🇨🇲Lejeune Mbella MbellaCameroon · UNGA 81 speech

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, His Excellency Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon, has bestowed upon me the immense honor of representing him in this encounter for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and to deliver the following statement on his behalf. I quote, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, heads of state and government, ladies and gentlemen, heads of delegation, Mr. Secretary-General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to begin by warmly congratulating you on behalf of Cameroon for your election to the presidency of this 81st session of the General Assembly. Your eminent skill as a diplomat, your knowledge, and your wealth of experience when it comes to United Nations issues, as well as your vision, the vision that you proposed for our organization, are a good omen for the success of our work. The delegation of Cameroon, through my voice, would like to assure you that you have our total and full cooperation to ensure that your mandate is a resounding success. I would also like to welcome the work of your predecessor, Madam Annalena Baerbock. of the Federal Republic of Germany for the commitment and dynamic energy that she brought to her mission, and this is remarkable, in a particularly turbulent period for the international arena. Finally, I would like to avail myself of this occasion to reiterate to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, Cameroon's sincere esteem for his constant commitment to the ideals, purposes, and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as for his efforts and the remarkable results that have characterized his two consecutive mandates as Secretary-General of our Organization. We would like to welcome his courage and his tenacity in a context that oftentimes has been difficult. He is preparing to leave his important post in a few months, and at this time, Cameroon would like to thank him for his unswerving commitment to the United Nations, and we pay him a vibrant tribute for the magnitude of his legacy. Mr. President, you decided to select as a theme for this session, Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation for a United Nations that Delivers for All. Cameroon appreciates the relevance of this theme and its pertinence for our current context. We are, in effect, facing together three needs that cannot be teased apart. First, restoring trust among states. Second, ensuring there is reconciliation among peoples and nations with multilateral institutions. And third, working so that recent technological progress benefits all humanity. We are living in a time where the progress of science and technology have allowed for useful knowledge to flourish, such as the emergence of artificial intelligence in order to overcome the multiple challenges that humanity is facing. In recent decades, we have adopted agreements in different areas, and we continue to create the conditions for a world that is more just, a world where we can all live in peace and security. Despite our efforts, nevertheless, wars and conflicts of all kinds persist. The arms race is intensifying. Humanitarian catastrophes, selfishness, and intolerance are increasingly present. And with impotence, we watch the deterioration of international solidarity and multilateralism, as we see the appearance and strengthening of different blocks that are in confrontation when certain challenges antagonize their specific interests. President, the time has come to return to the spirit and the very basics of the United Nations Charter. At the same time, climate change is worsening and constitutes a concern at a planetary scale. Floods, droughts, and wildfires are recurring and do not spare any region in the world. These climate events prevent many populations from benefiting from the marvelous technological progress that we have made. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, in this situation, it is our collective duty to work together in order to overcome these challenges and effectively respond to the expectations of our peoples. And the United Nations offers us, in this case, an ideal framework to engage in discussions and find compromises, find consensus, in order to seek solutions to these challenges that concern all of us. Cameroon is firmly committed to this path and we support the UN80 initiative as well as any other initiative that could contribute to strengthening cooperation and international solidarity. Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The deadline for Agenda 2030 is fast approaching and we are able to observe that despite remarkable efforts, there is still a ways to go in order to reach the SDGs that we all chose for ourselves. and the resources to reach the Sustainable Development Goals are nevertheless available throughout the world and therefore we must improve the conditions to access them and use these resources. This is why financing for development should not be considered as some kind of alms or kindness It is an investment in stability, shared prosperity and collective security. For this reason, Cameroon calls for the diligent and comprehensive implementation of the commitments made in Seville in July of 2025 on the issue of financing for development, and this specifically implies engaging in the necessary reforms of the international financial architecture and the multilateral financial architecture in order to give countries of the Global South a more fair shot. We should also give new impetus to international trade, industrialization, and transforming raw materials locally as well as strengthening regional integration. And it is this energy that guided the work of the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, WTO, which Cameroon had the privilege of hosting from the 26th to the 29th of March 2026. Cameroon also has the intention of contributing to the full expansion of the African Continental Free Trade Area, the acronym being AfCFTA. We are one of the first countries in the continent who have ratified its statute. in order to strengthen development and trade cooperation among African countries. Moreover, my country reiterates its solidarity when it comes to the African Union's common position for better representation of the African continent in the United Nations Security Council. My country also has the intention of continuing to participate in peacekeeping operations led by the United Nations, as well as training and building capacities of African staff that serve in these operations. And in this regard, I would like to welcome the stellar cooperation that Cameroon has with the United Nations in this area. And I thus reaffirm the determination with which Cameroon will work along with other member states of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. We will continue to fight tirelessly against terrorism, and we will engage in stabilization efforts in areas affected around the Lake Chad region. On a domestic level, the government of my country is working to ensure a return to normality in our northwest and southwest regions. Our government's efforts when it comes to fighting insecurity and social reintegration of those people that are willing to set aside violence are already delivering tangible and observable results on the ground. We should underline that the authorities of Cameroon have continued to multiply and consolidate these results. And I can assure you of Cameroon's constant commitment to solidarity with displaced populations, refugees, and host communities, despite the multitude of limitations that affect these situations. Mr. President, in a world that is increasingly unstable, We have the duty to do everything possible to create conditions that favor peace, security, and stability of our international political environment in order to ensure well-being for everyone. We have the opportunity to do this. Let's work together. Let's put our resources together. in order to overcome these common challenges. Let's do this in order to respond to the incessant calls of our populations who aspire to live in a world of peace, security, and prosperity for current and future generations. I thank you for your very kind attention." End of quote.