While the current session of the United Nations General Assembly has opened in a context marked by turmoil, Paul Biya, the President of Cameroon said on Thursday morning there are nevertheless some “bright spots and glimmers of hope,” including the adoption by Member States of landmark agreements on climate change, development financing and sustainable development.

Welcoming the decision to focus on implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as the theme of this year’s general debate, President Biya said that under that ambitious framework, “our common goals is to eradicate poverty and leave no one behind. This is a challenge we have set for ourselves and which we must take up together […] to answer the calls of both our people and history.

At the same time, he recalled that the international community had in the past adopted similarly promising agendas and action plans that had raised the world’s hopes, only to see the multilateral system fail to meet expectations when the agreed actions were only partially implemented.

“Let us get organized and make sure the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) fair better; since the Agenda is transformational, let us rally to meet our ambitions,” Mr. Biya continued, urging constant political will that does not “wax and wane” with changing circumstances; the mobilization of sufficient resources; and ensuring the requisite solidarity.

In this way, the international could achieve the Global Goals which will lead to ‘the world we want,’” he said, emphasizing: “This is no longer a time for promises; this is the time for commitment; this is a time for action.”

Noting that wider efforts to achieve the Global Goals would indeed meet serious obstacles, President Biya cited terrorism as a specific challenge for his county. Indeed, it is in “a veritable war” against the scourge.

Combatting terrorism, he said, requires “a collective response, collective determination and collective action,” in line with the targets of SDG 16, which focuses on the promotion and advent of peaceful and inclusive societies, and should serve as a guide for helping to strengthen Cameroon and the wide region by assisting with building capacity at all levels to effectively fight to confront Boko Haram and combat other criminal activity.

“The outcomes of previous agendas and programmes have shown us the urgent need to find wherewithal to achieve our ambitions. If we decide, here and now, to effectively and concretely mobilize our immense resources, and if we decide to devote them to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, then [they] will truly become the push to transform today's world into [one] of peace and shared prosperity,” Mr. Biya concluded.

In his remarks, Patrice Athanase Guillaume Talon, the President of Benin, also welcomed the theme of the general debate, saying the subject of SDG implementation is timely and necessary. Indeed, the world has always managed to mobilize and organize itself when confronted with immense challenges or faced with global threats, such as climate change.

“Our world, as open as it is today, will more than ever suffer from the consequences of poverty, in particular the migration movements, unruly and destabilizing as they are, if nothing is done. Mass poverty has now become a major threat to humanity,” he said that with the same determination that led the world to adopt the Paris Agreement on climate change, “it has become urgent to put in place a global programme to eradicate mass poverty.”

With this in mind, Mr. Talon called on the most developed countries and the development finance institutions to implement a strong collective action plan with a view to eradicating poverty, which he said is dangerously side-lining most African countries.

“The international community has the capacity and has recently proved so when preventing Greece and Ukraine from collapsing. Efforts made to that end did not ruin the countries or the institutions that mobilized themselves for this rescue operation,” he said, stressing that quickly and efficiently eradicating poverty and underdevelopment in Africa world require “the same will but not necessarily more means.”

Acknowledging that African countries will of course need to take their part of responsibility by doing more for political stability and above all, good governance, he noted that Benin is taking relevant action in that regard. “One can add to this nearly half a century of political stability, as well as a mature democracy; all these elements give Benin the capacity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, provided the country receives adequate support,” he concluded.

For his part, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, President of Burkina Faso, said that achieving real sustainable development requires the international community to eradicate poverty and fight inequality. His country had developed a national plan to integrate the goals of the 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. In Burkina Faso’s endeavour to efficiently implement those goals, his Government knew that it could count on the active solidarity of all.

Terrorist attacks and unprecedented violence have manifested as a worldwide scourge, he said, and continued by acknowledging the memories of all victims of terrorism. “Our fight will only bear fruit if we destroy the rear-guard and manage to cut the supply source of terrorism,” he continued. That should be done parallel to managing the root causes of terrorism: injustice, exclusivism and poverty.

Peace, security and development are monumental challenges for the world, and Africa in particular, he said. His Government welcomed the progress made in the region, although hotbeds and flashpoints remain.

The security situation in northern Mali continues to cause great concern, requiring a strengthened mandate for UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSMA) and the implementation of the rapid intervention force of the Group of Five Sahel, known as the G-5 Sahel. South Sudan and Somalia are other countries that had to “close the chapter on violence”. Furthermore, his country reiterated its appeal for a political solution to the conflict in Western Sahara.

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UN 2030 Agenda and climate accord must ‘transform peoples’ lives’ – Rwandan President

Recalling that over the past year, the United Nations concluded landmark agreements on sustainable development and climate change, and renewed its commitment to work together to combat violent extremism, Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, told the General Assembly on 22 September 2016 that these are the most serious issues before the international community “and our efforts offer the prospect of transforming our world as a whole, rather than just part of it.”

“After all, the progress of one country was closely linked to the progress of every other, and we all have a role to play,” told the Assembly’s annual general debate, adding: “Now is the time for implementation.”

The international community could stay on course if it recognized that the ultimate purpose of all these efforts is to transform the lives of real people by enhancing their well-being, safety, and access to opportunity. Member States should also realize the importance on building on lessons learned, especially ensuring that such goals and targets are inclusive, particularly of women. “If they are not reaching their potential then none of us are,” President Kagame said, expressing pride that he has joined the HeForShe campaign and encouraged others to support it.

He went on to stress that access to technology must be part of the strategy for achieving all the global goals, he said. Everyone in the world needs access to high speed Internet. Rwanda has seen the importance of forging meaningful partnerships with the private sector to improve the speed and scale of delivery. Rwanda was pleased to host the new Sustainable Development Government Centre for Africa.

Real continuity between the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and the other frameworks that guides the international community’s collective action is necessary, he stressed. “These agreements are not slogans or fashions, but hard-won statements of global consensus,” he added.

Next month, more than 1,000 delegates would gather in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, to consider a ground-breaking amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Already one of the most successful international agreements, the 30-year old Montreal Protocol now affords the international community the opportunity to take a significant step forward in implementing the one-year-old Paris Agreement on climate change. Rwanda urged all Member States to join it in passing those important measures.

“The world is changing for the better,” he continued. The preservation of international peace and security depends on maintaining a shared vision of the desired outcomes for the world. This accounts for the continued relevance and durability of the UN. The international community’s collective responsibility for the rights and welfare of refugees and immigrants needed to be seen in that light, and the issue needed to be addressed with consistency and compassion at all times.