UN General Assembly
1999

incentives for our efforts to diversify and modernize our 31 economies. What we need in this age of globalization is a genuine solidarity pact. This new partnership with Africa should set out to enable all African countries to enjoy the benefits of globalization. This implies mobilizing and pooling the efforts of the whole international community, inspired by the same vision of a common destiny and a new philosophy of sharing. That vision of development prompted the Government of Benin to host, in February 1999 in Cotonou, a conference of United Nations Development Programme Resident Representatives working in Africa to consider the problems of development in Africa in the coming millennium. The conference identified the major problems that African countries face at the close of the twentieth century: social and political upheaval; poverty; problems of access in meeting essential social needs; population pressure; the debt burden; and economic marginalization, among others. The conference also highlighted the assets and potential of the continent: significant natural and human resources; cultural wealth; a spirit of sharing; and a sense of solidarity.