Sir, allow me to
congratulate the President on his unanimous election to
preside over the General Assembly at its sixty-second
session. We are confident that he will discharge the
high responsibility of his office with the wisdom, skill
and experience for which he is renowned.
I also wish to commend Ambassador Sheikha
Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, who acquitted herself very
well in the management of the General Assembly at its
sixty-first session.
I equally wish to express our appreciation to the
Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
for taking up challenging issues facing humanity with
courage and determination.
The world needs a stronger United Nations and
effective multilateralism that can help humanity to
respond in a timely and effective way to global
challenges. Namibia regards climate change as one of
the urgent challenges facing humanity today. There is
an overwhelming body of scientific evidence that
points to the urgency and gravity of climate change.
Climate change is a global issue with serious
implications for economic growth, sustainable
development and the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals.
Climate change is a present-day reality that
adversely affects the lives of many people. The
international community has to live up to its
commitment to provide resources to developing
countries in order that they may adapt to the effects of
climate change. By the same token, compulsory targets
must be set for the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions.
Namibia is not happy with the rate at which
investments are being made in the development of
renewable and clean energy sources. I call upon the
private sector to join hands with Governments to
develop and apply technologies that can mitigate
climate change. Sir, I assure you of Namibia’s
commitment to act in consort with other Member
States to solve this problem through the establishment
of concrete and ambitious goals to be implemented
over an agreed period. All countries have a
responsibility to act according to their common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities.
Namibia would like to see the process for the
reform of the United Nations expedited. The
importance of a stronger and effective United Nations,
capable of delivering its mandate, cannot be
overemphasized. This, among other things, would
involve the revitalization and reaffirmation of the
authority of the General Assembly as the chief
deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of
the United Nations.
Namibia is pleased with the enhanced role of the
Economic and Social Council. I believe that it is well
positioned to shape the overall development agenda, to
deal effectively with economic and social issues and to
mobilize international efforts for the protection of the
environment.
We believe that the Security Council should be
made more democratic and transparent in its
composition and working methods. All Member States,
both big and small, should have a meaningful stake in
it. Namibia appreciates the efforts of the President of
the General Assembly at its sixty-first session to move
the reform process forward. The Security Council has
great significance for Africa, since a major part of its
agenda currently concerns peace and security issues on
that continent. In 2006, for example, 42 out of a total
of 87 resolutions adopted by the Security Council dealt
with Africa. However, Africa has only three
non-permanent seats on the Council.
I wish to reiterate Namibia’s strong support for
the common African position as contained in the
Ezulwini consensus and in the Sirte Declaration. The
need for Africa to be equitably represented in the
Council, with all the privileges associated with
membership, remains a priority for us. The challenge in
the immediate future would therefore be to begin a
genuine intergovernmental negotiation process, based
on the principle of justice and fairness for all.
The achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) and other internationally agreed
commitments stand central to global economic stability
and prosperity. The highest priority should be our
collective commitment to sustainable socioeconomic
development on a global scale. I therefore wish to
express my delegation’s appreciation for the
Millennium Development Goals Report 2007, which
we find very useful as a summary of what has been
achieved so far.
Namibia is concerned, however, that the results
are slow and uneven. We wish to underline what is
stated on page 4 of the report: “that the MDGs will be
attained only if concerted additional action is taken
immediately and sustained until 2015”. All
stakeholders need to fulfil, in their entirety, the
commitments they made in the Millennium Declaration
and their subsequent pronouncements. It is, therefore,
important that Governments and institutions in the
economically advanced countries offer genuine
partnership by providing new and additional resources
commensurate with the commitments made in line with
the MDGs.
Namibia is classified as a lower middle-income
country. It ranks number 126 out of 177 countries on
the Human Development Index, as it still bears the
legacy of social and economic inequalities inherited
from its colonial past. Inequality in the distribution of
income and assets in Namibia is among the highest in
the world. Nevertheless, Namibia has made progress in
the provision of health, education and other critical
services for the majority of the population, and we are
on course to meet a number of the MDGs.
Indeed, we face severe difficulty in responding to
a combination of the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic,
high levels of food insecurity and poverty at the
household level. This situation is compounded by
declining international aid to Namibia because of its
classification as a lower middle-income country. I once
again call upon the international community to increase
its support to Namibia, including market access and
access to financial sources, in the form of targeted
official development assistance, concessional loans and
investment flows.
Namibia applauds the Joint Communiqué agreed
to by the United Nations Security Council and the
African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council as a
step in the right direction. There is a need for more
structured and formalized cooperation between the two
bodies on issues of peace and security in Africa. Such
cooperation should also include the areas of financing,
logistics, technology and training.
The right of peoples to self-determination is a
fundamental human right that is enshrined in the
Charter of the United Nations. It is sad that, seven
years into the twenty-first century, colonialism is still
with us, posing a serious challenge to this Organization
and humanity at large. My delegation has raised its
voice repeatedly in this Assembly by calling for the
realization of the inalienable rights of the people of
Western Sahara to self-determination. The international
community has an obligation to assist the people of
Western Sahara in their quest for freedom and
independence. Namibia, therefore, calls for the
immediate and unconditional implementation of the
United Nations Settlement Plan for Western Sahara,
and all resolutions of the Security Council and the
General Assembly, with the aim of holding a free and
fair referendum in Western Sahara.
Similarly, Namibia is deeply concerned about the
continuous suffering of the people of Palestine under
Israeli occupation. We wish to reaffirm our full and
unequivocal support for the inalienable rights of the
Palestinian people to self-determination, including
their right to return to their land. I reiterate our appeal
to the parties to resume the peace process on the basis
of international law and all the relevant United Nations
resolutions. To this end, the United Nations has a
responsibility to assist the process.
My delegation reiterates its call for an
unconditional end to the economic, commercial and
financial blockade imposed by the United States of
America against Cuba. We believe that the blockade is
not only against international law, but that it is also
politically unjustifiable and undemocratic. Its
extraterritorial nature impedes free trade and economic
development. We urge the Government of the United
States of America to heed the call of the international
community and to implement the resolutions of the
General Assembly that call for an end to the blockade.
Let us commit ourselves, once again, during this
session of the General Assembly, to address effectively
the challenges we face, to save humanity from
catastrophe and to make the earth a common place for
all, where all will live in peace and security.