Curbing Global Crises: President Biya Advocates Deep, Frank Coalition

The Head of State made an appraisal of current universal concerns and outlined proposed solutions during an address at the 72nd UN Ordinary General Assembly on September 22, 2017.

President Paul Biya has joined his voice to that of other world leaders to decry escalating crises that have enveloped the globe. Agreeing with the fact that terrorism, conflicts, cyber criminality, refugee crisis and climate change, leave no continent or country indifferent, the Head of State sounded an alarm bell on persisting poverty, which he qualified as a serious threat. Addressing world leaders at the 72nd UN Ordinary General Assembly in New York on Friday September 22, 2017, President Paul Biya wondered aloud why the world is having difficulty tackling biting poverty accordingly. “The Security Council has most appropriately reiterated that poverty is a serious threat. How then can one understand that we have difficulty tackling it accordingly?” he said. Like other Heads of State who mounted the UN rostrum before him, President Paul Biya underscored that “poverty persists and the gap between rich and poor countries is widening. The situation is exacerbated by the fall in community prices,” he observed. Regrettably, numerous declarations and resolutions hitherto taken, the various United Nations development decades likewise the plan of action and other agendas adopted by the United Nations are not fully effective. Success would have limited the escalation of crises and or cushion their effects. These problems notwithstanding, the Head of State rejoiced that world leaders could focus attention on how to resolve the crises and give man an opportunity to lead a descent life irrespective of where he finds himself on the planet. This, in perfect harmony with the theme of the 72nd Ordinary UN General Assembly, “Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for all on a Sustainable Planet.” He pledged Cameroon’s unalloyed support. President Biya used his close to 15- minute address to therefore appraise the current global trends and more importantly to present what he feels could be the way out. It emerged from his speech that deep and frank global coalition is imperative in the current situation. “Mr President, let us all mobilise in a strong surge of solidarity to roll back poverty. Let us match our actions with our words. In so doing, we will offer conditions for a decent life to our people…, thus focusing on people,” the Head of State told 54-year-old Miroslav Lajcak, President of the 72nd UN General Assembly who invited him to the rostrum at exactly 9 am here (2 pm in Cameroon). The Head of State wished that general debates that brought together over a hundred Heads of State and Government, and especially their outcome should constitute a litmus test of “our commitment to the ideal of the peoples of the Uni...