11947645363707 (1).doc - Page 0 THE GAMBIA Check Against...

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THE GAMBIA
Check Against Delivery
STATEMENT
BY
HER EXCELLENCY AJA DR. ISATOU NJIE-
SAIDY
VICE PRESIDENT
THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA
AT THE
GENERAL DEBATE
OF THE
62 ND SESSION OF THE
UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Statement by H.E. Aja Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy
Vice-President
The Republic of The Gambia
General Debate - 62 nd Session of the UNGA
27 th September 2007

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NEW YORK
27
TH
SEPTEMBER 2007
Mr. President ,
Let me at the outset congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election to the
Presidency of the General Assembly, and to reassure you of The Gambia’s full support
and cooperation during your tenure in office. Let me also use this opportunity to
express our appreciation of the excellent manner in which the outgoing President of
the General Assembly, Her Excellency Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa managed the affairs of
the Assembly over the 61 st Session.
My delegation would also like to use this opportunity to once more congratulate our
new Secretary General, H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon on his assumption of his leadership of
the UN. The Gambia is particularly delighted that Mr. Ban Ki-moon had the
opportunity to address the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the AU
during his meeting in Banjul in July 2006. His subsequent election can only be a
source of pride and delight for us.
We also wish to commend him for the initiative he took to convene a high-level event
two days ago, on a subject that is of great concern to all nations and peoples of the
world – climate change. All the salient issues surrounding this phenomenon have
been brought to the fore. It is now our fervent hope that action will be taken to
address them in a most timely manner.
Mr. President,
The mid-term review of the Millennium Declaration two years ago indicates that the
Millennium Development Goals are far from being attained in most of the developing
world. This notwithstanding, for us in The Gambia, our commitment to the MDGs is
unwavering. The overarching policy objective of the Government, under the
leadership of His Excellency the President of the Republic of The Gambia Alhaji Dr.
Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, is to reduce poverty and achieve all the MDGs. We have just
concluded a Second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper which clearly sets out our
policy framework for achieving growth and poverty reduction despite our meager
Statement by H.E. Aja Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy
Vice-President
The Republic of The Gambia
General Debate - 62 nd Session of the UNGA
27 th September 2007

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resources and endowments, and despite the failure of several partners to fulfill their
pledges of aid, debt relief, and market access for African countries. The same mid-
term reviews showed that the commitments that were made in many fora by the
international community in support of the MDGs in poor countries have not translated
into real resource flows into these countries. We therefore call on the international
community to rededicate itself to the provisions of the Monterrey Consensus, and the
Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. In this regard, my delegation welcomes the
panel of eminent personalities established by the former British Prime Minister, Mr.