UN General Assembly
2003

sanctions, if not properly measured and without time limits, will only increase people’s poverty, particularly that of women, the elderly and children. Such sanctions provide, therefore, fertile ground for disorder and anarchy. The Assembly must, therefore, think about this question more deeply. Our faith in peace and security is reflected in the concrete results of a bold and visionary economic policy, which is carried out untiringly, despite adverse times. This conviction is also justified by the fact that peace and social cohesion remain, undoubtedly, the basic factors, without which any socio-economic development would be carried out ineffectively and with only illusory results. Peace and security are, therefore, priorities for all countries, whether they are in Africa or elsewhere in the world. At the African level, the head of State of Togo is very engaged in the process of conflict settlement. By way of example, let me recall prior outstanding and effective mediation efforts in which he played a role in settling crises that have afflicted Chad, Sierra Leone, the Great Lakes region, Guinea-Bissau and, most recently, Côte d’Ivoire.