UN General Assembly
2002

management of that process. Conflict, poverty, discrimination and injustice still blight the lives of millions in every part of the globe. More than 80 countries now have per capita incomes lower than those of a decade or more ago. Poverty is an offence to the conscience of the modern world. In view of all those considerations, Africa has a special and urgent claim to global engagement and concern. My country supports efforts aimed at alleviating problems that afflict that continent. At this gathering, I wish to salute the birth of the African Union. We hope that Africans will thus be able to work more effectively to attain their goals. In the same vein, Turkey has attributed great importance to the achievement of the goals and principles adopted initially at the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development and compiled under Agenda 21. They have been our guidelines in combating poverty and in protecting the global environment throughout the last decade, which has brought us to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, recently held in Johannesburg.