It is with a deep sense of responsibility and great honor that I introduce, on behalf of the Group of African States, the draft resolution entitled: “Correct the Map: Rebalancing the World’s Cartographic Representation and Promoting the Equitable Representation of the Regions of the World, Particularly Africa.”

Allow me, first and foremost, to express the gratitude of the Group of African States, and in particular of my country, Togo, as facilitator, to all delegations for their constant commitment, active participation and constructive contributions throughout the negotiation process. We warmly thank the delegations that took part in the informal consultations and in the many bilateral exchanges conducted in a spirit of attentiveness, openness, mutual respect and compromise. These discussions substantially improved the text and led to a draft that is balanced, inclusive, action-oriented and supported by a broad consensus.

We also thank the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the various delegations, experts, academics, teachers, civil society organizations, and all those who worked with conviction and perseverance to advance this vision.

Madam President,

The history of the United Nations is marked by decisions that have progressively corrected imbalances inherited from the past.

Our Organization has demonstrated its ability to shape international standards as scientific knowledge advances and collective awareness grows and strengthens. Since its inception, it has pursued a fundamental ambition: to enable humanity to better understand itself in order to live better together. Through dialogue, it has contributed to advancing our understanding of issues as diverse as human rights, development, climate, biodiversity, the oceans, outer space, digital technology, and, more recently, artificial intelligence.

Today, the issue of mapping as a cognitive tool deserves our collective attention: How do we represent the world? How do we teach it? How do generations learn to see our planet? These seemingly simple questions nevertheless touch upon how knowledge shapes our perception of reality.

Although it addresses a technical question, the draft resolution submitted for your approval also touches upon major issues of concern to our common Organization: education, knowledge, culture, historical justice and the equitable representation of the regions of the world and their peoples.

For several centuries, certain map projections used in school textbooks, the media, digital platforms and many official documents have not faithfully reflected the actual surface areas of the continents. While these projections served specific technical purposes, notably maritime navigation, their use for general information or educational purposes continues to have a lasting influence on how entire generations perceive the world.

The persistence of these cartographic distortions has, over time, had profound consequences. In particular, it has contributed to symbolically minimizing the size of Africa and several other regions, perpetuating an unbalanced view of world geography. This question therefore goes beyond the strict field of cartography: it concerns cognitive justice, access to accurate geographic knowledge, the dignity of peoples, historical memory and the fight against inherited representations that still influence perceptions.

I want to be perfectly clear:

• this draft resolution is not directed against any State;
• it does not call into question the history of cartography;
• it does not affect the current state of borders;
• it does not condemn any projection, not even the Mercator projection, whose historical usefulness for navigation remains undeniable;
• it explicitly recognizes the diversity of map projections and their specific uses;
• it does not impose any single projection for all uses.

In short, our approach is not directed against any nation, any civilization, or any cartographic tradition. It is guided by a universal ambition: to promote knowledge based on scientific accuracy, respect for truth, and equal dignity for all peoples.

Its ambition is simple: to promote projections that better preserve the true proportions of continents, particularly equal-area projections, including the Equal Earth projection, preferred by the African Union.

Madam President,

The draft resolution, and in particular the reference to the Equal Earth projection, relates exclusively to the proportional representation of continental surface areas. It in no way concerns the delimitation, demarcation, status or recognition of borders, and cannot be interpreted as expressing any political, legal or territorial position whatsoever. Its purpose is strictly cartographic, scientific and educational: to promote a more faithful representation of the relative dimensions of the regions of the world.

The text further encourages Member States, international organizations and other stakeholders to promote more accurate cartographic representations of continental surface areas. It also invites the relevant United Nations entities, regional organizations, academia, research centers and technology actors to cooperate in strengthening national capacities, supporting research and innovation, and assisting developing countries, particularly African countries, in the fields of cartography, geomatics, geodesy and geospatial technologies.

The draft fully respects existing mandates, creates no new financial obligations and proposes no additional institutional mechanism.

Particular attention is given to education in this draft, in that it encourages the integration of critical map education into school curricula, along with the explanation of projection methods, their characteristics, their limitations and their appropriate uses.

Madam President,

For Africa, this resolution carries particular significance.

It contributes significantly to achieving the objectives of the Decade of African Roots and the African Diaspora (2021–2031), of the Second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034), and also of the Final Declaration of the 9th Pan-African Congress concerning the “correction of the disproportionate cartographic representations of the continent,” by helping to secure recognition of Africa’s rightful place on the international stage and to restore the dignity of the continent and its diasporas, through the correction of cartographic distortions inherited from history.

Madam President,

Excellencies, Permanent Representatives,

Delegates,

I now have the honor to submit, on behalf of the Group of African States, this draft resolution for your consideration, and to respectfully call upon all Member States to support its adoption by consensus.

I warmly thank all the Member States that have already co-sponsored the draft resolution. Their commitment strengthens our common endeavor. I invite the others to join us by co-sponsoring the text so that it fully reflects our unity and determination.

Adopting this text would send a strong message: that of a General Assembly committed to scientific truth, to fairness in representation, to the dignity of peoples and to the equality of the regions of the world in humanity’s shared imagination.

By adopting this resolution, we are not merely correcting a map: we are helping to correct a perception. We affirm that knowledge must uplift, not diminish; bring together, not divide; and represent the world in its diversity, its truth and its dignity.

We often affirm that the United Nations must reflect the world as it is. Today, we propose that the maps representing this world also meet that requirement.

For a more accurate representation of the world nourishes a fairer understanding of peoples. And a fairer understanding nourishes respect, the first foundation of peace.