Robert Komlan Edo Dussey, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Togolese Abroad of Togo, commended the Secretary-General’s efforts to revitalize the UN, whose effectiveness is threatened by the return of unilateralism and the law of force.  “In an international context of extreme confusion, where everything is upside down, it is not easy to be Secretary-General of the United Nations,” he said.  “That is why Togo gives you its full support.”  He then detailed his country’s significant progress in recent years as it implemented the Global Goals.  “The Government has made the 2030 Agenda not just a reference framework, but the true compass of public policies,” he said.

More than 70 per cent of the SDG targets are now integrated into national strategies, particularly through the Government’s 2020-2025 roadmap, he said.  This roadmap is based on four essential pillars:  social, economic, environmental and governance.  Citing examples, he said 90.7 per cent of the country had geographical accessibility to healthcare in 2023, up from 19.3 per cent in 2020; and 86 per cent of the people had access to drinking water in 2024, up from 26 per cent in 2020.  Yet, while Togo modernizes and looks confidently to the future, “the efforts made in this way are not immune to the terrorist threats that weigh on the Sahel and the whole of West Africa”, he added.

Noting the African Union’s 2025 theme is "Justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparations”, he added:  “There is a bitter thirst for justice on the African continent.”  The continent seeks reparations for four centuries of the transatlantic slave trade and decades of colonialism.  The Second Africa-CARICOM Summit reaffirmed these countries’ determination to use their partnership to seek reparative justice for Africans and people of African descent.  He invoked slavery and colonialism to build a future of justice and equality for all. He also called for Africa’s depiction on world maps to be corrected to represent its full size, stressing: “Geography must be decolonized”. The United Nations should use its credibility to describe the transatlantic slave trade, colonization, slavery and deportation not only as crimes against humanity, but — and above all — as genocide against the peoples of Africa.