The Deputy Secretary-General's Address To The Summit Of The African Union On 1st July 2007 in Accra Ghana

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me first thank our hosts, the current Chairperson of the African Union, President Kufuor and the people of Ghana, for their wonderful welcome and generous hospitality. I would also like to pay tribute to the Chairperson of the Commission, His Excellency Mr Alpha Oumar Konare, for the outstanding vision and leadership he continues to provide to this Union.

I bring with me warm regards and best wishes from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who unfortunately could not have been with you today.

It is an honour for me to address Your Excellencies so early on in my capacity as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. I deeply appreciate the strong support you have shown for me and I hope that our collaboration will continue to go from strength to strength.

Summit Theme: Union Government

The focus of discussion at this summit, on the propose Union Government for Africa, is a timely one. It comes at a moment when the Africa Union is re-focusing attending on progress towards its ultimate goal-that of full political and economic integration.

The United Nations is a long-standing supporter of regional integration in Africa. We remain committed to assisting this process. We will continue to do so by helping to identify ways to accelerate integration, by monitoring the progress being made in the various regional economic communities and by supporting efforts to overcoming obstacles to closer union.

I believe it is also healthy for the African Union itself to deliberate on the modalities and pace of integration in Africa. Through this process, Member States will gain a stronger sense of ownership of any eventual agreement that emerges.

In our competitive and increasingly globalised world, it is crucial that we come together to address the challenges facing Africa. Only through close collaboration-first among the African States, but also between Africa and its international partners can we tackle the continent's many challenges and realise its great potential.

We need strong partnerships to reach the time-bound targets in the Millennium Development Goals. We need strong partnerships to resolve and manage Africa's conflicts. And it is through strong partnership that Africa's capacities can be strengthened.

Millennium Development Goals:

On the Millennium Development Goals, I know that the Governments and people of Africa are working hard to overcome the longstanding challenges of poverty. You are doing so through community-based and Nations programmes with the support of the United National system at the country level.

Many African Member States have already made good progress towards reaching the Goals. Often, progress is seen not in continent-wide statistics, but in how the lives of people in specific villages and cities are being directly impacted.

It is manifested through increased agricultural productivity in Malawi's farming communities, as a result of a successful seeds and fertiliser programme. It is measured in the dramatic increases in student enrolment in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda following the abolition of primary school fees and other positive measures in those countries. It is visible in better malaria control in Niger, Togo and Zambia and in increased access to water and sanitation in Senegal. And It is translated into greater access to basic health care services for communities in Burundi, following the introduction of free medical care for mothers and children.

These positive examples and there are many others demonstrate how strong government leadership, good policies and practical strategies, combined with adequate support from the international community, can lead to rapid and large scale progress towards the Goals. Let us draw inspiration from these examples as we work together to improve the lives and livelihoods of people throughout the African continent.

Let us also draw hope from the sustained economic growth experienced in many African countries in recent years. African enterprises are generating stronger domestic investment and productivity gains and many of your countries have made further advances towards transparent and democratic governance.

However, Africa is still lagging behind the rest of the world in achieving our common development objectives. The challenges remain daunting.

• Overall, the number of people living in extreme poverty in Africa is rising, although the increase has levelled off slightly since 1999.
• Child mortality rates have fallen, but only marginally to 166 per 1,000 live births. This is nowhere near the objective of a two-thirds reduction by 2015.
• Maternal mortality rates remain shockingly high. A woman in Africa has a 1in 16 chance to die in childbirth or from complications in pregnancy, compared with a likelihood of 1 in 3,800 in the developed world.

These stark figures should stir us all to scale up our efforts to achieve the Goals. This year marks the midpoint between the adoption of the Goals and the target date of 2015 by which we have committed ourselves to achieve them. That makes it especially important for there to be more resolute efforts and deeper partnerships, to reduce poverty, to address the needs in health, education and other sectors and to promote gender equality.