Mr. Chairman, Ladies,
Honourable ministers,
It is a signal honour for me to bring greetings from the French Republic to this meeting of distinguished personalities who have gathered here on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of the Economic Commission for Africa.
Permit me first of all, Mr. Chairman, to warmly congratulate you on your election and that of the Vice-Chairman and the entire bureau of this conference.
I would like to tell the Executive Secretary of the Commission how much interest the French Government has in the activities of ECA. On a more personal note, I would like to confirm to you, Mr. Executive Secretary, that we will be delighted to receive you shortly in Paris at the invitation of the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of Co-operation and Development.
This eighteenth session of ECA and ninth meeting of the Conference of Ministers af fords France the opportunity of renewing its support for the oldest regional organization that covers the entire African continent. You are aware of the support it is giving to several operational activities of the Commission such as the PADIS project and the Transport and Communications Decade; in this connexion, we will be happy to host the informal round table in a few weeks in Paris. The round table will enable specialists to have a useful ex change of views well before the implementation of the programme of the second phase of the Decade.
Of course, this support extends to all the regional and subregional organizations of the continent, beginning with OAU, and to institutions that hold out promise for development such as ECOWAS, CEAO, the Entente Council, UDEAC and many others; we therefore
extend every wish to the Preferentiaf Trade Area for Eastern and Southern African States
set up last year in Lusaka.
Mr. Chairman,
This ECA Silver Jubilee is also an occasion on which to reflect on the general situation of Africa. The secretariat document entitled "Study of the Socio-Economic Development of Africa, 1958-1983" and several other ECA studies and reports offer stimulating insights inso far as they describe with realism the enormous internal and external difficulties facing the States and people of the continent in this very difficult world at the end of the twentieth cen tury.
How can one fail to be alarmed and frightened in the face of certain trends that have been described without pretence?
The situation of agriculture,and more particularly of food production, is a priority con cern to your Governments and the world community. A few days ago, the Director-General of FAO presented before the Committee on Food Security a very interesting study on the
"new approach" that must be taken in this important matter. We hail the political courage of African Governments which are taking the difficult measures needed to attain self-suf-ficency in food, which measures are helping the peasant — those very rich sources of economic and human potential in both Africa and Europe — to wade their way to progress for their own good and that of the entire national community as well.
The population in most parts of the continent has grown, which is good; but it is a source of concern to the Governments of Africa from the point of view of food, training and employment. We are convinced that they will find the necessary solutions thereto within the framework of their legislation and with due respect for the historical, cultural and religious traditions of their people.
A third of our joint concern relates to deforestation — whether this be of human or
animal origin — which in a few areas at least seems to us to call for the most urgent and strenuous efforts on the part of the States of the international community.
It is not surprising that Africa particularly suffered from the terrible economic situation that prevailed in 1981 and 1982. Although the whole world is affected by the recession, those suffering from the most serious structural difficulties are those who are naturally the most vulnerable. It would be regrettable were the industrialized countries to be tempted to forget this as a result of their preoccupation with their own employment or financial in stability problems.
Yet the enormity of the risks involved must not at all discourage us or cause us to give up. For Africa has shown a clear sign of vitality during these last 25 years by increasing by ten years the life expectancy of each child at birth.
During this period, Mr. Chairman, another fact surfaced which in our view is of a key importance: the spread of economic interdependence, even to North-South relations. This is a fact. Is this a chance happening? France, for its part, recognizes the fact that this surge of interdependence carries with it risks of asymmetry and domination, sometimes to the disad vantage of the countries of the South. It fully understands your aspirations to greater collec tive autonomy as contained in the Lagos Plan of Action the implementation of which is being given pride of place in your concerns and deliberations.
Yes, the need for a new international economic order remains more than ever before a reality which no one can forget.
This need is felt most acutely by have-nots such as the LDCs of which, as was recalled at the opening of this session by His Excellency Mengistu Haile Mariam and the United Na tions Secretary-General, 26 are in the African continent. Of these countries,our Minister of Foreign Affairs said a few days ago: "Who could talk of human rights without mentioning those for whom hope is first the right not to perish, the right not to see their loved one die, the right not to be reduced to the choice between self-debasement and subjection?" France was happy and proud to host in Paris in September 1981 the United Nations conference.
But what is important today is that the New Substantial Programme of Action which is a key step is not a dead letter, even if it is not altogether satisfactory when it describes the situations to be taken into consideration and the efforts that need to be made. France is taking an active part in the round tables which were discussed at the beginning of this week by the third Conference of Ministers of the least developed countries.
It is not surprised at your vigilance with regard to the recent trend in aid to the least developed countries, although in our opinion the absence of conclusive statistical data on the results obtained in 1982 warrants only a tentative judgment for now. On his part, when the President of the Republic recently received the United Nations Secretary-General and the heads of the agencies of the United Nations family meeting within the Administrative Co ordination Committee, he reiterated the commitment we entered into during the Paris Con ference to increase in 1985 to the equivalent of 0.15 per cent of our gross national product the aid granted by France to the least developed countries. This is being done within a bilateral and multilateral framework through our contributions to institutions of the European Community (more than a quarter of the European Development Fund), the World Bank Group, the United Nations, IFAD, banks and regional funds, etc. More specifically, the French Government has no intention of letting up on the diplomatic efforts which it has been making for some time now in two areas which, in its judgment, are par ticularly important. It is working to ensure:
(a) that a Stabex-type system of compensatory financing covering losses in export revenue from staple products is extended to all LDCs in their trade transactions with all industrialized countries;
(b) that the sixth and seventh reconstitutions of the resources of the International 176
Development Association — an affiliate of the World Bank — leads ultimately to an increase in its real financial resources.
France also intends to continue in Belgrade its efforts on behalf of the developing
countries during the sixth UNCTAD conference in June. This will be obvious in the
framework of point 12 devoted to LDCs, but will not be limited to it. In particular, wehave studied the Libreville document that was adopted by the preparatory meeting of
African countries. Given the enormous losses suffered by the developing countries in 1981 and 1982 following a deterioration in their terms of trade, we recently made it known to anumber of industrialized countries that we are interested in the quick ratification of the
agreement on the Common Fund so that it can be operational on 1 January next year.Mr. Chairman,
Some industrialized countries that are members of OECD are showing signs of economic recovery, and obviously we are happy. But the French Government has two remarks to make:
(a) in truth, many key parameters such as the degree, extent and duration of this recovery and the trend in the price of oil remain essentially unpredictable;
(b) above all, although economic recovery in the West is a necessary condition for bringing relief to all, it is not by any means a sufficient condition that will cause the difficulties in North-South relations to be resolved as if by a magic wand.
Fundamental problems of all sorts remain. Solutions to problems of disequilibrium that have plagued the developing countries so much must go to the root causes. They include:
(a) the progressive collapse of the international monetary system;
(b) energy problems (the idea of setting up a World Bank affiliate for this purpose has not at all been abandoned);
(c) food security (France has just decided to make a new contribution of 20,000 tonnes to the international emergency food reserve);
(d) the debt problem (without limiting it to countries with access to the international money market);
(e) the resources and policy of the International Monetary Fund and many others.
Only substantial progress in the economic sphere will prove the political will of the in ternational community to extend to the African continent the external support which it is rightly calling for in order to overcome its difficulties.
Moreover, it is not possible to close our eyes to the interactions between political and economic problems. This is why besides economic guidance, France would like to see OAU preserve its unity and overcome its present problems in the shortest possible time. France has taken note with interest and understanding of the statements made at the recent con ference of the Heads of State and Government of the non-aligned countries at New Delhi and of the participants'confirmation of their attachment to the authentic principles of the Movement. Finally, France has just made public, through a statement by its Minister of Foreign Affairs on Monday, 25 April, at the United Nations Conference on Support for the Namibian people struggling for independence, its opinion on the explosive situation that threatens peace in southern Africa, whether this be the reprehensible system of apartheid practised in South Africa or the implementation of Resolution 435 of the Security Council which must not be subjected to undue delays or to unacceptable preconditions.
In this Silver Jubilee year of ECA, I will conclude, Mr. Chairman, by wishing that all of us summon our political courage and sharpen our imagination. It is through concerted effort on the part of African countries and the international community that the door to progress for your entire continent will swing open. And it is through concerted effort that the results achieved by our successors in 25 years will be more glowing than those that were presented to us today.