It is my singular honour to deliver this statement to the Assembly. Allow me to congratulate Mr. Csaba Korosi on his election as the President of the General Assembly at its seventy- seventh session. He can be assured of Zimbabwe’s full support as his guides our deliberations during the current session.
I also pay special tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Abdulla Shahid, for leading the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly as the world grappled with a plethora of challenges. We commend him for the President of the General Assembly Fellowship for Harnessing Opportunities for Promoting Empowerment of Youth initiative towards enhancing youth interest, engagement and commitment in the work of the United Nations. That will go a long way towards safeguarding the interests of future generations, as embodied in today’s youth. Their voices must be heard across our Governments and within the United Nations. Zimbabwe is privileged to be among the pioneering beneficiaries of the initiative.
Delivering the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remains an urgent priority for us all. Our theme for this session, “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”, captures the importance of scaling up our actions, informed by the state of our world. The number of
persons exposed to food insecurity continues to increase. Meanwhile, the scourges of conflict and climate change have become major drivers of migration and refugees. The ever-looming threat associated with the “triple C crisis” of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), conflict and climate change has placed upon us an enormous responsibility to confront these interlocking challenges by strengthening multilateralism and solidarity. Terrorism, biodiversity loss, desertification, pollution and cybercrime, among other challenges, reinforce the urgent need to implement inclusive and transformative solutions that leave no one and no place behind.
The seventy-seventh session comes in the wake of the debilitating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which overstretched our health-care systems and severely exposed the disparities between developed and developing countries with regard to vaccine access. Africa is among the most affected. The lessons from the pandemic should inspire and enable the General Assembly to urgently scale up means to build multi-pronged capacities that must guide our collective response to future pandemics and other global challenges.
Despite the illegal economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe has successfully implemented its COVID-19 National Response Strategy, anchored largely by our own internal resources and institutional capacities. The proactive approach of my Administration has enabled the country to achieve high vaccination rates, extending to children up to 12 years. Meanwhile, our focus on the construction, rehabilitation and modernization of health facilities across the country, coupled with enhanced capacities around biotechnology and the pharmaceutical value chain, attests to my Government’s determination to realize universal health coverage.
Lifting many more people out of poverty and into a higher quality of life must remain at the core of both United Nations activities and the programmes and projects of our respective countries. Zimbabwe has made significant strides towards ending poverty and hunger. That has seen the implementation of various policies and programmes to support and empower communal and small-scale farmers.
At the household level, the provision of agriculture inputs, equipment and technical support to farmers, especially the vulnerable, has contributed to household and national food and nutrition security. However, in 2022, mid-season drought and tropical cyclones regrettably reduced the overall performance of the agriculture sector. To that end, the climate change conundrum has continued to be an albatross. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change should remain the primary platforms for negotiating our collective global response to climate change. All measures taken to achieve the targets and commitments set under the Paris Agreement have to be implemented. Furthermore, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in the light of different national circumstances must also be reflected.
Financing for climate change has remained inadequate, leaving the scope for effective and just transition to renewable energy among developing countries under serious threat. It is our hope that at the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Egypt later this year, the developed countries will deliver more concrete action on climate change, not just for mitigation targets, but also in relation to adaptation, loss and damage, climate-specific finance, technology transfer and capacity-building.
In our case, Zimbabwe is making concerted and deliberate efforts to integrate climate action into our national policies, strategies and planning. That includes strengthening the resilience and adaptive capacity of the most vulnerable in our society. Additionally, my Government is implementing an ambitious programme to increase the number of dams for irrigation. The programme is expected to create greenbelts across the country as we reduce dependence on rain-fed agricultural activities while enhancing export-led production and productivity.
Our comprehensive Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy is focused on increasing production and productivity across the agriculture spectrum. That was instrumental in our unprecedented realization of national wheat self-sufficiency, as well as increased exports in horticulture. The provision of technical extension services for improved land and water use has seen the widespread adoption of climate-smart agricultural innovations, with evident upward increase of incomes among communal and smallholder farmers, as well as women and youth in agriculture.
Zimbabwe is committed to 2030 Agenda and has, to that end, mainstreamed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into our national economic development blueprint, the National Development Strategy. We
acknowledge the support of the United Nations in the alignment of the Strategy with the Sustainable Development Goals. Economic reforms have been implemented, resulting in significant progress in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, mining and tourism. Our “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra has fostered strong partnership between the Government and the private sector for inclusive and sustainable development. Massive infrastructure development projects, which include dams, energy plants and roads, have broadened our national economic asset base, as well as production and productivity enablers, while enhancing regional connectivity and integration.
The current global financial architecture has demonstrated its inadequacies in addressing the challenges that confront us. An increasing and unsustainable debt burden, the prohibitive cost of borrowing, illicit financial flows and the exploitation of natural resources from developing countries have all combined to relegate developing countries to the periphery of the global financial system. There is therefore a need for a global financial system that is just, more inclusive and responsive to the challenges we face. Equally, the international trade architecture under the World Trade Organization has remained largely exclusive and indifferent to the needs of developing countries. The African Continental Free Trade Area is thus expected to be the panacea for Africa in trading and stimulating economic growth and development. The Free Trade Area must be complemented as we strive to improve production and trade in goods and services. The liberalization of services and strengthening of competition policy and intellectual property rights, as well as the adoption of digital trade, should also be enhanced.
Education is a key driver of sustainable development with a direct impact on SDG 4, on quality education; SDG 5, on gender equality; and SDG 17, on partnerships for the goals. Zimbabwe has embarked on reforms based on our Heritage Based Education 5.0 model, which emphasizes science, technology, innovation and industrialization. Those are indeed necessary tools to leap forward the modernization and industrialization of our countries in the developing world. My Government is equally providing quality, inclusive and accessible education through the roll-out of a phased, free primary school education system. The Transforming Education Summit during this high-level week is a timely and welcome development that should help revitalize the education sector, even more so after COVID-19-induced disruptions.
My country notes that more work needs to be done globally to close the gender gaps that are often aggravated in times of crisis. Opportunities are being created for all Zimbabweans, especially for women and youth, to realize their individual and collective potential. Milestones have thus been achieved in the implementation of SDG 5 on gender equality, leading to expanded empowerment and employment opportunities for women and young people.
The proportional representation for women in Parliament is enshrined in the Constitution. Under my leadership, Zimbabwe has legislated reserved youth seats in the National Assembly. To further strengthen participatory democracy and good governance, my Government has introduced a 30-per cent quota for women in local authorities. That is especially important as women bear the brunt of poor service delivery at the local level. The establishment of gender and youth focal desks within Government ministries has helped to mainstream the issues of young people, particularly young women.
Sustainable socioeconomic development is an indispensable imperative for the enjoyment of the fundamental rights of any people. The Policy on Devolution and Decentralization has seen increased budgetary support directly to local authorities. Communities at the village, ward and district levels are now making independent decisions and prioritizing their programmes and projects, informed by the most pressing needs at their level. That has seen the rapid construction of schools, clinics, water and sanitation infrastructure, and other social amenities in the most remote areas of Zimbabwe.
In the same vein, my Government is promoting heritage-based rural industrialization to guarantee improved livelihoods and incomes for all communities, based on their respective, unique natural resource endowments. Zimbabwe is modernizing and industrializing based on our local resources and human capital base. Inspired by the historic monument, the Great Zimbabwe, from which our country’s name is derived, we are building our country brick by brick, stone upon stone, with the support of our friends and partners. As my Government continues to entrench democracy, good governance and the rule of law, we are committed to vibrant, competitive and peaceful political contestations.
Notwithstanding our success, the ongoing deleterious effects of the illegal sanctions continue to hamper and slow our progress and the realization of sustainable and inclusive development. Zimbabwe is a peace-loving country. We remain indebted to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and the African Union, as well as other progressive members of the comity of nations for their unwavering support and calls for the removal of these unwarranted and unjustified sanctions. We once again call for their immediate and unconditional removal. My country welcomes the findings of the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, who visited Zimbabwe in 2021.
At the international level, Zimbabwe has adopted an engagement and re-engagement policy. The policy is underpinned by the principles of mutual understanding and respect, cooperation, partnership and shared values with other members of the international community. We desire to be a friend to all and an enemy to none. My country is greatly concerned that more than 20 years after the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, hate crimes, xenophobia, racial discrimination and intolerance have continued to increase at an alarming rate, including at the international level. There is a need, therefore, to recommit to fighting those scourges in all their forms and manifestations.
The spread of terrorism and the intensification of old conflicts on the African continent and throughout the world have been a setback to our quest to silence the guns. In southern Africa, we remain seized with insecurity and terrorist insurgency in northern parts of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique and conflicts in parts of the Great Lakes region. Emboldened by our SADC regional philosophy that an injury to one is an injury to all, we continue to pool our resources to fight terrorism and other threats to peace, security and stability in our region. We appeal to the United Nations to render the requisite support to our efforts to restore peace in the affected areas.
Zimbabwe stands committed to playing its part for the realization of peace and security within various United Nations, African Union and SADC peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions. The scale and gravity of our challenges today cannot be addressed through old structures and old ways of doing business. Zimbabwe subscribes to the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration as the sustainable approach to the reform of the Security Council.
In conclusion, Zimbabwe reaffirms its commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter and multilateralism in the resolution of the complex and intersecting challenges facing our world. The implementation of the inclusive 2030 Agenda remains our biggest hope for the future we all want. There is indeed a more compelling case for enhanced solidarity, cooperation and partnerships if we are to respond effectively to these challenges and ensure our collective survival. The United Nations should remain the beacon and source of hope for the global citizenry. As leaders, we have a weighty burden and responsibility to make the United Nations deliver to the expectations of all the peoples of the world.