Let me commend the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session, His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Shahid, for his sustained efforts in returning the General Assembly to its pre-pandemic work pace and for his message of hope. Let me also extend my congratulations to you, Mr. Korosi, on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly. I am gratefully optimistic about your leadership in these unprecedented times. I also commend Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for galvanizing the necessary multilateral support in search of solutions to meet the scale and urgency of current global challenges. His timely submission of his report entitled Our Common Agenda (A/75/982), which
speaks to strengthening global governance with a focus on a future agenda driven by multilateral solidarity and collective action, is also commendable. As our world wrestles with an unprecedented and volatile economic outlook resulting from the lingering effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and other crises, the theme of this session, “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”, is most appropriate and timely.
Our progress towards achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 has been complicated by the repurposing of global development and investment finance, disruptions in production and supply chains, growing food and energy insecurity, general slowdowns in the economies of nations and the perennial adverse effects of climate change. I call on the global family to be intentional and fair about developing innovative development financing products that are free from the stringent restrictions and high transaction costs associated with concessionary loans. Multilateral financial institutions can de-risk investments that are critical to sustainable development. Aid must also be aligned with domestic development priorities.
The adverse effects of climate change know no borders. Global warming, unpredictable weather patterns, rising sea levels and land degradation are taking a profound toll on global food and water security. There are associated governance and stability costs. We are informed that Africa faces disproportionate risks and costs from climate change. We must therefore be consistent in meeting our commitments to all existing international frameworks for addressing climate change. Beyond the usual declarations, we must collaborate on and coordinate mitigation efforts, improve infrastructure for early-warning systems, invest more in improving the management of water resources, promote disaster-risk management and enhance the conservation and protection of natural habitats. There are also opportunities, especially in Africa, and Sierra Leone in particular, for just energy and rural agricultural transitions.
Fair and accessible multilateral climate financing can catalyse the global and country-specific measures and innovation necessary to build and support sustainable climate resilience. Green investing can support sustainable development. In such efforts, the roles and interests of women and young people must be central to climate investments. Sierra Leone is fully committed to concluding a treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Among other things, such a treaty must prioritize conservation measures, the fair and equitable sharing of monetary and non-monetary benefits, meaningful capacity development and the transfer of marine technology.
Human capital development is a critical driver of inclusive and sustainable economic development. Sierra Leone has increased domestic financing for education, provided teaching and learning materials and improved education policies and governance. More children and more girls, including pregnant girls, poorer and rural learners and learners with disabilities are now in school. But we can go beyond those access deficits. As co-Chair of the High-level Steering Committee on SDG 4 and a champion of the Transforming Education Summit, which just took place at the beginning of this seventy- seventh session of the Assembly, I urge for concerted global efforts to address the learning crisis. We can mobilize innovative financing models, underwrite universal access, especially for girls and learners with disabilities, promote technology in education, make greater investments in foundational literacy and numeracy, address water, sanitation, hygiene and other infrastructure deficits, support school feeding programmes, fund technical and vocational training and finance other needs across the full spectrum of the education sector. With close cooperation among States, we are confident that we can address the learning crisis in our time.
In order to address the global food crisis, which is disproportionately affecting the least developed countries, Sierra Leone joins the urgent call for action to escalate financing to support agriculture and irrigation and enhance food systems and nutrition for vulnerable populations and social protection for at-risk populations. Sierra Leone also associates itself with calls to ease global supply constraints, especially on fertilizers, rice and other agricultural commodities. Multilateral support for establishing agricultural development banks that will support private agricultural investments and agricultural added value chains will promote self- sufficiency and greater resilience in that sector.
The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that equity, multilateral cooperation and a comprehensive global response are what we need to address health emergencies that have a potential to undermine global peace, security and development. Sierra Leone affirms
its commitment to global efforts aimed at exploring innovative and effective ways to enhance health security and pandemic preparedness, build capacities to respond to health emergencies and enhance greater resilience in health-care delivery.
Sierra Leone believes that multilateral support is urgently needed to complement national efforts aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality, preventing epidemics, tackling tropical and communicable diseases, building health-care infrastructure and the capacity of health-care personnel and strengthening primary health care. Efforts to increase the domestic financing of health care should be supported with increased multilateral financing and enhanced cooperation.
Sierra Leone remains wholly committed to the global agenda that puts women and girls at the centre of inclusive and sustainable development. We believe that we cannot deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development without the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. We must therefore garner multilateral support to achieve and sustain gender equality and the empowerment of women in our lifetime.
Sexual violence is a grave threat to justice and the fundamental rights of men, women and children throughout the world. In every corner of the globe, survivors of sexual assault are inhibited in holding perpetrators accountable and accessing empowering health, legal and economic remedies. In Sierra Leone, we have taken extensive legislative and administrative actions to address sexual and gender-based violence since my declaration of rape as a national emergency in 2019.
Last year, before this Assembly, I announced that I had directed the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations to sponsor at the General Assembly a stand-alone draft resolution on access to justice for survivors of sexual violence (see A/76/PV.6). I called for global solidarity on the issue and for the United Nations to give all survivors of sexual violence the remedies that they deserve.
On 2 September, the General Assembly adopted by consensus the landmark resolution 76/304, entitled “International cooperation for access to justice, remedies and assistance for survivors of sexual violence”. I thank the Assembly. The General Assembly therefore affirmed the sincere and shared belief of the global community that sexual violence is condemnable, and that Member States must take effective action to address it, as well as to provide access to timely and unimpeded justice through national legislation for victims and survivors.
As the global community, we signalled our resolve to address that scourge. We must now do all that we can to implement access to justice and other remedies to ensure dignity for all survivors of sexual violence.
Small States make up the majority of the States Members of the United Nations, and they are the strongest advocates for the rules-based international system that underpins the work of the United Nations. Indeed, small States have served as key drafters, negotiators and thought leaders on a variety of international issues. They have diligently done that through transparency of purpose and coalition-building across the board.
In that connection, Sierra Leone proposes further pursuing such values in the Security Council. I count on the invaluable and resounding support of this organ for Sierra Leone’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the term from 2024 to 2025, with elections to be held in June 2023.
My Government reaffirms its commitment to the relevant provision of the Charter of the United Nations and the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, as contained in resolution 1514 (XV). We join the call on all parties engaged in the dialogue on decolonization to continue to demonstrate good faith and a firm commitment to the conclusive and durable resolution of all sovereignty disputes.
As the Coordinator of the African Union Committee of Ten Heads of State and Government on reform of the Security Council, I am pleased to note the commendable progress that has been achieved in the intergovernmental negotiations on the reform of the Security Council. We believe that the progress made during the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly is underpinned by the Assembly’s acknowledgement of the wider recognition and broader support by Member States for the legitimate aspiration of African countries to play their rightful role on the global stage.
As Africa continues to advocate and canvass support for the African Common Position, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, I urge Member States to continue to demonstrate their renewed commitment and political will to correct
the historical injustice done to Africa by supporting the reform of the Security Council so as to make it a more inclusive, democratic, transparent, accountable, legitimate and efficient global organ, which properly reflects and adequately addresses the geopolitical realities of our present and future world. Sierra Leone is committed to engaging constructively within the multilateral rules-based order of the United Nations. Only through global cooperation can we engender and implement transformative solutions to global challenges.