YouSaid · the spoken record

Robert Dussey

lines on the record: 81
first: 2014-09-24
most recent: 2023-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
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

“After unprecedented formats of our General Assembly, following the constraints related to the coronavirus disease pandemic, we are again gathered here under the same roof to calmly debate the problems that disrupt the life of our world. The objective is to restore our common Organization to its fundamental values and principles, which have been severely tested by geopolitical rivalries, the temptation to dominate, national withdrawal and conflicts. I would therefore like to welcome the theme chosen to guide the general debate of this session: “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”. But before I continue, allow me to extend to the President of the General Assembly at its seventy- seventh session my warmest congratulations on his election and our best wishes for success.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“That noble regional organization, through the facilitation of Ghana and Guinea, has helped the Togolese political class agree on the joint composition of the Independent National Electoral Commission with a view to the scheduled holding of legislative elections on 20 December 2018. The late former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, who passed away last month and to whom we pay a well-deserved and grateful tribute for his admirable commitment to the service of peace in the world, said on 24 September 2001: “The only route that offers any hope of a better future for all humanity is that of cooperation and partnership” (A/56/PV.7, p. 2). Together we will be able to build the world that we want to leave to future generations.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In that regard, Togo is resolutely pursuing its constitutional and institutional reform process with a view to consolidating democratic gains and guaranteeing rights and freedoms for all. In that perspective, the Government has launched efforts to find a definitive and lasting solution to the political misunderstandings that we have experienced in recent months, by continuing to bring together the political class and civil society to share views on the common challenges and objectives of peace and social and human progress. In the spirit of regional solidarity, ECOWAS has been helping Togo to overcome its political difficulties.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The recently adopted national development programme, which is consistent with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, ECOWAS Vision 2020 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, aims to structurally transform the national economy for sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth. Togo is working to improve the quality of life of its citizens and to contribute, alongside the United Nations, to reducing pockets of insecurity in our changing world. In that regard, I would like to express my gratitude to the development partners that have already come forward to support my country in that ambitious and burdensome task. Sustainable development also promotes the development of human rights. The establishment of a fair and free society depends on the building of a peaceful and secure world.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Although my country welcomes the consultations held throughout this year, which have enabled States and groups to make proposals and enrich the discussions, there is reason to wonder about the outcome of the negotiation process, which has obviously been stalled for 28 years. At the national level, Togo’s action is part of the shared commitment of States Members of the United Nations to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Government’s main objective is to make Togo a middle-income country that is economically, socially and democratically stable and open to the world’s demands.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In order for the United Nations to assert its leadership and play its role effectively and fully as a guarantor of international peace and stability, it is essential to continue and complete the Security Council reform process. The reform of the Organization will be complete only if it also involves the reform of the Security Council. The new approach is based on a shared vision of responsibilities and recommends that solutions to international peace and security problems should be the prerogative of all States Members of the United Nations. In that way, the expanded Security Council would, in the interest of equitable representation and the involvement of all regions of the world, contribute to making the Council more effective in fulfilling its important mission.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In that regard, the Togolese Government welcomes the holding of the first Joint Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States on Peace, Security, Stability and the Fight against Terrorism and Violent Extremism, in Lomé, on 30 July, during Togo’s term as Chairman-in-Office of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS. That meeting, the first of its kind on the continent, organized at the initiative of the two subregions, made it possible to create a framework for exchanges on preventive and operational conditions for the preservation and maintenance of a lasting peace in the common space of the two communities.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“As a member of the African Union Peace and Security Council, we believe that further cooperation between United Nations peacekeeping structures and the operational mechanisms of the African Union and the subregions is an urgent necessity. The resolution adopted by the General Assembly last June during the biennial review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy reminds us of that imperative (resolution 72/284).”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“On the issue of international peace and security, our priority today is to strengthen international cooperation in peacekeeping operations and in the fight against terrorism. We must redouble our efforts to end conflicts, especially in Africa and many other parts of the world. This is an opportunity to pay tribute to, and acknowledge the true value of, the leading role that the United Nations has always played in the world through its various peacekeeping missions, the majority of which, unfortunately, involve the African continent. It is my pleasure to welcome in passing the Peace Agreement reached between the parties to the crisis in South Sudan and to plead for the implementation of the commitments made for a political and definitive solution to the ongoing conflict in that country.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In the case of Africa, where development problems are acute, Governments have become aware of the need to accelerate the regional integration process in order to pool development efforts and poverty-reduction strategies, as recommended under the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals. Several initiatives are currently under way to further strengthen that integration. In that regard, Togo welcomes the appointment of its President, His Excellency Mr. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, by his peers to lead the project to establish the Single African Air Transport Market, which is an important instrument for the continent’s economic integration. The effort to mobilize States to sign that solemn undertaking is ongoing, with a view to creating such a market.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In that regard, the Togolese Government urges all stakeholders to give priority to the participatory approach and the logic of consensus in the ongoing negotiation process and to work with determination towards the adoption, at the Marrakech Conference on 10 and 11 December 2018, of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration. The General Assembly will certainly agree with me that the emergence of the peaceful, equitable, prosperous and sustainable societies that we all want cannot become a tangible reality unless priority is given to effective, innovative and mutually beneficial partnership mechanisms. To that end, the United Nations should, in order to play its full coordinating role, rely more on regional and subregional organizations in the fields of international peace and security and development.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Unfortunately, Africa is now home to hotbeds of terrorism in some of its regions and countries, where people who legitimately aspire to peace of mind face daily acts of barbarism that feed on violent extremism, religious ignorance and intolerance, and ideological fanaticism. Poverty persists in Africa, and African populations are seeking well-being. The consequences of climate change are terrible, and migration is decimating a significant part of Africa’s young people and making them vulnerable. The current challenges relating to the difficult issue of migration and the human tragedies it generates appeal to our conscience and sense of collective responsibility and call for appropriate and sustainable responses.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“With regard to the management pillar of the ongoing reform, we are pleased to note that the major changes envisaged correspond to the need to improve the Organization’s internal management methods by simplifying procedures, decentralizing action and investing in people in order to better meet the requirements of sustainable development and for building a peaceful world. Investing in people means taking a stand for development and peace in the world. In short, the reform we are talking about today aims to make the United Nations more dynamic and capable. The current global challenges call for the strengthening of the operational capabilities of the United Nations. The challenges facing Africa today are immense. Our continent continues to face new forms of crises and difficulties.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The aim is to reorient the system with significant adjustments focusing on skills, leadership, coordination and accountability mechanisms. This new restructuring of development mechanisms must also aim at the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The challenges of climate change are vital, and our response must not wait. Obviously, in our response to the challenges of climate change, a significant place must be given to the promotion of partnerships and innovative mechanisms for financing development, in accordance with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The ongoing reform should reposition the United Nations development system to adapt it to the new requirements associated with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in order ultimately to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and push back the boundaries of objective poverty and domestic and global inequality. The United Nations must do more to help address the world’s lack of development. One more step in the war on the development deficit will help our world to lift entire segments of the world’s population out of the misery of their position and condition, and restore their autonomy and power of control over their own lives. The Organization’s new development system must accommodate the need to build a world in which each country enjoys sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The reform initiative is focused on restructuring the peace and security pillar, which will help to make the institution more pragmatic and effective. The link between peace, security and development is well established. Without peace and security, there can be no sustainable development, nor development of any kind nor the building of resilient and sustainable societies. The new United Nations peace and security architecture must therefore be intrinsically linked to the broader development pillar, which includes respect for and promotion of human rights and the strengthening of humanitarian action.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“As a centre for the exercise of collective responsibility on a global scale, the United Nations must update the way in which it is organized and functions if it is to effectively play its role as an institution in the service of the human community. The time has come, in the words of the philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn, for a paradigm shift. I would like to reiterate my country’s support for and commitment to the Secretary-General’s initiative for the far-reaching reform of the Organization, which has the merit of being based on an open and inclusive process that takes into account the three main institutional pillars of the United Nations system: peace and security, development and the management structure.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“I would like to welcome the relevance of the choice of the theme for this session, which draws the attention of all of us to a challenge that is essential, because it is fundamental: decentralizing the exercise of responsibilities at the United Nations level in order to bring the Organization into line with the realities of a plural and multipolar world. Taking that into account will undoubtedly broaden the basis of the legitimacy and effectiveness of the United Nations in the world. United Nations reform is less a wish than a logical necessity. The world has evolved; new problems and actors have emerged; the planet itself is now suffering; violent extremism and terrorism threaten the world; and new forms of responsibility have emerged.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“At the outset, I extend the warm congratulations of His Excellency Mr. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, President of the Togolese Republic, to the President of the General Assembly on her well-deserved election to preside over the Assembly at its seventy-third session. I also assure her of the support of my country, Togo. At the same time, I would like to pay a well-deserved tribute to Mr. Miroslav Lajčák for the masterful leadership he showed during his term as President of the General Assembly at the previous session. I am also particularly pleased to commend the sense of human affairs and practical wisdom of the Secretary-General António Guterres. We appreciate his clearly expressed commitment and daily work in support of the principles and values of the Organization, which we share.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We launch an urgent appeal to the bodies of the United Nations system and to States to be more concerned about the fate of our populations, in particular, those in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, by supporting our efforts to save the infected and prevent the spread of the disease, which knows no boundaries. I hope that the common values that we share and affirm resonate well beyond the confines of diplomatic negotiations and that daily find direct and clear expression in places where peace, security and shared prosperity are tangibly enjoyed.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Those are prerequisites not only for social peace but also for economic development. I cannot conclude my statement without reminding the Assembly of the great peril to human survival threatening the entire African continent, and West Africa in particular, with the outbreak of the Ebola virus. In that regard, I would like to welcome the Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2177 (2014), which describes the disease as a threat to international peace and security. Recognizing the importance of human capital in development work, my country welcomes efforts by multilateral and bilateral actors to stem the epidemic.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“The daughters and sons of Togo have now chosen to build the future in a climate of peace and national harmony. Election after election, Togolese democracy is being built and strengthened through dialogue and consultation. It is being established with functioning institutions, with the support and vigilance of a determined civil society and all citizens, who are more aware than ever of the remaining challenges to overcome in terms of democracy. The plan for our society, which is mobilizing Togo, seeks above all to make the country an active and responsible member of the international community, determined to work hand in hand with other nations, so as to systematically thwart the conduits of tension, break the cycle of violence everywhere and prevent entrenched insecurity.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Togo seeks to play a leading role in providing, with the support of all like-minded partners, a framework to implement measures that have been recommended on various occasions to make the African coast a key space for international trade, free of organized predators, who instil fear along our coasts. With regard to the promotion of peace, stability and security in our countries, the deteriorating situation in the Central African Republic, Libya, South Sudan, Syria, Palestine, Ukraine and elsewhere in the world is of the gravest concern to us owing to the harmful consequences. Such repercussions are likely to call into question the very existence of those countries and to destroy their precious development efforts. My country, Togo, has recovered stability. It is moving forward towards a new horizon with renewed confidence.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“However, it is important that such efforts continue and strengthen and that the international community spare no effort in supporting the affected African countries, just as it has mobilized to counter the spread of terrorism in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the world. Beyond the effective control of borders, in vast geographical areas such as the Sahel, which in recent years has mobilized the international community to fight against terrorism, it is, in our view, equally essential to further secure our coasts in order to eradicate, with the same determination, maritime piracy. In that spirit, mindful of the stakes involved, Togo took the initiative to host an international conference on maritime security and economic development in Africa in Lomé in 2015 under the auspices of the African Union.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Unfortunately, another factor that further threatens the survival of States and their development efforts is terrorism. In Africa, for example, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab frequently carry out acts that destabilize brother countries, such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Somalia and Kenya. Nevertheless, my country welcomes the joint efforts of the international community, which helped to thwart the armed terrorist groups, in particular in Somalia and Mali. We truly appreciate the efforts of the French Government to remain engaged in the Sahel region so as to continue the fight against terrorists alongside African countries in Operation Barkhane.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Launched in April, that initiative is based on a participatory approach. It should ultimately, with the accelerated growth and job creation strategy, allow my country to better ensure its achievement of the MDGs and the post-2015 development agenda, which we wholeheartedly desire. I would like to thank the entire United Nations system and all the countries that have helped us to achieve the progress made. The situation of chronic instability prevailing in Africa today, in particular in the Sahel-Sahara region, is of concern. With its experience as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, on which it served in 2012 and 2013, my country, Togo, is now more certain than ever that our agenda for peace and the new architecture for international security must reflect the new situation of the regionalization of conflicts.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Moreover, the Government has stepped up its adaptation efforts to curb the impact of climate change, in particular, with regard to disasters caused by economic imbalance, which undermines the well-being of our citizens. Our country is actively strengthening the institutional mechanism for disaster management. Togo has increased its contribution to the protection of world heritage and to international security through significant efforts in its resolute fight against the trafficking of protected species, as evidenced by the neutralization of several networks and the seizure of large quantities of ivory. The forward-looking vision of Togo as a country able to ensure and take ownership of its development in all respects has led the Government to initiate Vision Togo 2030.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“In the field of agriculture, Togo continues to develop the National Agricultural Investment and Food Security Programme. Its implementation has led not only to satisfactory results in the context of food self- sufficiency but also to agricultural surpluses for several crop years, particularly that of 2013/14. In terms of health, encouraging results have been achieved in reducing the maternal and infant mortality rates and in combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. With regard to the preservation of the environment and improvement in living conditions, robust actions have significantly increased the level of access to sanitation and clean water.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“In recent years, the incidence of poverty has in fact been reduced by three points in Togo. That trend is supported by an improvement in the business climate that provides good prospects for increasing the success of the job creation programmes being implemented in the country for the benefit of young people. In that regard, we note, among other elements, the positive impact as a result of conducting several job creation and grass-roots development programmes. In the same spirit, we have established the National Fund for Inclusive Finance, whose goal is to make financial services accessible to the most vulnerable people, in particular women, who are generally excluded from access to credit from traditional financial institutions.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“Indeed, it is undeniable that defining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been beneficial to humankind. While not all of those goals will be achieved by all our States, our commitment to working together to attain them has enabled us to make notable progress towards each of the Goals throughout the world. The new development agenda should therefore provide States with an appropriate road map that takes into account the diversity and complexity of situations and developments resulting from the experience gained in implementing the MDGs. For its part, the Togolese Government remains determined and mobilized to continue and to scale up the necessary efforts in the context of a new post-2015 development programme with a view to a more tangible reduction in the level of poverty in our country.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)
“I would like to extend to the President, on behalf of the people and Government of Togo, as well as on my own behalf, our warmest congratulations on his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session. I would also like to take this opportunity to reiterate to the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, my country’s sincere congratulations on and encouragement for his efforts to enable our Organization to meet the challenges facing our world. By giving the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly the theme “Delivering on and implementing a transformative post-2015 development agenda”, the President wished to remind Member States of their responsibility to spare no effort in defining, as we look ahead in the context of the post-2015 period, a development agenda commensurate with the challenges facing the world.”
2014-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 69 (2014)