TIEMOKO MEYLIET KONE, Vice-President of Côte D’Ivoire, representing the country’s President, Alassane Ouattara, noted that current global uncertainty calls for clear-eyed solidarity.  It is time for the international community to ensure that the parties to the conflict in Ukraine commit to a path toward a political settlement of the war.  Beyond the risk of escalation of violence and human rights abuses, this conflict fuels global inflation, causes food shortages and threatens to plunge millions of people into famine.  He further called on the international community to engage alongside Africa in the fight against armed terrorist groups, which are destabilizing entire sections of the continent, from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa.  The fight against terrorism is costly for African countries — particularly for Côte d’Ivoire, which hosts thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries in crisis.  He invited the UN and ECOWAS to examine financing for the anti-terrorism priority action plan, adopted in 2019 yet delayed.

Turning to climate change, he stressed that developing States like Côte d’Ivoire contribute minimally to its effects but pay the heaviest price.  The country is working to improve the sustainable management of natural resources and biodiversity, and encourage its people to develop civic awareness.  He urged partners to continue their support for implementation of the Abidjan Legacy Programme, a hallmark initiative for land restoration, preservation of biodiversity, and responsible agriculture for current and future generations.   Calling on bilateral and multilateral partners to meet their financial commitments under the Paris Agreement, and ensure entry into force of the Loss and Damage Fund, he welcomed the success of the African Climate Summit — and the exceptional mobilization of Africa to make its voice heard at the next 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai.  He emphasized that the violent climatic episodes observed in recent years — the price of climate inaction — erase progress in achieving the SDGs.

Recalling that the COVID‑19 pandemic has revealed the fragility of health systems and slowed down the pace of economic growth in Africa, he urged the international community to draw lessons from the threat that can once again “imperil then entire world”.  To that end, his country has a regime called Universal Health Coverage, which has come into force since October 2019.  In governance, Côte d’Ivoire is shoring up its democratic progress, demonstrated by the smooth operation of recent municipal, regional and senatorial elections organized on 2 and 16 September respectively.  These elections witnessed the participation of all major political groups in the country and took place in a transparent, peaceful climate.  The solidity of the Ivorian economy has allowed the country to considerably reduce the poverty rate, now at 36.5 per cent compared to 56 per cent in 2011, and expected to fall to 20 per cent by 2030.

He further noted that the Government adopted an ambitious social programme, the PS-Gouv, which makes it possible to fight against social vulnerabilities.  Along with successive national development plans, it has allowed the country to improve the state of the SDGs.  However, this social progress is seriously hampered by the massive influx of refugees from neighbouring countries hit by terrorism.  The international community has drawn a universal conclusion, he said.  States are far from being able to achieve the SDGs by 2030.  He therefore stressed the urgency of placing all action within the framework of multilateralism — which is ideal for tackling the global challenges of the moment — and reaffirmed the need to reform global governance at all levels and rediscover the meaning of solidarity between nations.