Permanent Representative to the UN, New York Paul Badji of Senegal
Paul Badji is the Ambassador to the United Nations for Senegal.
Badji was First Counsellor in his countrys Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
Badji has represented his country at some 20 regular sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, at the Organization of African Unity (OAU, now the African Union), at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and at numerous international summits, conferences and meetings.
Badji was Senegal's Ambassador to Germany and Austria from January 2002 to December 2003.
Badji was for two years (January 2002 December 2003) Senegals Ambassador to Germany and Austria, with residence in Bonn, as well as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the United Nations Office at Vienna.
Badji is fluent in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese Creole, Jola, Socé and Wolof.
Badji said that the level of violence and bitterness between Palestinians and Israelis was at a very dangerous point.
Badji said the primary goal of the Meeting was to put in sharp focus the magnitude of the problem facing the Palestinian people and the dangers to the peace process posed by the construction of the wall.
Badji expressed hope that the Meeting would also sensitize international public opinion to ways in which the international community could steer the parties out of the present stalemate and towards realizing the vision of two States that would live in peace and security.
Badji said that he was convinced that South Africa would make an extensive contribution to the work of the Council, which was often paralysed, especially on the question of Palestine.
Badji said that the indiscriminate targeting of civilians, whether by Israeli aircraft, tanks or artillery or by Palestinian rocket fire, was a violation of international law and had to be stopped, and he stressed that Israel needed to stop its excessive and indiscriminate use of force and extrajudicial killings and that the Palestinian leadership needed to impose its authority in the territory under its control and ensure compliance with the agreed upon ceasefire in Gaza.
Badji said that the Committee had welcomed the formation of the new Palestinian Cabinet two months ago which, he hopes, would allow the international community to restore much-needed economic and humanitarian assistance.
The closing statement released by committee chairman Paul Badji said emergency assistance alone will not provide for sustainable development of the Palestinian people, adding that basic conditions for economic recovery need to be created without delay.
Paul Badji is Chairman of the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) which sponsors the annual event, and which was created on the same day as the UN.