YouSaid · the spoken record

José Maria Pereira Neves

lines on the record: 68
first: 2002-09-24
most recent: 2022-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
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

“In conclusion, I wish the General Assembly fruitful deliberations during this seventy-seventh session, the results of which we hope may pave the way for and prepare the Summits of the Future and the SIDS Conference, in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The future is to be found in each day that lies ahead, but also in the solutions we take and make possible in each of these days. We extend our best wishes to the United Nations.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“In this regard, Cabo Verde advocates an effective, inclusive, preventive, dissuasive and cooperative multilateralism, which could, as has already been stated, establish, a new global agreement between States, as well as a new global governance for the international system. We advocate a multilateralism that calls for less confrontation between blocs and greater cooperation among Member States in the construction and delivery to all of such global public goods as peace and security, human rights and sustainable development. Finally, we call for a multilateralism that is useful and facilitates a more peaceful international context, which opens the doors for countries, such as Cabo Verde, to more external funding and more and better integration in regional and global value chains.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“The adoption of the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs was a high point for multilateralism, and its progressive implementation and realization should continue to benefit from the impetus of an increasingly renewed and reinvigorated multilateralism anchored on the United Nations system. This has not happened at the desired level on the various fronts where, unfortunately, global challenges remain, while, at the same time, crises that have constituted genuine obstacles to progress have emerged, endangering the desired reinvigorating of multilateralism adapted and prepared to deal with the scale and complexity of the new challenges.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“Accordingly, I must refer to the worldwide movement to support the candidacy of Creolization and Creole Cultures for the World Heritage List, for which I have accepted to be sponsor and spokesperson, as Cabo Verde was the first Creole society in the world. This is a civil society-led initiative, which seeks for Creole countries to be able to position themselves with one voice as to their intangible heritage, promoting peace, friendship between peoples and development cooperation, based on the values that creolization has brought to civilization and a new ethos based on tolerance, diversity and fusion of cultures. Accordingly, we call for strong political support and engagement from dignitaries of Creole countries and their Heads of State.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“In my capacity as President of Cabo Verde, and counting on my African counterparts, I propose investing in the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the whole of Africa and reflecting on how to promote climate justice and equity in Africa and for Africa. It is a question of striving to reach consensus on a more flexible and less abstract notion of climate equity that places common but differentiated responsibilities at the heart of a public and global debate, and to create a common platform for Africa, with view to transferring responsibilities from one generation to the next.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“After all, we, the SIDS, also want to free ourselves from the dependence on external support, which necessarily entails reducing our vulnerabilities, while also being aware of the duty to do our homework, to be competitive and resilient, and to achieve inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth. Since 2015, Africa’s cultural and natural, material and immaterial heritage has been celebrated around the world to raise awareness and sensibility on the importance of its preservation. The African Union therefore proposed the theme “Arts, culture and heritage: levers to build the Africa we want” as the theme for the year 2021. However, in this regard, there are still questions about urgencies and the measures to be taken.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“It is within this context of emergency that we welcome the Secretary-General’s recommendation and the decision of the President of the General Assembly to establish a United Nations high-level expert panel to conduct the effort, including the completion and use of a multidimensional vulnerability index (MVI). We look forward to a satisfactory conclusion of the work of the high-level panel, and, in particular, that the General Assembly may adopt its MVI proposal, which we hope will be accepted and used in a consensual manner both inside and outside the United Nations.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“It is also pressing because less than two years before the fourth SIDS Conference, in 2024, it is certainly legitimate and expected that the Conference make a transformative decision on the best evaluation indicators and the policy modalities that will best support SIDS in meeting the goals of the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action Pathway. Cabo Verde has already submitted its application to host, in 2023, the regional preparatory meeting of the SIDS members of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and South China Sea region, to which it belongs, and is also prepared to monitor and support the whole process up to the conclusion of the General Conference in 2024.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“In order to achieve that, Cabo Verde will have to progressively overcome its vulnerabilities and increase its resilience, and for this, it is imperative to be able to count on external solidarity in terms of sustainable financing and indebtedness, albeit always in a process and a logic of gradual reduction of the need for external support. Although this is not a new narrative, it is nevertheless urgent that it be implemented, since with fewer than eight years to go before the culmination of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, all signs and indicators suggest that we are not moving at the desired pace for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by that date.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“For example, my country, Cabo Verde, in the past 15 years — between 2007 and 2022 — has suffered the economic and social impact of multiple crises: the economic and financial crisis of 2007-2008, at the very moment when we graduated from the list of least developed countries; the coronavirus disease pandemic, which caused a recession of 14.6 per cent in 2020; the ongoing inflationary impact of world events; and, in the last five years, one of the most profound and most serious droughts in the recent history of the country. But like other small island developing States, Cabo Verde has the ambition to become a small island developed State.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“In their journey, small island development States (SIDS) face such structural limitations as geographical remoteness and isolation, their small economic dimension and dependence on imports and high costs, on the one hand, and exports of sector-concentrated services, on the other, which more frequently and intensely expose them and make them vulnerable to the impact of external shocks, whether climate-related, economic or of other nature, such as pandemics and geopolitical conflicts.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“With that in mind, Cabo Verde reiterates before the General Assembly its firm intention to continue being an active and useful member of the United Nations system, acting and articulating its action on four major fronts, from the more specific to broader: to fully assume its responsibility in the framework of national governance; to value its specificity and grow from its status as a small island developing State; to be a spokesperson in the context of the diversity of and the designs for Africa, the continent to which it belongs; and, ultimately, to continue to be a champion of multilateralism for the advancement of the causes of progress and well-being of humankind.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“We look forward, with hope, to the Summit of the Future in 2023, as foreseen in the Secretary-General’s proposal expressed in “Our Common Agenda” (A/75/982), so that it may effectively help “forge a new global consensus on what our future should look like, and what we can do today to secure it”.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“The Republic of Cabo Verde encompasses the inhabitants of the 10 islands that make up the national territory, located in the mid-Atlantic, off the West African coast, and an immense diaspora, which is our eleventh island, scattered across the four corners of the world. As President of the Republic and the highest representative of this global nation, I have the enormous privilege of extending my greetings to the entire General Assembly and, from this rostrum, to bring mantenhas — “greetings”, in the mother tongue of Cabo Verde — from Cabo Verdeans to the peoples of the world represented in this Hall by their highest dignitaries, expressing our best wishes for prosperity and happiness for all.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“Cabo Verde welcomes the fact that a working group is studying issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction with a view to the development of a legally binding international convention (resolution 66/288, para. 162). The world has great and renewed expectations for the Organization’s role not only in maintaining international peace and security, but also in promoting development and creating a more prosperous and unified international society by reducing injustice and inequities, eradicating poverty, promoting human rights and combating the effects of climate change. We do indeed believe that the United Nations is essential. A more sustainable world living in peace and security is possible.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“I would like to draw the Assembly’s attention to an exemplary action of regional cooperation in September 2014, when seven West African States, including 15-29658 17/55 A/70/PV.22 01/10/2015 Cabo Verde, notified the Secretary-General in a joint communication that we wished to extend the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond the distance of 200 nautical miles, pursuant to article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Last August, we had the opportunity to make a technical presentation to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and expect to receive a favourable response soon.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Because Cabo Verde is an archipelago nation, the sea plays a crucial role in the history, identity and subsistence of the people, providing vital natural resources and connecting the ten islands that form the archipelago. As a small island developing State, Cabo Verde relies on its partnership with the international community in confronting such maritime security challenges as those posed by trafficking and related crimes and in preserving and managing our seas.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The violations of human rights by the actors in the Syrian conflict, as well as the atrocities that are being perpetrated in the territories under the control of terrorist factions and religious fundamentalists, are a major cause for concern. The United Nations must redouble its efforts to reach negotiated solutions to that and other conflicts that offend our common sense of humanity. Resolving the problem of terrorism requires the international community to step up its actions in combating terrorism and extremism in all their forms and manifestations. We firmly condemn all expressions of terrorism and, in particular, the barbaric actions of extremist groups in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Those ongoing events have exposed the profound economic, social, political, environmental and humanitarian causes and ramifications of the crisis. The global refugee problem is a great challenge for humankind and requires the engagement of all. The scourge and stigma of war not only affect the well-being of peoples in their own countries, but also create broader instability, disrupting the development of entire regions. Cabo Verde joins those who call for the rapid settlement of the conflicts, based on a combination of collective efforts and respect for international law and, in particular, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. The situation in the Middle East continues to deteriorate, with no end in sight to the various conflicts that are sweeping the region.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“It is unfortunate that, although almost seventy years have elapsed since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights saw the light of day, the promises made when that basic text was adopted have yet to be fulfilled. Cabo Verde is proud to serve as a benchmark in terms of freedoms, democracy, the rule of law, respect for and defence of human rights, and the promotion of human dignity. Peace and security, together with political stability, are essential foundations for the development and the well-being of our peoples. We are therefore growing increasingly concerned about the spread of ongoing conflicts and tensions in Africa and the Middle East, which have caused thousands of people to flee, driven by total desperation. In seeking better living conditions, some find death instead.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Meanwhile, the new agreement that is expected to be signed in Paris must not fail to give due weight to the issues of loss and compensation, development, technology transfer and capacity- building, and indicate clearly some reliable sources of financial support for the most vulnerable nations. We are firmly committed to assuming our responsibilities and making our contributions in that respect. In Cabo Verde, we have already established the goal of 100 per cent renewable energy and are on our way to achieving it, with international cooperation and United Nations monitoring. At this time, we have approximately 30 per cent renewable energy on the grid and believe that we will exceed 50 per cent by 2020. Much to our consternation, serious cases of human rights violations are occurring in various parts of the world.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a source of hope for the billions of human beings who aspire to a more just, equitable and inclusive world. The will to place people at the centre of development means that we must find appropriate instruments and consistent practices in a sustainable environmental framework. In the light of the unequivocal correlation between sustainable development and climate change, Cabo Verde, like other small and vulnerable countries, hopes that the declarations and expressions of intent will translate into tangible commitments that lead to the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions but also provide a balanced approach to the issues of adaptation and mitigation.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“The poorest and most vulnerable nations legitimately aspire to development, and we must all commit to achieving the goals that have been established for 2030. 16/55 15-29658 01/10/2015 A/70/PV.22 Specifically with respect to the small island developing States, of which Cabo Verde is an example, some essential elements will have to be considered, namely, the threat to their survival posed by climate change, their particular vulnerability to natural disasters, the risk of losing their biodiversity, the reduced size of their markets, the high cost of transportation and energy infrastructure, and their difficulties in accessing financing. For all these reasons, they deserve special attention from the United Nations system in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“We underline the crucial importance of reforming the United Nations in preparation for the road ahead. We urge all Member States to negotiate constructively with a view to agreeing on the revitalization of the powers of the General Assembly and reaching an understanding on the enlargement of the Security Council, which in our view should reflect the changes that have occurred in the world, with a more equitable and appropriate representation. It was with great satisfaction that we participated in the Sustainable Development Summit 2015, which began this past 25 September. We take this opportunity to again declare Cabo Verde’s adherence to the principles contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution 70/1) and our full agreement with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Seven decades after the signing of the San Francisco Charter, it is incumbent on us to examine the road travelled so far as we identify new actions that will allow our Organization to grow in strength, unity and capacity in order to overcome challenges to international peace and security and make more concrete contributions to a bringing about a more just, equitable, sustainable and solidary world. Cabo Verde, which is celebrating the fortieth anniversary of its national independence this year, is among the countries that believe in the fundamental principles and goals of the United Nations and defend its purposes and principles, which continue to be fundamental and current for the Organization’s actions and serve as vital tools with which to build a common future.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“I would ask the indulgence of the Assembly that I may greet, on behalf of all Cabo Verdeans, all delegations to this seventieth session of the General Assembly and add our voice to all statements made here that call for the building of a better world. This session provides us with the opportunity, as we celebrate the anniversary of the United Nations with pride and joy, to engage in a critical and concrete reflection on the future of humankind and the challenges faced by the Organization. The theme chosen for this session could not be more timely and pressing: “The United Nations at 70: the road ahead for peace, security and human rights”.”
2015-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 70 (2015)
“Our common commitment is meeting the eight Goals and our shared responsibility is creating a new post-2015 agenda in favour of sustainable development. The manner in which we do it will determine our common destiny. The importance of our decisions and the responsibility to make them within the United Nations framework are evident. Let us get to work to create a new global dynamic that leads to a joint vision for promoting progress. Cape Verde is firmly committed to the establishment of a post-2015 development agenda; that is also the future we want. We assure the Assembly that we will do everything in our power in the name of a better future, filled with freedom, equality and prosperity. The international community can count on us.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The main objective is to implement the established Goals in the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we want” (resolution 66/288, annex). We also reaffirm our resolute willingness to cooperate with everyone to reduce regional and global tensions, so as to broaden the understanding of sovereignties, freedoms and human rights. Finally, we reiterate our preference for the joint definition of new goals that will stipulate the fundamentals for the prosperity of countries and for the welfare of the world’s people, crafting together a post- 2015 agenda. Cape Verde is committed to making its contribution to the creation of a new goals scenario to succeed and complement the Millennium Development Goals.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We welcome the progress made towards dialogue, particularly the joint search for peaceful solutions, especially at the United Nations. We are against the use of weapons of mass destruction, and we will continue to align with subsequent initiatives towards their eradication. As we are against war and belligerence, we advocate for the implementation of a global strategy to combat violence. We wish to express our solidarity with the Government and the people of Kenya, as well as our unequivocal condemnation of the reprehensible acts of barbarism and human savagery that occurred last Saturday in Nairobi. We urge all the members of the General Assembly to reach a historic agreement in favour of the environment.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“This is a unique opportunity for Cape Verde, a Portuguese-speaking country, to reaffirm its commitment to cultural diversity and, in its quest for multiculturalism, which is its prerogative, to call for the Portuguese language — the fifth most widely spoken language in the world, connecting States and peoples across five continents — to be recognized as an official or a working language of international organizations, particularly the United Nations. We wish to make one more comment as we position ourselves, following the report of the United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic on the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Ghouta area of Damascus on 21 August (A/67/997), which we have studied with close attention.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“In the case of Cape Verde, the situation poses serious challenges that we must overcome, namely, obstacles to the acceleration of economic growth, the promotion of employment and the reduction of poverty. At this sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly, we reiterate our commitment to peace and dialogue, within the parameters enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. Our vision of the United Nations is of a more cohesive and united Organization in which efforts are undertaken for the prosperity of nations. Our vision of the General Assembly is of a great forum for dialogue on the global challenges of our planet and humankind, and our vision of the Security Council is of a body with a more balanced representation that is better suited to the geopolitical developments that the world has known since 1945.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We need to create a wave of modernization for society and for the competitive factors of our economy, so as to improve the business environment and attract foreign investment. The larger result will be economic growth and the creation of wealth to induce the improvement of indicators that matter. We must recognize that there is room for improvement, particularly in terms of reducing State bureaucracy and increasing competitiveness, as well as in terms of making foreign investment more streamlined and more efficient for entrepreneurship. We urge our citizens to be productive, competitive and prosperous, without losing the vast Cape Verdean capacity for generosity, solidarity and responsibility. The continuation of the international crisis and its impact on all countries creates serious problems for the entire world community.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“With respect to the post-2015 agenda, the issue of employment dominates the concerns of Cape Verdeans. The subject occupies the top spot among all consulted, who identify employment as essential to achieving economic and human development. Another serious issue has to do with the sustainability of social security. We need a more universal welfare system, and we must create and introduce instruments for that purpose. That is possible only with a more dynamic economy. There will be no transformation agenda if we do not create solid, sustainable foundations for social protection. To do so, we need to grow and expand wealth, as well as provide a greater number of decent jobs.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The world has reached record highs in terms of emissions and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is now at about 400 parts per million. That could mean the destruction of our development efforts and, even worse, the serious exacerbation of social tensions, which could potentially open the door to both national and regional conflicts. Similarly, the effects of climate change on global food security should be stressed. Ocean acidification is increasing at a rate that has not been seen in 55 million years. Ultimately, the disappearance of numerous marine species has become inevitable. We must all confront this issue, which endangers our common future, and take the necessary decisions, fulfilling our financial commitments aimed at adaptation, particularly in the most vulnerable countries.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The instruments we have created on our own are not enough to respond to the questions of today or to prepare for a future moving towards advanced development, unless that is a part of a global agenda led by the United Nations and involving intensive international cooperation and partnership at both the multilateral and bilateral levels. Cape Verde is committed to that joint effort. Cape Verdeans are deeply focused on global issues, such as climate change, hunger and malnutrition and the various forms of inequality, as well as the importance of ensuring environmental sustainability and national and international partnerships in support of global development. Climate change is a pressing problem of our times that must be addressed with urgency and a great sense of responsibility.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We recognize that “transformation” in Cape Verde is more than a key word; it is an agenda for work stemming from inclusive growth. In addition, we have been creating accountable institutions, open to all, in order to ensure good governance. Based on that perspective, we have refocused our internal policy, and are thus mobilizing our national will while appealing for support from our international partners, towards the goal of reaching advanced-development status by 2030. That is what it means for us to commit to a post-2015 agenda. We are currently in a transition period.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Our current challenge is the close monitoring essential to preventing any setbacks that might result from the global economic situation and its impact on Cape Verde. In fact, despite our graduation to middle-income-country status, our indicators still show high rates of poverty, inequality and unemployment, as well as insufficient access to many goods and services, and we are still short of our goal of achieving well-being and and a high standard of living for all our people. Cape Verdeans are ready to push for the evolution of the terms of the Millennium Development Goals and replace “reducing” extreme poverty with “eradicating” it, leaving none behind. Moreover, we in Cape Verde are ready to put the issue of economic sustainability at the centre of the country’s development agenda and have already begun to do so.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Our focus on and investment in access to education, health care, water and food have been clear, unambiguous and systematic, as have our efforts to competitively integrate our economy into the international market, with the support of our international partners. At the same time, the transformation agenda, which is fully aligned with our MDG commitments and targets, has created the conditions for Cape Verde’s historic transition to the realm of middle-income countries, although, owing to the strong impact of the international crisis, which has to some extent put the brakes on the momentum of the country’s ongoing progress, it still falls within the lower-middle-income scale. Our indicators show that we have reduced poverty by half, and it is clearly on a downward trend.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The focus of this session, as was declared by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is fairness and dignity for all, a task that challenges everyone and requires new attitudes and behaviours, based on the premise that a better world is possible. Cape Verde, a small island developing State that has been independent for less than 39 years, has already achieved most of the targets envisioned and will continue its efforts to meet all the Millennium Development Goals. Thanks to a transformation agenda that we have been promoting since 2001, when Cape Verde was on the list of least developed countries, our nation has made significant progress in the socioeconomic and political arenas and has improved the people’s overall standard of living.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“I would first like to salute you, Ambassador John Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly. Mr. President, we are sure you will bring all your experience and wisdom to bear in the conduct of our debates and in carrying out the General Assembly’s important tasks. At the outset, I would like to commend the remarkable work the United Nations has done so that we have the opportunity to advance the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to work together today to set a new post-2015 development agenda. Indeed, that is a global challenge that, besides inaugurating a new era in global development, challenges us to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Cape Verde unequivocally supports an increase in the number of permanent members of the Security Council, in the belief that the world is no longer as it was at the end of the Second World War, nor does it resemble that of the end of the Cold War.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It also requires global positions that converge towards social inclusion as a way to reduce the impact of the economic crisis. We reiterate our firm position of respect for international laws, the principles of non-interference in internal affairs and the sovereignty of peoples and nations. We do not support double standards for similar cases, as if peoples and nations were not equal and deserving of the same treatment, as stated in the United Nations Charter. Before concluding, I must emphasize our position in favour of expanding the reform model of global governance by the United Nations, allowing, among the many benefits, small States to have a greater voice in the decision-making process of the international system.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We must reach a global consensus that security, peace and stability arise from the economic and social development of States and peoples. We must deconstruct war, conflict and tension between countries and peoples and ensure the commitment of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly towards that noble goal. We must reiterate that mediation is essential to settle disputes, whether in Africa or in the rest of the world. The global economic crisis is acute. In large countries it shows signs of settling and in poor countries it is amplified. If the crisis is global, it requires global responses against recessionary policies, such as the protection of domestic markets, and the war against unfairly priced imports.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I am concerned that that does not motivate a stronger international intervention, since the dictatorship of hunger is the worst of dictatorships. We urge the United Nations to be more effective and to make a concerted effort to reverse the image of that human tragedy in East Africa. We must therefore 3 11-51372 eradicate the geopolitics of hunger. We all need to take the paradigm of zero hunger in the world. We are also concerned about wars and tensions that thrive a little everywhere but are now more localized and of more intense in Africa, the Middle East and Asia — to the delight of the dealers in misery, those who invest in the war industry and in the suffering of millions of human beings, especially children, women and the elderly.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We need the partnership with the international community to fulfil our destiny. In Cape Verde’s transformational agenda, we have identified five pillars of our country’s growth and poverty reduction strategy: promotion of effective governance, strengthening human development, confronting the structural and social challenges arising from competitiveness, and investment in infrastructure for improving social cohesion. Cape Verde is developing a foreign policy that favours democracy, justice, peace, cooperation and sustainable development. We look at the planet as the home of all, respecting the sovereignty and will of the people while emphasizing the global convergence in the core of humankind. We are therefore concerned about hunger in the Horn of Africa. We are concerned that thousands of children die in Africa every day from hunger.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Its oldest city — Ribeira Grande, or the Cidade Velha — was named a World Heritage by UNESCO in 2009. Cape Verde is a State that encourages other States to remember, through memory, history and human rights, the international slave routes, just as we remember the Holocaust, another of the heights of human barbarism. In Cape Verde we can defy our lusophone partners in the Community of Portuguese- speaking Countries and our African partners and the entire world to reaffirm our commitment against barbarism, dictatorship, colonialism and disrespect for human rights through the promotion of the candidacy of the Tarrafal concentration camp on the island of Santiago as a World Heritage site. Those who know us know that we are a country concerned with development. We do not settle for being middle-income country.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Cape Verde, with its ten islands in the middle of the Atlantic, strategically positioned in the corridor and the cross-Atlantic flow, is not only a strong partner for global security, geostrategic interests and world trade, but is also an active and useful member of the international community in the fight against trafficking and related crime. The vast oceanic region of Cape Verde is an important space for security in the promotion of regional peace and prosperity and in the affirmation of an international coalition to fight illicit transnational crime. Some may wonder, “What country is this?” Some think of it as the nation of Amilcar Cabral; others see it as the country of Cesaria Evora. Cape Verde is a land that was once an important entrepôt and trans-shipment base for the African slave trade, for both Europe and the Americas.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We need the United Nations to work out our part in preventing climate change and food and water shortages. We count on the United Nations and all countries of this great General Assembly to converge both bilaterally and multilaterally towards the green economy and sustainable development. Therefore, in Cape Verde there is an ongoing and ambitious programme for covering 50 per cent of national energy needs through renewable sources by 2020. Despite remarkable and positive changes — some of which have been internationally recognized, such as our graduation to middle-income country status and being on the path towards full achievement of the Millennium Development Goals — I would still like to take this opportunity to better acquaint the General Assembly with my country.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Let me offer a few special words regarding the development of themes such as desertification, land degradation and drought in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication in preparation for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, scheduled for June 2012, which we strongly and actively support. One of the most decisive actions taken by independent Cape Verde, soon after 1975, was reforestation, along with orographic correction and the mobilization of water. As a small island developing State at the crossroads of two large regions — the Sahel and Macaronesia — and suffering the effects of the most stringent climatic randomness of one region and the oceanic isolation of the other, Cape Verde is conscious of the importance of the green as well as the blue economy to the objective of sustainable development.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It reflects the identity, the way of being and lifestyle of Cape Verdeans. As subscribers to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, we believe that peace and human rights are the key factors in the construction of sovereignty, democratic rule of law and sustainable development. Therefore, mediators are required to position and approach matters within the universal matrix of peace and human rights as the highest priorities of all States Members of the United Nations. 11-51372 2 In addition, we consider it crucial to take an approach focused on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases worldwide, especially in the context of the challenges faced by developing countries.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)