JEAN-CLAUDE GAKOSSO, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Francophonie and Congolese abroad of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that dealing with a “deadly spiral of overlapping crises and dangerous conflicts” together with existential challenges — the climate crisis, crippling debt burdens and the apocalyptic spectre of nuclear war — will require our human wisdom.  He noted that all these challenges “reflect the irrepressible desire of some of us to dominate absolutely and to possess absolutely”, which should be eradicated completely.  “Our world is in dire need of rediscovering peace.  Otherwise, it is rushing towards its own perdition,” he warned, noting that peace is not an option, but an imperative, which “falls upon all of us”.  In this context he highlighted the mediation efforts in Libya, led by President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso on behalf of the African Union, which will soon culminate in the signing of a reconciliation charter and lead to free democratic elections.

Turning to multilateralism, he underscored that the Security Council “must reflect our modern cosmopolitan world through a more just representation of the world’s peoples”.  “The time has come for Africa to take its rightful place in the community of nations, to enter history from the front door and to eradicate medieval prejudices and obsolete stereotypes about Africa,” he stressed, demanding two seats among the permanent members of the Security Council with veto rights.  Highlighting the existential threat of climate change, he urged taking action “here and now”.  To this end, he emphasized the importance of universal reforestation as part of a broader strategy, which his delegation has presented as a draft resolution.

On the protracted blockade of Cuba, he said it has caused “unthinkable suffering to the innocent people” and called on the United States to turn the page on the painful history and abolish this “lingering phantom of the cold war”.  In conclusion, he expressed hope for “the emergence of a peaceful humanity that turns its back on war and death” and which tirelessly combats “endemic poverty, which is ravaging developing countries, which is a real cancer upon our global society, which is one of the root causes of the frustration and violence, which is darkening the horizons of hope”.