UN General Assembly
1996

Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa, the Government of Benin held a national forum from 20 to 22 August 1996 which was the starting point for the process of drawing up its national programme of action to combat desertification through a partnership of Government, local populations, non-governmental 15 organizations, development associations, the private sector and development partners. I should like to take this opportunity to thank the interim secretariat of the Convention and, above all, the Government of Germany and the United Nations Development Programme, whose technical and financial support proved decisive in the holding of this successful forum. It is regrettable that five years after it was launched, the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s has not had the expected impact on the development of Africa even though the priorities our States opted for were largely in line with its objectives, including in the area of democratic and macroeconomic reforms. This is why Benin welcomes the launching by the Secretary-General on 15 March 1996 of the United Nations