoting small and medium-sized agricultural businesses in order to avoid a drastic increase in the number of people living in extreme poverty. In the medium and long terms, it is necessary to rethink policies to promote investments in agriculture in order to re-establish the balance between cash crops and food products and thus ensure food security in countries, taking their cultural specificities into account. The international community must begin to evaluate the effectiveness of its strategic monitoring mechanisms in order to strengthen their ability to foresee systemic shocks.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Vulnerable countries must make investments to relaunch sustainable agricultural production and maintain sustained growth capable of generating long-term prosperity and sustainable human development, because the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals must be guaranteed in perpetuity. The United Nations must now, and with a sense of urgency, use its full influence to provide the means to help countries in difficulty ensure the survival of threatened populations and vulnerable groups that could be decimated by famine and disease if nothing is done to help them. The time has come to give substance to the right to food because it is unacceptable that hunger should persist among the causes of human suffering in the twenty-first century.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“10-54833 50 The High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) convened by the Secretary-General defined a programme of action to achieve the Goals by 2015. In implementing these measures, it is important to take continuously into account the deadlines set for the achievement of the MDGs in the light of the additional difficulties related to the current crises of the financial and economic system and to previous crises. It is the duty of the international community to mobilize the resources necessary to address the grave distortions that caused these crises.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“The raison d’être of the United Nations is not only to provide a framework of reference and universal convergence to coordinate national policies, but also and above all to address interests with respect to the parameters that define areas of tension between aspirations and the demands of our peoples and States in all their diversity. If the United Nations did not exist it would have to be created, because we cannot imagine a world today without the United Nations. I would therefore like to express Benin’s commitment to the irreplaceable role of the United Nations and its funds, agencies, programmes and various specialized institutions, which provide an invaluable service to humankind as a secular extension of our collective conscience.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Thanks to his bold initiatives to promote international cooperation, he has been able to revive the virtues of multilateralism as the optimum way to manage world affairs in an inclusive and participatory framework that stresses the uniqueness of our world and the common responsibility of human beings to maintain the fundamental balances on which human survival on Earth depends and the sustainability of the biosphere. The trail blazed by the founding fathers of the United Nations in the areas of international peace and security, the promotion of human rights and development is that of dialogue, cooperation and a global partnership to promote the common good of humankind.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Deiss my warm congratulations on his election as President of the General Assembly at the sixty-fifth session. His predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Ali Treki, who brilliantly led the work of the General Assembly with respect to Africa, strove to find appropriate solutions to the great challenges facing humankind with skill and tact throughout his mandate. We pay tribute to him for his good and loyal service to the international community. I would also like to welcome the courageous and determined action of His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and commend him for having taken the measure of the grave crises affecting the world and for his ongoing commitment to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“I bring a message on behalf of the President of the Republic of Benin, His Excellency Mr. Boni Yayi, who was not able to come to New York because of scheduling conflicts. He shares the ambition of the President of the General Assembly at the sixty-fifth session to build a United Nations that is strong, inclusive and open as a guarantor of global governance. I am convinced that the productive experience of the President of the General Assembly at the head of the Swiss Government, which enabled his beautiful country to enter the United Nations, will be a valuable asset to us. From this perspective, Benin will make its contribution to the work of this session and, in so doing, will strive to promote the ideals of the Charter, to which my country reiterates here its full support. I would also like to express to Mr.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Yes, we need a United Nations that is more just and better able to respond to today’s urgent needs as well as to the aspirations of the world’s most vulnerable people.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Security Council reform through expansion in both categories of membership is, among other things, an unavoidable necessity of our times, as the Chairman of the African Union affirmed from this rostrum a few days ago. The time has come to grant all peoples of the Earth their due place in the concert of free and prosperous nations. Benin is ready to cooperate without reservation in finding the most appropriate ways to redress the injustices of the past and to establish a new world order in the Security Council. Such an order must enable humankind to forge its common destiny in our common house, namely, the Earth. We have a sacred duty towards our planet, which includes behaving in a manner that serves to preserve its habitability for current and future generations.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We need a United Nations capable of rising to the challenges involved in settling the Palestinian question definitively; promoting disarmament and the regulation of the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; promoting the rule of law at the national and international levels; promoting fair trade; countering terrorism and organized transnational crime; exercising the responsibility to protect; fighting impunity by strengthening international justice; and protecting civilians, in particular children, women and the elderly in situations of armed conflict; and so on. United Nations reform must be undertaken without hesitation in order to strengthen its effectiveness, legitimacy and credibility.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We need a United Nations that makes full use of the opportunities for cooperation with regional organizations. In that connection, Benin calls for consistent implementation of the proposals made in the Prodi report (S/2008/813, annex) on cooperation between the United Nations and the African Union on modalities for support to African Union peacekeeping operations. We need a United Nations with strengthened capacities to contribute to the peaceful settlement of disputes, inter alia, through mediation and the promotion of judicial settlements.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We need a United Nations able to help emerging countries fully to shoulder the international commitments linked to their new status and to exploit their strengths to promote South-South and triangular cooperation in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and to better adapt to climate change. Convinced that another name for peace is development and that peace and development are essential to our survival on Earth, we must find the essential means to promote peace through and for development. We need a United Nations able to assure the effective prevention of armed conflict, if necessary by fielding robust peace or development missions to conduct operations for economic stabilization and the elimination of extreme poverty.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We need a United Nations with the moral authority to involve the affluent countries in thorough reform of the architecture of governance and of economic and financial globalization in order to improve the capacity 57 09-52470 of the international financial system to promote equitable development in all regions of the world. The initiatives of the Group of Twenty in this area are laudable and must continue to ensure a thorough reform of the international economic system that will allow all countries to be integrated into the virtuous cycle of economic growth and sustainable development.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Actions to be taken will be effective only if undertaken at the level of the entire subregion so as to ensure that all of the West African coastline is protected. To that end, we must mobilize vast resources. Perhaps we should consider establishing a multilateral investment fund, under the auspices of the United Nations and the African Union, to finance the major construction work that will be needed. We need a United Nations able to coordinate the response to these major development challenges, raise the necessary resources to respond to the financial needs, and supervise the transfer of resources to be used by the international community to help the most vulnerable countries, including the least developed.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In addition to torrential rains that are concentrated in just a few weeks of the year, coastal erosion due mainly to the rise in sea level has already been observed in Benin and neighbouring countries. We also have long and recurrent droughts and other natural disasters that are affecting our peoples. Scientists predict that, among other events, the coastal areas of West Africa will be submerged due to the rise in sea level of the Atlantic Ocean, whereas northern countries have already gained land along their coastlines. We therefore need help to acquire the technologies and means necessary to combat coastal erosion because we cannot sit idly by while this disaster unfolds. In order to counter the coastal erosion already engulfing our cities and coastal lands, major work on infrastructure is crucial.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We are making considerable efforts to mobilize our internal resources. We welcome the good work done by the United Nations to mobilize additional resources from development partners in order to help pilot countries, including Benin, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. These decisions were taken in the context of implementing the commitments made by the Group of Eight at Gleneagles, the Millennium Declaration, the 2001 Brussels Declaration on least developed countries, and all of the statements that we warmly welcomed and applauded at the recent Summit on Climate Change convened here by the Secretary- General. The consequences of climate change considerably complicate the deal. Benin is among the most vulnerable countries and those least equipped to address climate change.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“However, the ongoing economic recession and the worsening harmful consequences of climate change threaten to seriously jeopardize the considerable progress made in implementing this pivotal national project. Only one year ago, the International Monetary Fund predicted that the gross domestic product of sub-Saharan African countries would increase by 6.7 per cent on average in 2009. Those forecasts were revised downward a few months later to 5.1 per cent, then to 3.5 per cent and last March to 3.25 per cent, and nothing guarantees that the growth rate will not decline further. This decline in the growth rate has aggravated the danger of serious budgetary difficulties. We must maintain our rate of progress despite being subjected to the gruelling external shocks of the successive crises of the world economy in full recession.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“These measures included promoting microfinancing as an effective means of fighting poverty and social exclusion, especially that of women, by granting microcredit to the poorest — especially women, who are the most important pillar of society although economically disadvantaged; promoting entrepreneurship and youth employment; and the launching of multiple training programmes in order to integrate young people into the fabric of our socio-economic structure. We are also working on mechanizing agriculture, promoting education by offering free and mandatory primary education, and making free Caesarean sections available as a better approach to reproductive health. These social measures were implemented at the same time that major work was begun on infrastructure.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The challenges to be met are huge since nearly one third of the population of Benin currently lives below the poverty line in a country vulnerable to the threats of natural disasters and where food security is not fully guaranteed. The measures implemented in particular by the Government of Mr. Boni Yayi, in place since April 2006 thanks to scrupulous respect for our Constitution, mark our resolve to move forward. Our economic performance in 2006 and 2007 proved that our strategic choices were correct.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The United Nations must be more effective in supporting national policies to achieve international standards. The Beninese Government has decided to entrust the rationalization of its efforts in favour of women to a recently established women’s institute. To that end, we are very pleased to welcome the imminent establishment and operationalization of a composite entity within the United Nations system for the advancement of gender equality. It will make it possible to ensure the coherent and efficient support of the United Nations system for the efforts of Member States. In the context of Africa’s resolute march towards a new beginning, the Beninese Government has adopted strategic measures based on the elimination of 09-52470 56 poverty and on reinvigorated economic growth that will make Benin an emerging country by 2025.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“That is why Benin has committed to organizing the regional conference on revitalizing the major recommendations of the independent Commission. To that end also, my country has declared a resolute war on female genital mutilation through an awareness campaign, the retraining of practitioners and the vigilant enforcement of unambiguous legislation, bolstered by a new family code that establishes the equal rights of men and women. That is also why Benin worked for the proclamation of 2009 as the International Year of Human Rights Learning. The main objective of the Year is to promote the necessary change in thinking to ensure that humankind moves towards full and complete adherence to the universal values enshrined in the United Nations Charter.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Above all, we should create conditions to ensure the responsible contribution of all to fully realizing the potential of humankind. To that end, we must eliminate all obstacles to its development. The State and public authorities have a vital role to play in that regard. They must at all times engage with social partners working in the service of freedom and progress. The independent Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor has shown us the virtues of gradually eliminating old practices that violate the integrity of the individual both as a living being and as a legal and social entity. That is a fundamental precondition to guaranteeing the responsible access of all to the benefits of modernity and shared prosperity.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The dialogue of civilizations is without doubt an essential precondition for strengthening multilateralism. It can help us return to the fundamental values of respect for life and for nature, awareness of our common destiny, the quest for mutual benefit, and the sense of permanence, sharing and honouring our responsibilities towards future generations. If we wish to reverse the dismal trends and outlook that scientists have described, we must conclude a new alliance between man and nature — a new common agreement. That is how we can regain control of the natural and anthropogenic phenomena that affect our existence on Earth. The Copenhagen Conference in December will be an excellent opportunity that we must not squander.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The multifaceted crises that have shaken the global economy have been caused by its accelerated globalization without agreed global governance. These crises have mightily stricken the most vulnerable. Furthermore, they have exposed the planet to grave dangers, the signs of which are undeniably evident. We should accept the facts. The time for assumptions has passed. The time has come for proactive anticipation, as we now know the cost of indifference, inertia and passivity. We must restore the capacity of the United Nations to fulfil its calling in the pursuit of solutions to the global problems of humankind. Through the dialogue of civilizations, we should reconcile the specificities connected with the diversity of our cultural heritage with the universal standards that arise from the inviolability of human dignity.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I should like at the outset to express my pleasure at seeing Mr. Treki so brilliantly execute the lofty tasks of the presidency of the General Assembly on behalf of Africa. I offer him my warmest congratulations and wish him every success in that office. I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the sincere commitment that he has shown. The path laid down by the founding fathers of the United Nations for the achievement of its goals is that of dialogue and multilateralism. The United Nations was created to harness the energies of the international community to that end. Soon, we will have been at it for seven decades. Where are we today? Painful fractures hinder humankind and threaten to considerably weaken our capacity for common action.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)