At the very outset, allow
me to congratulate Mr. Ashe on his well-deserved
election to the office of the President of the General
Assembly. I assure him of my delegation’s full support
and cooperation during his tenure of office. I also
wish to commend his predecessor for the exemplary
leadership he demonstrated during the previous session.
From the humble beginnings of a fledging
organization more than six decades ago to a massive
expansion in membership today, the United Nations
has undoubtedly stood the test of time. Its worth as an
indispensable entity in shaping the world of our time is
a matter of common cause. Some of the great strides the
United Nations has made span the peaceful settlement
of disputes, restoring calm in many countries through
peacekeeping, raising awareness of human rights and
eradicating diseases. Nevertheless, much still needs to
be done.
Much of the world remains mired in poverty and
disease, while peace, security and stability continue to
be fragile. Economic development continues to be the
greatest challenge in our history. As we ushered in a new
millennium 13 years ago, we adopted the Millennium
Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) in order to focus the world’s attention on ending
extreme poverty in all its forms. The 2015 deadline for
the achievement of the MDGs is fast approaching, yet it
is clear that not much progress has been made in many
countries in achieving the Goals. Alive to that fact,
the United Nations is engaged in various processes in
preparation for the post-2015 development era. It is in
this context that we welcome the theme for this session,
“The post-2015 development agenda: setting the stage”.
One of the key outcomes of the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) was
that we launched a process to develop a set of sustainable
development goals (SDGs), which would build upon the
MDGs and converge with the post-2015 development
agenda. We note the progress that has been made in that
regard and hope that the letter and spirit of the Rio+20
outcome document, “The future we want” (resolution
66/288, annex), will be upheld. It is our hope that we
will develop SDGs that are simple to implement, while
also paying attention to the reality that no one size fits
all.
The post-2015 development agenda must be an
integral framework that will build upon the successes
and failures of the MDGs. We need to reflect on the
experiences and lessons learned in implementing the
MDGs, the results achieved and opportunities missed.
It is time for this body to come together and exercise its
collective responsibility to finalize this one shared goal
of articulating and shaping a development agenda that
is inclusive and people-centred. A new development
agenda, premised upon the sovereign equality of all
States while recognizing their interdependence and
mutually reinforcing roles, should be our goal. To
achieve that, a renewed spirit of solidarity, cooperation
and mutual accountability must underpin our efforts.
It is equally important, in our view, to pay special
attention to the perils of climate change for our physical
world, as well as its destruction of ecosystems, all of
which result in land degradation and contribute to the
decline of agricultural productivity. Agriculture is the
mainstay of our small economies. In order to address
that challenge, agriculture and food security have to
be given the necessary prominence in the envisaged
development agenda.
Similarly, sustainable mountain development
should be our ideal. To a country such as Lesotho, with
over 60 per cent of its land area covered by mountains,
sustainable mountain development is imperative for the
people to survive. Mountains are valuable water sources
with rich biodiversity. As such, international support
for conservation programmes and the protection of
mountain ecosystems should be at the forefront of our
plans.
The state of peace and security in the world is
gradually getting worse. The possession of nuclear
weapons and other weapons of mass destruction
remains the principal threat to the survival of
humankind. The widespread sectarian strife in the
Middle East and elsewhere and xenophobia are some
of the great challenges to global peace. Sadly, discord
remains among Member States on how to overcome
those problems.
Of particular concern to my delegation is the
situation in Syria, which poses a serious and growing
threat to international peace and security. Scores of
civilians continue to be the principal victims. Women,
children and the elderly are bearing the brunt of the
conflict. The use of chemical weapons in Syria is not
only abhorrent, but also a crime against humanity. We
condemn it in the strongest terms, as it threatens to
undermine the norm against the use of chemical weapons
universally embraced by the international community.
We welcome the partial report of the United Nations
chemical weapons inspectors investigating the use of
those weapons in Syria, and hope that the culprits will
face the might of international law and justice.
The crisis in Syria has the potential to engulf the
whole Middle East region, with global ramifications.
We call on the international community to find a quick
and lasting solution to the conflict. Whether in Syria or
anywhere else, perpetrators of crimes against humanity
must be held legally accountable for their actions.
History has revealed that human societies can
enjoy peaceful, orderly progress only if the rule of
law obtains. The conviction that peace and justice
are inextricably intertwined has always underpinned
the efforts of the United Nations in the area of the
maintenance of international peace and security.
Indeed, the International Criminal Court (ICC), created
in 1998, is a beacon that speaks to that truism. We must
use institutions, such as the ICC and other international
legal tribunals, as a reflection of the international
community’s increasing rejection of impunity and
evidence that there is a rising tide in favour of the
rule of law. At the same time, we need to ensure that
institutions, such as the ICC, are adequately insulated
against politicization. Selective prosecutions must be
avoided.
A decade has passed since the initiation of
the notion of the responsibility to protect. Yet, the
operationalization of that concept has not become a
reality. The fact that crimes of mass atrocity continue
to be committed around the world is a stark reminder
that the time for a collective approach to protecting
populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic
cleansing and crimes against humanity is now. Most
mass atrocities often do not occur spontaneously, but
rather as part of a planned process. Over the years, we
have learned the important lesson that the Organization
cannot stand on the sidelines when challenged to take
preventive action. In so doing, we should guard against
the misuse and abuse of the norm of the responsibility
to protect by infringing on the national sovereignty or
altering the legal obligation of Member States to refrain
from the use of force except in conformity with the
Charter of the United Nations.
From the Horn of Africa and across the Sahel
region to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the
African continent is facing a rise in lawlessness and
conflicts. As we celebrate the jubilee of the formation
of our continental organization, the Organization of
African Unity, we are resolved, as leaders of Africa,
that Africa must open a new chapter going forward and
extricate itself from the conflicts that have so soiled its
reputation and compromised its development. We are
determined to build a safe, secure and peaceful Africa
from here forward.
With the presence of extremist groups and
terrorist entities in the Middle East and elsewhere,
terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to world
peace, security and development. The ugly face of
that scourge has once again resurfaced in Kenya. We
condemn the barbaric killings of innocent people in the
Westgate mall in Nairobi, committed by Al-Shabaab.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families that
have lost their loved ones. We all know that solutions
to these problems cannot be through military means
alone. We have to invest more in creating a holistic and
integrated approach that targets, among other things, the
improvement of economic development, the promotion
of the rule of law, the protection of human rights and
fundamental freedoms, and good governance.
In the face of the numerous global challenges
existing in the world today, promoting more effective
global governance should be at the forefront of the
international agenda. We, the membership of the United
Nations, should strive for an international Organization
with improved efficiency and effectiveness. In our
efforts to reform the United Nations, emphasis needs to
be placed on enhancing, inter alia, its accountability and
that of all its organs and bodies and the programmes of
Member States, irrespective of their size and influence.
It would be remiss of me not to express solidarity
with the people of Cuba for having endured sanctions for
so many years. We also want to express our unwavering
solidarity with the people of Western Sahara, who have
languished under the yoke of colonialism for far too
long. In the same vein, we express our unwavering
support for the people of Palestine. As a small country
that was surrounded by apartheid South Africa for
almost a century, we understand the pain that others
who still languish under that kind of situation feel.
Those situations are a challenge that this body can
easily remove from our agenda simply by doing what is
right. In true brotherly solidarity, we appeal to this body
to remove those final vestiges of colonial oppression.
In conclusion, I need not emphasize that our
peoples do not necessarily look at this Organization as a
mirror reflecting a divided and troubled world. Rather,
they yearn for progress and solutions to the problems
besieging their world. They want ideas, leadership and
concrete hope for the future. Our actions and decisions
should embody themes of peace and development that
look far beyond the immediacy of the moment. The
challenges that confront us today must be, more than
ever before, addressed with the candour and decision
that the present global economic and political situation
dictates to us all.