Seventy-eight years ago. in the aftermath of the Second World War. the nations of the world made a solemn commitment to saving future generations from the horror and suffering of war. Through the Charter of the United Nations, those nations accepted a shared mandate to foster peace and promote fundamental human rights and social progress and ensure a better standard of life for all.
Yet. as we gather here, much of humankind is confronted by war and conflict, by want and hunger and by disease and environmental damage and disaster.
Solidarity and trust among States are being eroded. Inequality, poverty and unemployment are deepening across many nations in the world. In those conditions, and in the wake of a devastating global pandemic, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals seems increasingly remote. At the moment, when every human effort should be directed towards the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, our attention and our energies have once again been diverted by the scourge of war. But those woes, those divisions and those seemingly intractable troubles can. and must, be overcome.
Over millenniums, the human race has demonstrated an enormous capacity for resilience, an ability to resolve problems, adaptation, innovation, compassion and solidarity. At this moment, we are all called upon to reaffirm those essential qualities, which define our common humanity. Such qualities must be evident in how we work together as a global community and as nations of the world to end war and conflict.
South Africa has consistently advocated for dialogue, negotiation and diplomacy to prevent and end conflict and achieve lasting peace. As a country, it has committed itself to the promotion of human rights, human dignity, justice, democracy and adherence to international law.
From the experience of our own journey from the evil system of apartheid, which was declared a crime against humanity by this very Organization, to democracy, we value the importance of engaging all parties to conflicts in achieving peaceful, just and enduring resolutions.
It is those principles that inform South Africa’s participation in the African peace initiative, which seeks a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In that conflict, as in all conflicts, we have insisted that the United Nations Charter principle of respect for the territorial integrity of every country should be upheld. Our participation in the African peace initiative, supported by seven countries from the African continent, is informed by a desire to see an end to the suffering of those most directly affected by the conflict and the millions on our continent and across the world who. as a result of the conflict, are now vulnerable to worsening hunger and deprivation.
As we. as African leaders, engaged with the parties to the conflict, one of the issues that we raised was that there should be confidence-building measures that could create a sense of trust towards the resolution of the conflict. In that regard, we said that issues such as the return of the children who were removed from Ukraine should be ensured. We also said that the prisoners of war should be exchanged between the two countries. I just held a meeting with President Zelenskyy. who said that, in part, some of our efforts were bearing fruit, as the children were now being returned and the prisoners were also being exchanged. But then we said that we needed to see that happening at a much faster pace.
As the international community, we must do everything within our means to enable meaningful dialogue, just as we should refrain from any actions that fuel conflict. As we confront other conflicts in several parts of the world, including on our own continent. Africa, we need to invest in prevention and peace-building. We support the call by the Secretary- General in the New Agenda for Peace for Member States to provide more sustainable and predictable financing for peace building efforts.
As a global community, we should be concerned by the recent incidents of unconstitutional changes of Government in some parts of Africa. The global community needs to work alongside the African Union to support peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Libya, the Sudan. Somalia. Mali, the Central African Republic. South Sudan, northern Mozambique, the Great Lakes region, the Sahel, the Niger and the Horn of Africa.
The African Union Peace and Security Council has declared that it stands ready to deepen its cooperation with the United Nations Security Council to silence the guns on the African continent and to achieve peace, stability and development.
We are called upon to remain true to the founding principles of the United Nations by recognizing the inalienable right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination, in line with the relevant General Assembly resolutions.
We must work for peace in the Middle East. For as long as the land of the Palestinians remains occupied, and for as long as their rights are ignored and their dignity is denied, such peace will remain elusive. The actions of the Government of Israel have imperilled the possibility of a viable two-State solution. The principles of the United Nations Charter with regard to territorial integrity and the prohibition on the annexation of
land through the use of force must also be applied in that situation.
South Africa continues to call for the lifting of the economic embargo that was imposed 60 years ago against Cuba, which has caused untold damage to the country’s economy as well as the people of Cuba.
The sanctions that are also being applied against South Africa’s neighbour Zimbabwe should also be lifted, as they are imposing untold suffering on ordinary Zimbabweans, but they also have a collateral negative impact on neighbouring countries, such as my own country. South Africa.
As many people around the world are confronted by hunger and want, the essential human qualities of cooperation and solidarity must be evident in the actions that we take to bridge the divide between the wealthy and the poor. We must summon the necessary will and resolve to regain the momentum towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. That means that we must address the fundamental development challenges that have also long characterized our unequal world.
To address the development challenges that face many people in the world we are required to focus on targeted investment, technology transfer and capacity building support, especially in key areas such as supporting industrialization, building infrastructure, ensuring that investment in agriculture takes place and making sure that there is investment in water, energy, education and health.
That also requires predictable and sustained financial support, including supportive trade policies, from the international community. We call on our partners from wealthier countries to meet the financial commitments that they made. It is a great concern to us from the global South that those wealthier countries in the global North have failed to meet the undertakings that they made to provide $100 billion a year for developing economies to take climate action. That must be changed, and the money must be made available in the interests of development.
We support the proposals outlined in the Secretary- General’s Sustainable Development Goals stimulus. In particular, we support the call to tackle debt and debt distress, by which many countries, particularly in the global South, are burdened. We support the call to massively scale up affordable long-term financing to $500 billion a year and to expand contingency financing to countries that are in need.
It is a grave indictment of the international community that we can spend so much on war — in fact, trillions are being spent on war — but we cannot support the action that needs to be taken to meet the most basic needs of billions of people in the world, such as addressing hunger and health, empowering women and ensuring that there is development in vulnerable countries.
The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals depends fundamentally on the empowerment of women in all spheres of life. Social and economic progress will not be possible unless we end gender discrimination. We must ensure that there is equal access for women to health care, education and economic opportunities. We must pay particular attention to the provision of adequate health services to every woman, child and adolescent. By doing so. we will fundamentally improve the health and well-being of all.
The empowerment of women must be central to the actions that we now take towards the realization of the 2030 Agenda. The women of the world need empowerment. They have a right to empowerment. They also have a right to participate equally in the decision-making structures of all institutions in the world. I am proud that, in South Africa. 50 per cent of the members of the Cabinet of South Africa are women. Today I am accompanied by an all-women delegation to this General Assembly session. It should be a matter of concern to us all that the majority of people who are sitting in this Assembly are men. The question that we must ask is: where are the women of the world? The women of the world have a right to be here to represent the views of women across the world.
The essential human qualities of innovation and adaptation must be evident in the actions that we take to prevent the destruction of our planet. Africa is warming faster than the rest of the world. We are told that, of the 20 climate hotspots in the world, we find 17 in Africa. Africa is the least responsible for the climate damage that has been caused; yet it bears the greatest burden. Centuries after the end of the slave trade, decades after the end of the colonial exploitation of Africa’s resources, the people of our continent are once again bearing the costs of the industrialization of the North and the development of the wealthy nations
of the world. That is a price that the people of Africa are no longer prepared to pay. Many countries in the North count their assets in the mineral resources that are beneath African soil. The wealth of Africa belongs to Africans. The mineral wealth that is beneath the soil of Africa must in the end accrue to Africans.
We urge global leaders to accelerate global decarbonization, while pursuing equality and shared prosperity. We need to advance all three pillars of the Paris Agreement — mitigation, adaptation and support — with equal ambition and urgency. African countries, alongside other countries with developing economies, need increased financial support both to implement the 2030 Agenda and to achieve their climate change goals in a comprehensive and integrated manner. We need to operationalize the loss and damage fund for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters, as agreed at the twenty-seventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Africa has embraced that challenge. Africa is determined to deploy smart, digital and efficient green technologies to expand industrial production, boost agricultural yields, drive growth and create sustained employment for Africa’s people.
As the global community, we must ensure that the essential qualities that define our humanity are evident in the institutions that manage the conduct of international relations. We require institutions that are inclusive, representative and democratic and that advance the interests of all nations. We require a renewed commitment to multilateralism, based on clear rules and supported by effective institutions.
This is the moment to proceed with the reform of the Security Council, give meaning to the principle of the sovereign equality of nations and enable the Council to respond more effectively to the current geopolitical realities. We are pleased that the Common African Position on the reform of the Security Council is increasingly enjoying wide support. That process must move to text-based negotiations, creating an opportunity for convergence among Member States. The Brazil. Russian Federation. India. China and South Africa Summit, held recently in Johannesburg, also affirmed the view that the Security Council should be reformed and should ensure that nations that are not represented are also represented.
We must ensure that the voice of the African continent and the global South is strengthened in the United Nations and the broader multilateral system. All the peoples represented here in this United Nations had their origins in Africa. In Africa, they developed the tools and capabilities to spread across the world and achieve remarkable feats of development and progress. All that was due to the skills and the talent that originated from the African continent.
Despite its history, despite the legacy of exploitation, colonialism and subjugation, despite the ongoing challenge of conflict and instability. Africa is determined and ready to regain its position as a site of human progress. The era of African development has arrived.
Through the African Continental Free Trade Area, which is creating a wider seamless trading area, as well as accelerated interconnectivity. African countries are mobilizing their collective means and resources to achieve shared prosperity. Through that treaty. African countries are establishing for themselves the foundation for a massive increase in trade, accelerated infrastructure development, regional integration and sustainable industrialization.
As the global community, we have the means and the desire to confront and overcome the enormous challenges that face humankind today. As the nations gathered here in this General Assembly, let us demonstrate that we have both the will and the resolve to secure a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future for our world and. more important, for the future generations that will follow, leaving no one behind. That is the duty that we all now have.