YouSaid · the spoken record

Paul Kagame

lines on the record: 120
first: 2006-09-24
most recent: 2023-09-24
sittings or episodes: 18
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

“It is critical that resources be made available on an urgent basis to enable the deployment of the pledged peacekeeping forces by African countries. Through the United Nations, we express our collective determination to promote socioeconomic transformation for greater and more rapid wealth creation, which in turn will permit improved lives. On that note, we also join the many other countries that are putting forward the suggestion of a moratorium on the death penalty as a way of improving those lives and valuing them. That challenge remains daunting in the developing world, where extreme poverty still affects millions of people. The solutions include increased productive capacities on the part of the developing world, side by side with the opening of global markets to the developed world to permit greater trade and investment.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“For our part, we pledge renewed commitment to making our contribution to the restoration of peace and stability in the Great Lakes region and in other parts of our continent. In that respect, we express our solidarity with the long-suffering people of Darfur and commit ourselves to contributing to peace efforts in that part of the world, in close cooperation with the Government of the Sudan, the African Union (AU) and the United Nations. Rwanda welcomes Security Council resolution 1769 (2007) authorizing the creation of the United Nations-AU hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur, and calls for its speedy deployment. In the same spirit, we urge the international community to support peacebuilding efforts in Somalia.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“They rape, murder, terrorize and plunder with impunity. Their leaders are active in Africa, Europe, America and other places, where they continue to promote the ideology of genocide. There can be no doubt that those terror groups constitute a threat to international peace and security. The presence of the costly United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has not diminished their activities. I once again call upon the international community, in collaboration with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to end the threat posed by those negative forces once and for all. Rwandans and the region as a whole need peace and stability so that we can concentrate on the business of economic growth and development.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“The proposed reforms will assist in overcoming those shortcomings. However, we still eagerly await the reform of the Security Council to render it more representative of the world community and more transparent in its operations and decision-making processes. We believe that this would equip the United Nations with greater legitimacy and capacity to maintain world peace and security. Let me briefly touch on a number of pressing challenges the global community currently faces. While our continent has been consolidating peace and security, there are persistent problem areas that need attention. Today in the Great Lakes region, those who committed genocide in Rwanda in 1994 continue their destructive activities. Almost 14 years after their deeds in our country, they are still sowing mayhem in the region.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“That is why it is vital that the United Nations continues to undergo comprehensive reforms to render it more versatile, effective and efficient. As the Secretary-General correctly observed in his report on this subject, the United Nations is “not optimally configured. Some of the ongoing reforms such as the implementation of “one programme, one budgetary framework and one office” at the country level is a good start for rendering this international body more responsive. We are pleased that Rwanda was selected as one of the eight first pilot countries for this reform. In the same context of the ongoing reforms, the proposal to restructure the gender portfolio is most welcome. We agree with the findings of the High-level Panel that the United Nations contributions to gender issues have been incoherent, under-resourced and fragmented.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“May I start by expressing to you, Mr. President, my Government’s congratulations on your election as the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-second session. Let me also use this occasion to thank the outgoing President, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, for the excellent manner in which she presided over the General Assembly at its sixty-first session. Every year the General Assembly provides the world’s leaders with an excellent opportunity to focus our attention on the challenges we commonly face. While some of the challenges can be addressed nationally, the most critical are often not confined to national borders and therefore require a concerted global effort. Hence the centrality of the United Nations in providing the leadership and platform to address global challenges.”
2007-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 62 (2007)
“Rwanda supports the common African position that the next Secretary-General should be from Asia. As far as the election process is concerned, we appeal for greater transparency in that process in accordance with the Charter and the basic principles of democracy. In conclusion, in today’s globalized world, our interdependence has never been more self-evident. As a result, the imperative for our collective action is greater than ever. Once again, the onus is on all of us to translate our many challenges and opportunities into a shared destiny of peace, security and prosperity for all.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“It is our hope that this session of the General Assembly might achieve greater progress with respect to Security Council reform. Rwanda supports the common African position on this issue and believes that reform of the working methods to promote transparency and accountability is most urgent. The reform process should enable States that are not members of the Council to participate more actively in its deliberative and decision-making processes, especially on issues that affect them. A reformed Council should be seen by all States, especially the smaller States, to be more accessible, transparent, credible and legitimate. In the next few months, the General Assembly will elect a new Secretary-General upon recommendation of the Security Council.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“Jan Eliasson, President of the sixtieth session, and all Member States on the reforms, including the setting up of the Peacebuilding Commission, the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the renewed commitments to combat HIV/AIDS adopted at the special session of the General Assembly in June. There has also been commendable progress on management reform, including the establishment of an ethics office, strengthening whistle-blower protection and reforming procurement procedures to prevent corruption. We look forward to working together with other delegations during this session to improve coherence, efficiency and effectiveness within the Secretariat and to continue to review the Organization’s mandates, so that the United Nations may be strengthened to respond better to the expectations of Member States.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“The Security Council and the Secretariat should continue to work towards better-conceived and more- effective peacekeeping operations, towards greater participation by regional organizations in conflict resolution and towards the institutionalization of lessons learned from the past. There is also an urgent need to institutionalize relations between the United Nations and regional organizations, particularly the 06-53323 50 African Union, in the areas of conflict resolution and peacekeeping. We warmly welcome the reforms adopted during the previous session of the General Assembly. We take this opportunity to congratulate Mr.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“There can be no peace without reconciliation and recognition of the rights and interests of all people, including the rights of States to exist and the right of self-determination. We have learned that no community’s rights can or should supersede another’s. We have learned the value of sharing and the value of communities’ living side by side in peace and mutual respect. Rwanda is happy to contribute to the promotion of international peace and security through its military and police contributions to the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions in the Sudan, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire and the Comoros. We are committed to continuing these contributions for as long as they are required and as long as our resources permit.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“There is a danger that the successes registered so far towards the attainment of the MDGs could easily be reversed if the current energy sector cost trends continue unabated. It is critical, therefore, that we invest heavily in sustainable alternative energy sources for the long term. In the short- and medium-term, however, we shall need to find ways to mitigate the effects of energy price shocks if we are to sustain and accelerate the attainment of the MDGs. The scourge of war continues to cause the massive loss of human life and blight entire communities. The ongoing conflicts in some parts of Africa and the Middle East pose a serious threat to international peace and security and require our collective efforts to reach political settlements to these conflicts. Our painful experience in Rwanda has taught us that peace comes at a price.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“We welcome the decision by some developed States to dramatically increase the volume of ODA over the next few years, and we are grateful to them. We also congratulate those States that have reached or exceeded the internationally agreed 0.7 per cent of gross national income for the ODA target, and we welcome the decision by those States that have set timetables to achieve or exceed that target by 2015. The challenge is, therefore, to translate these commitments into tangible disbursements and the implementation of real poverty reduction programmes on the ground. The most serious challenge to our development and the attainment of the MDGs is the unprecedented price level of fossil-fuel energy on the one hand, and the reduction in hydroelectric generation capacity on the other.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“It is critical that there be harmonization of the objectives of trade and development policies on the part of our development partners. Trade policies should complement, rather than undermine, the attainment of the development goals. We must recommit ourselves, both in principle and practice, to an open, rules-based, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system. Any progress that developing countries like Rwanda might achieve in attaining the MDGs will not be sustainable unless measures are taken to provide greater opportunity for those countries to access the markets of the developed world, thereby increasing household and national incomes. The attainment of the MDGs will require additional resources. We thus consider it essential to increase the quantity of aid.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“In the spirit of mutual accountability, it is our belief that the principles of good governance that prevail at the national level should also guide our relations with our development partners. Both sides of the ongoing governance debate should be given adequate and equal attention, particularly since aid effectiveness is also critical to the attainment of the MDGs. We believe that improving the quality and increasing the quantity of official development assistance (ODA) is another important set of measures that would improve development prospects. The quality of ODA should be improved by adopting needs- based approaches, providing more budget support, supporting national poverty reduction programmes, reducing waste and overhead, and channelling aid to sectors that enhance productive capacities rather than perpetuate dependence.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“It is our view that, by embracing good-governance principles, we are setting the stage for the attainment of our global and national targets. Rwanda is strongly committed to these principles and has submitted itself to the scrutiny of our African peers under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). The APRM is an African 49 06-53323 initiative aimed at promoting good governance through constructive self-assessment and peer review. We welcome the acknowledgements of the progress we have made in many areas and commit ourselves to continuing to make improvements in the areas identified in the peer review report.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“We must, therefore, devise means to do things radically differently and in an accelerated manner. There are a number of areas that require our urgent attention if we are to make progress in attaining the MDGs by 2015 and in eventually eradicating poverty. I will highlight a few of these areas, which, in our view, are the most salient. Regardless of one’s definition of good or effective governance, what has been proved is its importance in the sustained socio- economic development of a nation. We believe that the key features of good or effective governance include a political culture that fosters inclusive and competitive participation; robust national institutions that pursue effective and coherent national development strategies; effective management and oversight institutions; and, of course, the consolidation of the rule of law.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“Forty per cent of the world’s population, or 2.5 billion people, live in absolute poverty on less than $2 a day, while more than 800 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition. For sub-Saharan Africa, the statistics are even more staggering; in most cases, 60 to 70 per cent of national populations live on less than a dollar a day, while life expectancy at birth is less than 50 years. This is clearly unacceptable at a time when the rest of the world enjoys unprecedented levels of affluence and technological and scientific advancement. As for the poor, their daily lives are a trial that nobody would wish to experience. We must not permit another five years to pass only to find out that no progress has been made and only to simply renew the same commitments.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“It is my earnest hope that we shall seize this opportunity to take stock of our successes and shortcomings and devise practical solutions to realize these commitments, particularly the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In its preamble, the United Nations Charter expresses our collective determination to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. This statement formed a basis for the Millennium Declaration in 2000 and our renewal of those commitments at last year’s World Summit. All of the outcomes of previous conferences and summits reflect the recognition of our collective interests and responsibilities in addressing the common problems affecting humankind. Today, there is no greater danger threatening humanity than extreme poverty.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)
“I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, at this sixty-first session of the General Assembly. Each year the General Assembly provides an excellent opportunity for us to review our collective commitments as reflected in the Charter, as well as more recent ones such as those set out in the Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome. We therefore view the beginning of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly as an opportunity to breathe new energy into our collective responsibilities articulated at previous conferences and summits.”
2006-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 61 (2006)