Myanmar calls during Assembly debate for UN development aid to solve communal fighting

Taking the podium at the General Assembly today, Myanmar called on the United Nations to provide development aid for its troubled Rakhine state, where tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities have affected hundreds of thousands of families.

“In addressing the root cause, we are working for peace, stability, harmony and development of all people in Rakhine State,” Myanmar Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin told the Assembly as it entered the second week of its 69th annual high-level meeting.

“As development is one of the main challenges in Rakhine state, I would also like to invite the international community particularly the United Nations to provide much-needed development assistance there.”

Just last week Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply troubled” by the situation in Rakhine, the country’s second poorest region with a population of more than three million, and he warned that the conditions of vulnerable populations, including those in internally displaced persons camps, remained “precarious and unsustainable.”

On other issues the Minister called for urgent action to address a slew of crises, including climate change which is threatening many developing countries dependent on agriculture, terrorism, the Ebola epidemic and the hurdles that hobble poorer countries as the Assembly begins drawing up the post-2015 agenda for global sustainable development for decades to come.

On his own country’s peaceful transformation from the military Government to a multi-party democratic system, he noted that media freedom is getting more space, the Government is working with all ethnic armed groups to reach a nationwide ceasefire, and there has been steady progress promoting human rights and combating human trafficking.

But, he added: “Since our democracy is still in its infancy, we are facing a multitude of daunting challenges like other countries in transition. The government has a long to-do list with limited capacity.”

Some 196 speakers are expected to have addressed this year's debate, which wraps up tomorrow. Meeting since last Wednesday on the theme of “Delivering on and Implementing a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda,” the speakers include representatives from the 193 UN Member States, as well as the Observer State of the Holy See, the Observer State of Palestine and the delegation of the European Union.