Allow me to begin by
congratulating you, Mr. President, on your well-
deserved election to steer the affairs of the General
Assembly at its sixty-eighth session. As I congratulate
you, I would like to assure you of Tanzania’s support and
cooperation as you discharge of your responsibilities.
I also wish to acknowledge and commend your
predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Vuk Jeremi., for his
outstanding leadership during the sixty-seventh session.
A great deal was achieved because of his visionary and
wise leadership. In the same vein, I would like to pay
glowing tribute to our the Secretary-General for the
excellent work he is doing for the United Nations and
humankind at large.
My delegation and I find the theme of this year’s
General Assembly to be timely and very opportune.
We should start now to set the stage for the post-2015
development agenda. Hence I find the theme, “The post-
2015 development agenda: setting the stage”, to be a
wise choice: it affords us an opportunity to know where
we are with regard to the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) and to decide what needs to be done
to complete the unfinished business and enable us to
make informed decisions beyond 2015.
The Millennium Development Goals framework
is the best development framework ever produced to
address global and national development challenges.
The world has never witnessed such a coalescence of
concerted efforts into a unified framework. It is heart-
warming to note that progress towards attaining MDGs
has been made over the past 13 years. However, that
progress varies from one Goal to another, and is highly
uneven across nations and continents.
Although extreme poverty has been halved at
the global level, more than 1.2 billion people are still
trapped in extreme poverty, which is a saddening fact.
An estimated 19,000 children under the age of five
and approximately 800 women die every day mostly
from preventable and curable diseases. That is totally
unacceptable in a world of unprecedented advances
in science and technology, which could be leveraged
to solve almost all the development challenges facing
humankind.
In a world that has enough food to feed everybody,
nobody should go hungry or be undernourished. In
a world with so much wealth, there is no reason that
poverty, hunger and deprivation should ever continue
to inflict pain and cause misery to many people. It is
incomprehensible, therefore, that the MDGs could not
be fully attained.
Tanzania has made significant progress in
implementing the MDGs. We have already achieved
the targets in four of the eight MDGs, well before the
deadline set of 2015. In MDG 2, we have achieved the
target on universal primary education enrolment. On
MDG 3, we have achieved the target of gender parity in
both primary and secondary school enrolment. That is
a change from the past, when there were more boys than
girls in schools. As a matter of fact, the trend is now
tilting towards more girls than boys in school. We are
yet to meet targets with regard to the ratio of females
to males in tertiary education and in decision-making
positions, in particular Parliament. However, it is
possible to achieve the target for parliamentarians by
2015 because we are now in the process of reviewing
our Constitution.
We are on target with regard to reducing
HIV/AIDS infections, which is the requirement of
MDG 6. Similarly, we have attained MDG 4, on child
mortality, which is a major achievement as compared
to where we were in 2000. But it is depressing that we
are not on track with regard to MDG 5, with regard to
maternal health. We are intensifying efforts to do better
in order to improve the health of women in Tanzania.
With regard to MDG 7, on environmental
sustainability, we are on target with regard to drinking
water for the urban population, but we are lagging
behind when it comes to rural water supply and access
to improved sanitation, both in rural and urban areas.
We have not relented in our pursuit of the MDG
targets that we are not likely to achieve by 2015. That
will be the unfinished business on which we will
probably need to take action over and above what we are
doing. We are lagging far behind with regard to MDG
1 in its four main indicators. There is not much chance
of meeting those targets by 2015 despite the efforts we
have been making.
However, we have been intensifying actions to
transform and modernize our agriculture. Our aim
is to increase productivity and farmers’ incomes, as
well as to ensure food and nutrition security for them
and the nation. Agriculture employs 75 per cent of the
Tanzanian population, and it is in that sector where the
majority of poor are concentrated. Therefore, improved
agriculture will mean fewer poor people and fewer
hungry people. Plans are also under way to expand
the conditional cash-transfer programme under the
Tanzania Aocial Action Fund supported by the World
Bank. We want to increase the size of investment to
benefit more vulnerable people, so as to accelerate the
implementation of MDG 1 in the shortest possible time.
Generally, it remains my firm belief that despite
some failures, the MDGs have been nothing short of
a remarkable success. If developed countries provided
financing as envisaged under MDG 8 and in keeping with
the Monterrey Consensus and their own commitments
in different forums of the Group of Eight and Group
of 20, we would have implemented all of the MDGs to
the letter and spirit. We find unrealistic any post-2015
development agenda that does not address the critical
issue of ensuring adequate financing. That is also true
with regard to accelerating the implementation of the
MDGs in the period remaining. We will continue to
look to the United Nations for guidance and leadership
in steering both processes to a successful conclusion.
The fact that the United Nations needs reform is
a matter of little disagreement. Our collective failure
to respond to that reality creates scepticism about
our common resolve to strengthen the Organization,
which is meant to serve all nations and peoples. The
reform we demand is long overdue. While we welcome
discussions on the reform of the Economic and Social
Council, Africa will not relent in demanding reform
of the Security Council so that the continent with
the largest membership in the United Nations has a
permanent voice.
Regrettably, conflicts have continued to interfere in
our development endeavours, as they linger in different
parts of the world — from the Sahel to the eastern part
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and from Syria
to Afghanistan and other places. Conflicts have caused
an enormous loss of innocent lives, as populations
continue to endure suffering.
The recent use of chemical weapons in Syria, as
confirmed by United Nations inspectors, is rather
distressing. We condemn that flagrant and senseless
killing of innocent people, including children, in Syria.
We commend the Secretary-General and the Security
Council for way they have handled the matter. I believe
the doors for a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis are
not closed and that a military solution should be the last
resort.
The United Republic of Tanzania regrets to see the
suffering of the people of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo as a consequence of a conflict that has continued
for far too long. We hope that this time around, the
initiative of the Secretary-General that resulted in the
establishment of the Peace, Security and Cooperation
Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and the Region, which was signed in February, will
deliver lasting peace, security and development for the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes
region as a whole. We highly commend the Secretary-
General for his vision and leadership in that regard.
We welcome the choice of Her Excellency Ms. Mary
Robinson, former President of Ireland, as the Special
Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes
Region. She will surely help advance the cause of peace
in the region, if supported by all of us in the region
and the international community. Tanzania commits its
support in that respect.
Among the enduring problems facing the
Democratic Republic of the Congo is the proliferation
of armed groups with varied interests. Bolder action
is required to uproot those negative elements. Those
groups should be neutralized and disarmed. It is in that
context that we welcomed an expanded mandate for the
United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo as per Security
Council resolution 2098 (2013), which, among other
things, established the Intervention Brigade. Tanzania
agreed to contribute troops to the Brigade because we
believe it will help to deter belligerence and create a
conducive environment for a political process to take
effect. Of course, any panacea for the Democratic
Republic of the Congo problem will be political rather
than military.
Since 2007, Tanzania has been a proactive
contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations.
With more than 2,500 peacekeepers — in Lebanon,
Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo — we
are the sixth-largest contributor of military and police
peacekeepers in Africa, and twelfth globally. We
are partaking in that noble endeavour as a faithful
Member of the United Nations, ready to perform the
duty of advancing and upholding the ideals of the
Organization. We are satisfied that our contribution,
albeit modest, is having a broader impact on those who
have experienced the horrors of conflict. In discharging
that historic mission, however, our peacekeepers, and
therefore Tanzania, have sometimes paid the ultimate
price, as was the case recently with the loss of seven
brave soldiers in Darfur and two in the eastern part of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Those soldiers
are our national heroes, and their sacrifice is not in
vain. We hold them in very high regard.
The death of our peacekeepers was a grim reminder
of the dangers facing peacekeepers around the world. It
is disturbing that armed groups and peace spoilers are
increasingly attacking such servants of peace. We must
unreservedly condemn all such attacks, as there is no
cause or justification for such barbaric attacks. They
constitute a crime under international law. The Security
Council, whose primary role is the maintenance of
international peace and security, should be in the
forefront in terms of condemning such barbaric acts in
good time.
At this juncture, I wish to reiterate our call for
an end to the unilateral economic, commercial and
financial embargo against Cuba, which has lasted for
more than 50 years. Our call to end that unilateral
embargo is predicated upon not only its legality but
also upon humanitarian concerns, in particular the
negative effects it has on the quality of life of many
innocent Cubans. We are deeply encouraged by recent
developments, especially the removal of restrictions on
family travel, cash remittances and telecommunication
services. We hope that spirit will culminate in a total
cessation of the embargo in the not-too-distant future so
that Cubans will be relieved of the enormous economic,
social and financial hardships they have endured for far
too long.
A solution to the dispute over the sovereignty of
Western Sahara is also long overdue. It is high time
that the United Nations took bold action to give the
Saharawi people an opportunity to decide their fate. It
is incomprehensible that the Security Council, which
has been able to handle bigger security challenges,
including in similar circumstances, has not been able
to resolve the matter for nearly 40 years now. Justice
delayed is justice denied.
Members will agree that the Rome Statute, which
established the International Criminal Court, was a
major milestone for the international criminal justice
system. The Court’s establishment as a mechanism for
fighting impunity was possible only with the support
of Africa.
However, a decade after its entry into force, a rift
has grown between the Court and our continent. The
Court is perceived as unresponsive to what are, in our
view, the legitimate concerns of African leaders and
the peoples of Africa. It continues to ignore repeated
requests and appeals by the African Union. It was sad
to note that legitimate requests regarding the timing
of the trials of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy
President William Ruto went unanswered. That attitude
has become a major handicap in terms of reconciling
the Court’s secondary and complementary role in
fighting impunity. The Court’s rigidity has proved
counterproductive and threatens to undermine the
support it enjoys in Africa. We demand a change in that
perception.
Tanzania condemns in the strongest terms
possible the cowardly attack that happened last week
at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, which left more than
60 innocent people dead and hundreds more injured.
I spoke and wrote to President Kenyatta to express
our sadness and dismay. Yesterday, I signed the book
of condolences at the Kenyan Mission to the United
Nations here in New York. I reaffirmed our solidarity
with President Kenyatta and the people of Kenya during
these difficult moments, as well as our solidarity in the
fight against terrorism.
That heinous attack is a heartbreaking reminder of
the threat that terrorism poses to humankind. None of
us is completely safe from terrorism, as it can happen
anywhere, anytime and to anyone. We must therefore
increase our vigilance, enhance regional and global
cooperation and scale up the fight against terrorism.
The challenge ahead of us can be neither underestimated
nor understated. Success will depend upon our unity of
purpose and determination. At this juncture, I would
like to commend His Excellency President Uhuru
Kenyatta for his exemplary leadership in the wake of the
attack and his unshaken resolve and firm commitment
to continue to support the peacebuilding efforts in
Somalia and elsewhere. We are with the Kenyan people
in this time of distress and grief.
In conclusion, I would like to stress once more that
we are passing through a time of great opportunity
despite the many challenges. We must take advantage
of the current scientific and technological innovations,
the current advances in information and communication
technologies and the knowledge and lessons learned
from the implementation of development programmes,
including the MDGs, to build a world without poverty,
hunger, disease and deprivation.
We must build a world that protects its environment
and nature, a world without wars, conflicts or acts of
terrorism, a world where human rights are respected,
the rule of law is observed, democracy reigns and
civil society is regarded as an integral part of the
development endeavour. With stronger multilateralism
and the United Nations leading the way, and with
strong political will on the part of national leaders and
the people of our nations, everything is possible. We
can make our world a better place for everyone to live.