It is a pleasure for me to
address the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth
session. Our coming here as leaders gives us the
opportunity to debate global challenges as per our
objectives and goals as enshrined in the United Nations
Charter.
The United Nations is a forum where we all come
together to share ideas, review progress and come up
with strategies to deal with world issues that need our
attention and input. The founders of this Organization
had a noble idea of addressing world issues amicably
with a view to avoiding confrontation. Therefore, we
are supposed to meet as equal partners to debate issues
that affect us as the world community, in a forum
where we are guided by the principles of trust, respect
and natural justice. The aim of the United Nations is to
bring joy and peace to the nations of the world. Let us
make sure that people develop confidence in the United
Nations so that they can approach the Organization
when they have problems.
We note that Africa has multiple problems that
seriously hinder its progress in the areas of health, the
economy, poverty and social welfare, which all come
under the Millennium Development Goals. It is our aim
as the African continent to evolve from being third
world countries to a first world status. That calls on
us — Africa in general and Swaziland in particular —
to work harder and smarter in order to realize that goal
and generate a strong economy for the betterment of
the lives of all our peoples.
However, we realize that we cannot effectively
deal with the challenges confronting us alone, mainly
because our resources are limited. It is through the
United Nations that we continue to forge partnerships
with different countries so that we work together to
grow our economies. We appeal to the developed
nations to recognize our hard work and to increase our
access to soft loans and grants to support development
programmes and poverty-reduction strategies. We call
on the United Nations to continue supporting national
initiatives aimed at eventually transforming our
economies to first world economies.
However, the global financial and economic crisis
has made the situation difficult, especially for
developing countries. It restrains us from achieving the
Millennium Development Goals.
The secondary effects of the crisis are now hitting
hard on developing economies, like that of the
09-52470 10
Kingdom of Swaziland, whose export trade is largely
dependent on performance in developed global
markets. In our case, several Government interventions
have been undertaken to rescue sectors such as the pulp
and textile industries. Added to this is the need to
mobilize resources and promote financial inclusion in
order to stimulate economic growth at the grassroots
level. In that regard, financial inclusion remains an
important stimulus for poverty alleviation programmes
in developing countries like the Kingdom of
Swaziland.
We are encouraged by signs of recovery from the
crisis, and we are confident that the United Nations
will continue to play its leading role in the efforts to
find a speedy resolution to the situation so that we may
all focus on development issues for the benefit of all
our peoples.
It is most unfortunate that while we do our level
best to improve our economies, we continue to be
confronted by disturbances and conflicts that include
wars and coups. We condemn those acts, as they lead to
untold suffering for millions of our peoples. As nations
of the world, let us come together and make sure that
such acts are not supported or encouraged. We call
upon all nations of the world to isolate and discourage
the sympathizers and sponsors. Where there are
problems, the peoples of the world must know that they
can address the challenges that they encounter through
peaceful engagement and dialogue.
If we want to achieve peace in the world, it is
important that we reduce and eventually eradicate
nuclear arms, which pose a threat to our planet. We
need to encourage nations that are at the stage of
developing, and those that already possess, nuclear
capability to utilize it for power generation that
supports and stimulates economic growth. Therefore,
we encourage the International Atomic Energy Agency
to continue to monitor countries that are developing
nuclear arms so that they may be stopped. It must also
ensure that countries that already have nuclear
capability reduce and eventually eradicate their nuclear
arms so that they become a thing of the past. In order
to accelerate the eradication of nuclear arms, the
United Nations must set targets and timelines for
compliance.
Another issue of concern is the continuing delay
of the reform of the Security Council. Many nations
have come to the conclusion that the Council
membership needs to be expanded so that it is more
representative, so that its decisions may be owned by
all Member States.
Africa has adopted firm and clear resolutions on
the Council composition they would like to see. Those
decisions were further affirmed at the recent summit of
the Non-Aligned Movement. Regrettably, we still have
not seen meaningful progress on that matter. We
therefore would like to call on all members of the
Security Council to address that issue with the urgency
that it deserves.
We are encouraged by the call made by fellow
leaders for us to open a new page in the work of the
United Nations by approaching global matters
collectively. It is imperative that the United Nations
take the lead in all issues that affect mankind. The
reform of the Security Council is one such area that
could clearly demonstrate the new approach to issues.
The Kingdom of Swaziland reiterates its support
for the efforts deployed by the international community
under the auspices of the United Nations towards a
political solution to the issue of Western Sahara. We
reaffirm that the initiative by the Kingdom of Morocco
for considerable autonomy for Western Sahara is the
beginning of a realistic and credible move. The
Kingdom of Swaziland calls upon all parties to join the
process in order to implement Security Council
resolutions 1813 (2008) and 1871 (2009).
The Kingdom of Swaziland continues to support
efforts to bring lasting peace to the situation in the
Darfur region, Somalia, Madagascar and other parts of
our continent.
I take this opportunity to express my appreciation
for the support and assistance being extended to the
Inclusive Government and the people of the Republic
of Zimbabwe by the nations of the world and by
international organizations. I also wish to echo the call
and appeal of the Southern African Development
Community for the immediate removal of all sanctions
against Zimbabwe, in order to ensure the speedy
recovery of the economy of that country for the benefit
of its long-suffering people.
As we gather here, we also wait with anticipation
for the outcome of the Israeli and Palestinian peace
efforts. We have seen the two parties enter into
promising peace agreements in the past that,
regrettably, faltered along the way. We call upon the
11 09-52470
two parties to continue to pursue peace to avoid loss of
life and to live in harmony.
We are happy to acknowledge the improvements
in the relations between the Republic of China on
Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China. That new
development has resulted in the international
community responding positively to the request of
Taiwan to be involved in United Nations agencies, as
evidenced by the granting of observer status in the
World Health Assembly. We look forward to seeing
Taiwan being allowed to fully contribute to humanity
by being given adequate participation in other United
Nations specialized agencies.
It is encouraging that this year’s General
Assembly was preceded by the Summit on Climate
Change, where issues of environmental protection were
given priority, as they are critical to all our
development strategies. The Summit noted that some
developed countries pollute the environment, mainly
through gas emissions, despite all the protocols in
place to protect it.
I am confident that the Summit was able to
mobilize adequate political support to guide the
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held
in Copenhagen in December, where developed
countries will be able to share their experiences and the
challenges that they faced. This will inform the agenda
that will lead to the transfer of skills and technology so
that, as developing countries pursue their growth, they
can avoid the mistakes of the past.
We cannot overemphasize the need to protect the
environment, as it is a precious gift from God to
humanity and must be preserved for generations to
come. We support the call for the establishment of a
major fund to cater to all projects related to climate
change. We are hopeful that Copenhagen will come up
with solutions for funding climate-change projects that
will be predictable, accessible and incremental. The
Kingdom of Swaziland is determined to work harder to
meet the targets set by the United Nations.
In conclusion let me say that the Kingdom of
Swaziland appreciates the good work of the United
Nations and its related agencies, which remain the only
hope for overcoming the many complex challenges
facing the world today. We therefore take pride in
reaffirming our commitment to the principles and
ideals contained in the United Nations Charter.