I am delighted, Sir,
to congratulate you on your assumption of the
presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-third
session. Your election to that high office is indeed a
clear reflection of the strong confidence and trust that
the international community has in you personally, and
also in your great country, Nicaragua. I am confident
that under your able guidance we will continue to build
on the achievements of the sixty-second session in our
efforts to advance our common global agenda towards
a more just, secure and prosperous world. I assure you
of the full support, cooperation and goodwill of the
delegation of the Republic of Botswana in the
discharge of your mandate.
I wish also to pay tribute to your predecessor, His
Excellency Mr. Srgjan Kerim, President of the
Assembly at its sixth-second session. We sincerely
commend him for his sterling work and leadership,
which enabled us to achieve critical milestones towards
our common goals.
This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is an
important event on our global human rights agenda. It
is an occasion for Member States to reflect,
individually and collectively, on how much progress
we have made in our efforts to build a more just world
order. The Universal Declaration embodies the
aspirations of humanity for liberty, freedom and
equality. It is a reflection of the human spirit to strive
for a more perfect society in which individuals
recognize the reality that creating the space for the
enjoyment of individual human rights expands the
horizons for society to realize its full potential.
In pursuance of this noble objective we must
continuously strive to improve our governance in order
to ensure that it is responsive to the wishes of the
people. It should be borne in mind that, in the final
analysis, it is the people in whom the sovereignty of
any nation is vested. In that respect, it is imperative
that the will of the people expressed in free and fair
elections be respected by all political leaders. Heads of
State or Government must avoid the temptation to
change constitutions in an effort to prolong their stay
in power, which often results in instability.
Botswana reaffirms its commitment to the ideals
and purposes of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. We are determined to contribute to the
promotion of respect for human rights at home and
abroad. In doing so we are conscious of the need for
international cooperation in the promotion of human
rights. It is for this reason that Botswana is a State
party to a number of human rights instruments,
including the Rome Statute on the establishment of the
International Criminal Court.
We fully support the work of that Court. As a
country that strongly believes in the rule of law, we are
convinced that there should be no political interference
in the work of the Court. The International Criminal
Court was established with the support of African
States. We felt that it was necessary to address
problems that confronted our continent. The Court is
meant to serve a specific purpose and there should be
no exceptions regarding what it can or cannot do.
21 08-53135
Botswana is pleased that representatives of
political parties in Zimbabwe finally signed an
agreement in Harare on 15 September 2008. We
welcomed that development, as it augurs well for
national reconciliation, economic reconstruction and
development in Zimbabwe. The effective
implementation of the agreement should have a
positive impact not only on developments in Zimbabwe
but also on Southern Africa and the wider African
region. This is a good beginning, and we encourage the
parties to do all they can to make the agreement work.
No party should attempt to obstruct the implementation
of the agreement, as the political crisis that confronted
that country following the 29 June 2008 presidential
run-off election can be resolved only through the
implementation of the agreement. Such a development
would not be acceptable to Botswana. We call upon the
international community to help the process to succeed
by extending their goodwill and support to the
Government and the people of Zimbabwe with much-
needed economic, financial and technical assistance.
We must commend the former President of the
Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Thabo
Mbeki, for his hard work, commitment and
determination in helping the Zimbabweans reach
agreement. We also wish to pay tribute to former
President Mbeki for his contribution to the attainment
of freedom and democracy not only in South Africa but
also in the wider African continent. We are grateful to
him for his visionary leadership and his people-centred
initiatives, whose primary objective was to build an
African continent that is free, peaceful, democratic and
economically prosperous.
As the international community, we have the
collective responsibility to equip and make optimal use
of our multilateral body, the United Nations, to search
for fair and just solutions to global problems in order
to contribute to the betterment of all humanity. Today,
more than ever before, the United Nations is required
to respond effectively and swiftly to the complex
challenges of the twenty-first century. Conflicts,
poverty, disease, natural and man-made disasters,
climate change, energy and terrorism are among the
myriad pressing problems that confront humanity and
require an urgent global response. It is thus imperative
that we continue to make concerted efforts to address
those challenges in pursuit of a better tomorrow. Their
magnitude clearly requires multilateral strategies and
solutions.
Botswana calls upon all Members to unite in the
search for solutions to those problems. It is imperative
that in our policies, actions and pronouncements, we
always seek to build greater international
understanding. In our approach to managing relations
between States, leaders are called upon to set a higher
standard. The language that we employ in international
forums should not be belligerent or provocative, nor
should it be calculated to shame or humiliate other
leaders. Member States should not host military or
rebel groups that operate from their territories against
their neighbours.
In our international discourse, we must aim to
build and facilitate agreement on common goals. In
that respect, we must exercise restraint by avoiding the
often frequent temptation to recall diplomats from each
other’s capitals, including purely for solidarity reasons.
Such action is unfortunate and outdated, as it only
leads to a breakdown in communication.
As we meet here, let us always remind ourselves
of the solemn commitments that we, as the peoples of
the world, have undertaken to end war and human
suffering. Botswana calls upon all States, especially the
major Powers, to set an example by refraining from the
use of weapons in resolving conflicts. Military
confrontation is, unfortunately, always a demonstration
of the failure of the will to use diplomacy, of the urge
to show off military superiority or of the inability to
employ resources and technological advances to
improve human lives.
Sustainable economic growth, development and
the eradication of poverty are central to our
development agenda as developing countries. Poverty
is undoubtedly one of the most critical challenges
facing our people. Achieving the Millennium
Development Goals and combating poverty in its many
dimensions are interrelated and mutually reinforcing
objectives. Thus, their attainment should be our
primary preoccupation.
Botswana welcomes the initiatives introduced by
some development partners that seek to take a more
focused approach to Africa’s economic and
development problems. Those initiatives include the
Lomé Conventions and the successor arrangements
between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States, on
the one hand, and the European Union, on the other;
the African Growth and Opportunity Act of the United
States; the Tokyo International Conference on African
08-53135 22
Development; the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation;
and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation.
Botswana has always made effective use of the
resources made available by our cooperating partners.
It is important that more be done to help developing
countries embark on the path of sustainable
development. We are convinced that, as we receive
much-needed assistance, we must envisage a day and
time when there will be no need for such assistance
because we are all able to stand on our own.
This year marks the midpoint towards the 2015
target for attaining the Millennium Development
Goals. We thank the Secretary-General for his
analytical and informative reports regarding progress
in the implementation of our common commitments
and our shared future. We also welcome the work of
the high-level meetings held to take stock of progress
made. That will no doubt provide impetus for the
expeditious implementation of our commitments.
The Secretary-General’s reports indicate a mixed
and uneven score. It is clearly evident that while we
have made real progress in some areas, much remains
to be done over the next seven years if we are to
achieve our goals. In other words, we are seriously
behind schedule on every target, among countries and
within countries that need to eradicate poverty and
reduce human suffering.
In addition to revealing gaps, the process has
highlighted emerging challenges that hinder the
attainment of targets across the spectrum of human
development. It has also emphasized the serious need
to fast-track the pace of implementation if we are to
have any notable impact. The achievement of those
goals is our shared responsibility. It is thus imperative
that all of us, individually and collectively, do our part
to accelerate progress towards a better quality of life
for our people.
Our people deserve a life free from fear and want,
in an environment that offers equal opportunity for all.
That is not a privilege, but a fundamental human right
that each State has a duty to respect, protect and fulfil.
For our people, that should mean universal access to
education, health, shelter, clean water and
infrastructure, as well as living in a safe and secure
environment. Fully honouring our commitments is the
key to realizing those expectations.
The following facts should trouble our collective
conscience. More than one quarter of the children
younger than 5 in the developing world are
underweight. That amounts to 143 million underweight
children in developing countries. Children in
developing countries continue to die from preventable
diseases such as malaria. The approximately 4 billion
cases of diarrhoea per annum cause 2.2 million deaths,
mostly among children under 5. Approximately
6 million people are blind as a result of trachoma, a
disease caused by lack of clean water combined with
poor hygiene practices. In sub-Saharan Africa, a
woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death is a staggering
1 in 22, compared with 1 in 8,000 in industrialized
countries. Finally, HIV is spreading faster than we can
provide universal access to prevention, treatment,
support and care.
Clearly, closing those gaps will entail more than
our reaffirmations; it urgently necessitates sustained
and strong political commitment and leadership; sound
and appropriate national policies, matched with
increased official development assistance and technical
support from the international system; stepped-up
participation and combined efforts by Governments,
civil society and the private sector; fairer, transparent
and inclusive international trade regimes; more global
partnerships to assist developing countries; full
implementation of debt-relief initiatives; greater access
to markets; and other innovative international support
measures to finance development.
The search for global peace and security remains
a matter of vital interest to my delegation. While we
may have made significant strides in promoting peace
through conflict prevention and resolution, through
post-conflict recovery and through peacebuilding,
conflicts continue to flare up, thus making the
restoration of peace a remote possibility for some in
the world.
My own continent, Africa, plays host to a large
number of conflicts. The scourge of war has claimed
many lives and caused untold human suffering.
Substantial time, energy and financial resources have
been expended, with little or no success. The United
Nations Charter implores us, as the international
community, to save succeeding generations from the
scourge of war by employing all diplomatic efforts and
tools at our disposal.
23 08-53135
I am pleased to note that commendable strides
have been made in placing some countries, such as
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, on a firm
path of national reconstruction, post-conflict recovery
and peacebuilding. Regrettably, the peoples of Africa
continue to face hunger and death in the Darfur region
of the Sudan, Somalia and Chad, among other places.
My delegation is particularly concerned about the
ever-worsening situation in the Darfur region of the
Sudan. It is disconcerting that armed hostilities
continue, despite the efforts of the United Nations and
the African Union through the development of the
African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in
Darfur. We call on the parties to commit to political
dialogue in the search for lasting peace and to fully
utilize the good offices of His Excellency Mr. Djibril
Bassole, who has recently been appointed to facilitate
the peace process.
With respect to Somalia, Botswana welcomes the
signing of the Djibouti Agreement on 9 June 2008 by
the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and
the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. We call
upon all Somali political forces to commit to an all-
inclusive political process so that the long-suffering
people of Somali can also live in peace.
My delegation further calls on the international
community to continue assisting the people of Somali
with much-needed humanitarian aid. In the same vein,
we remind the political leaders of the Somali people to
put the interests of the people of Somalia above their
own, so that the focus can be on the search for a lasting
political settlement to the problems facing their
country.
The success of the United Nations in delivering
on our expectations and common ideals must be
matched by adequate resources, appropriate mandates,
structures and policy guidance. Botswana strongly
believes in the instrumentality of the United Nations.
In that regard, we are committed to paying our
assessed contributions in full and on time. We therefore
call upon all Members to do the same, so that this
machinery, which is the motor that powers
multilateralism, does not run out of steam.
There can be no doubt that any organization —
and the United Nations in particular — must be
constantly reformed or renewed if it is to continue to
be relevant and responsive to the needs of its members.
We are pleased that there has been some measure of
progress in implementing the set of reforms mandated
by the 2005 World Summit.
Allow me to conclude my remarks by once again
calling on each and every one of us to live up to the
high expectations of this Organization by honouring
our commitments. Botswana reaffirms its abiding faith
in this body, which unites the peoples of the world for
a higher purpose. It is our hope that as we meet here,
we will succeed in building greater international
understanding across regions, cultures, language and
faiths, because we are all human and because of the
humanity of others.