I stand before this
Assembly as an envoy of His Excellency Mr. Rupiah
Bwezani Banda, President of the Republic of Zambia.
Zambia wishes to align itself with the statement
delivered by His Excellency Ngwazi Professor Bingu
Wa Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi
and current Chairperson of the African Union.
This session is taking place amid global
challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity,
environmental degradation, international terrorism,
piracy, HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty and hunger, among
others. It is an occasion for all Member States to
collectively engage in dialogue aimed at finding
solutions to the challenges that our countries are
facing, in order to contribute to the socio-economic
development and well-being of our people.
The Assembly’s theme this year is appropriate, as
it provides an opportunity to reaffirm the central role
of the United Nations in global governance. The role of
the United Nations is felt in areas such as
peacekeeping, security, human rights, the promotion of
gender equality and the fight for social justice and
equality. However, emerging global challenges, such as
the recent financial and economic crisis, also call for a
greater role for the United Nations in global economic
governance. In that regard, our Government would like
to see a strengthening and enhancing of capacity in the
United Nations to enable it to deal with some of those
challenges.
Allow me to express Zambia’s gratitude to the
Secretary-General for organizing the important high-
level meetings that preceded the general debate.
The summit to review the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) provided an opportunity
for the international community to take stock of
existing gaps and the challenges faced in the
attainment of the MDGs. At that meeting I elaborated
on the progress Zambia has made and the challenges
we continue to face in our efforts to attain the MDGs.
In spite of the strides made in improving the
macroeconomic environment and putting in place
development frameworks, the incidence of poverty in
my country remains high, partly because our efforts
alone are not enough. I therefore wish to reiterate calls
to the international cooperating partners to honour all
of their commitments to ensure that the 2015 targets
are realized.
Let me also add that the measures that the
Zambian Government has adopted to address the issue
of hunger and poverty include devising agricultural
sector policies that enable smallholder farming
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households to improve their productivity. In that
connection, this year Zambia has recorded a bumper
harvest of maize, which is our main food crop. That
will ensure food security and increased incomes for
smallholder farmers, who constitute the majority of the
farming community.
We are mindful, however, of the fact that climate
change, as evidenced by persistent periods of droughts
and floods in our countries, poses one of the most
serious threats to the agricultural sector and thus to
overall food production. While as a Government we are
doing everything possible, such as investing in
agricultural research and irrigation methods, the debate
on climate change should not lose sight of the need to
assist developing countries, including Zambia, in
building capacities to adapt in order to mitigate
negative impacts on the agricultural sector. Without
those, poverty and hunger will persist in my country.
Zambia shares the concerns of the Secretary-
General regarding current global resource loss and
ecosystem degradation. It is important that mankind
reverse the ongoing trends of natural resource loss and
ecosystem degradation as a commitment to protect
biodiversity. That will be achieved only if all
stakeholders step up their efforts and meet the MDGs
and other internationally agreed development goals.
My delegation welcomes the positive
developments that have occurred in the past year in the
area of arms control and disarmament. The Security
Council’s convening of a summit to address
disarmament issues, the Secretary-General’s launch of
a five-point nuclear disarmament proposal, the entry
into force of treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free
zones in Central Asia and Africa, and the convening of
a summit in Washington to discuss nuclear
disarmament and non-proliferation, among others, must
indeed be commended. We hope those efforts and the
momentum generated will be sustained and will lead to
the resolution of all outstanding issues in the area of
disarmament.
Zambia, however, continues to face difficulties in
controlling the inflow of small arms and light weapons.
The illicit trade in small arms threatens security and
retards social and economic development in our
country. Zambia therefore calls for the establishment of
a strong and legally binding international instrument on
the arms trade. We strongly support the convening of
the United Nations conference in 2012 to establish
legally binding common international standards for the
import, export and transfer of conventional arms, with
specific measures against defaulters.
On the reform of the United Nations, in particular
the Security Council, Zambia reaffirms its support for the
African position, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus
and the Sirte Declaration, that Africa should be granted,
among others, not less than two permanent seats, with all
of the prerogatives and privileges including the right of
veto, and two additional non-permanent seats. Africa is
the only continent without permanent seats, and yet it has
the second largest membership of the United Nations.
Granting Africa permanent seats will redress that
historical injustice.
The Government of Zambia recognizes the
important role that women play in attaining
development. Furthermore, we recognize that the
empowerment of women and their inclusion in the
decision-making process have enhanced their role in
development. That is why Zambia has integrated
women of all sectors of society in decision-making
positions, and we are committed to doing even more.
Our Government welcomes the establishment of
UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and the
appointment of Ms. Michelle Bachelet, the former
President of Chile, to head it. It is our hope that the
new Entity will have a strong and effective presence at
country level and will help Member States implement
standards and will provide them with the much-needed
financial and technical support required to achieve
women’s empowerment, equality and equity.
As the Assembly is aware, Zambia has been
hosting refugees prior to and since its independence in
1964 and is party to all refugee conventions. My
country was among the first on the African continent to
host a refugee camp. Zambia is committed to hosting
refugees, and our experience has demonstrated that
voluntary repatriation is a desirable and durable
solution. However, as an under-resourced and least
developed country, hosting refugees is a major
challenge for us. We therefore call upon the
international community to provide financial assistance
to enable us to discharge that responsibility through the
provision of minimum standards of care.
In addition to the question of refugees, the issue
of internally displaced persons, which has continued to
increase worldwide, especially in Africa, equally calls
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for our attention. The adoption by the African Union
last year of the Convention for the Protection and
Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa is
an important landmark that requires the support of the
international community at large.
The sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe continue to
cause great suffering to the people of that country and
to the southern Africa region as a whole. Similarly, the
embargo that the United States has imposed on Cuba,
which the United Nations has condemned through
numerous General Assembly resolutions, has caused
untold hardship to the people of Cuba. Zambia calls on
this body to ensure that the sanctions on Zimbabwe and
the United States embargo on Cuba are lifted.
In an effort to consolidate democratic
governance, Zambia is in the process of enacting a new
constitution. The National Constitutional Conference
that was established to oversee the process concluded
its work and submitted a draft constitution, which
awaits tabling before Parliament. As the Assembly may
be aware, Zambia will hold presidential and general
elections in 2011. As in the past, international election
observers, including those from the United Nations,
will be invited.
As we reaffirm the role of the United Nations in
global governance, let us not be complacent in the face
of great suffering and hardship in our world. Let that
be the force that drives us to action, where all nations
will work together in meeting the goals and aspirations
of our peoples.