It is a great honour
and privilege for me to deliver this important statement
on behalf of the delegation of the Kingdom of
Swaziland. Allow me to convey the warm greetings
and best wishes of His Majesty King Mswati III, Her
Majesty the Queen Mother, the Government and the
people of the Kingdom of Swaziland to the whole
United Nations family.
The Kingdom of Swaziland warmly congratulates
you, Madam, on your historic election to the
presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-first
session. We are confident that your wide experience
and proven legal and diplomatic skills will ensure
success in addressing the challenging and daunting
issues that face the Assembly at this session. We would
also like to commend the excellent work of your
predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, Minister for Foreign
Affairs of Sweden, in particular for his skilful
leadership and the great effort he put into directing the
General Assembly at its previous session.
The Kingdom of Swaziland would like to pay
special tribute to Mr. Kofi Annan for his outstanding
work during his tenure as our Secretary-General.
Through his untiring and dedicated efforts, he
demonstrated the vision and qualities that saw him
successfully lead our Organization into the twenty-first
century, despite the daunting challenges that the
Organization faced. We also commend him for his
initiatives in contributing to the economic and social
development of the African continent through the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Kingdom of Swaziland is delighted to extend
a warm welcome to our Organization’s newest
Member, the Republic of Montenegro, whose accession
is a further confirmation of respect for the principles of
universality and representation enshrined in the Charter
of the United Nations.
However, as we welcome our new Member, we
remain conscious of the fact that the principle of
universality has not been applied to its fullest. I am
referring to the exclusion of Taiwan. With the
admission of Montenegro, almost all the countries of
the world have become Members of this global
Organization, all except one — Taiwan. The exclusion
of this nation poses a legal and a moral challenge to the
international community. The time has come for the
United Nations to stop enforcing a policy of exclusion
against the 23.6 million people of Taiwan. The
Kingdom of Swaziland believes that accepting Taiwan
as a member of the United Nations would not only
restore the rights of the people of that island but would
also contribute to ensuring that peace and stability is
maintained in the Taiwan Strait. We believe that every
country in that region should be allowed to participate
in working towards peace, stability and positive
development. We propose, therefore, that General
Assembly resolution 2758 (XXVI) of 1971 be
reviewed carefully, with a view to restoring the legal
and moral rights of the people of Taiwan to be part of
the United Nations family.
The Kingdom of Swaziland joins the world in
condemning terrorism and threats to international
peace and security. We condemn all acts of terrorism
that have taken place over the past year and we offer
our sympathies and prayers to all those who were
affected by such acts, especially the families and
friends of those who lost their lives. The world has, in
recent times, seen an upsurge of terrorism on an
unprecedented level.
We welcome the recent agreement on a counter-
terrorism strategy, which demonstrates the commitment
of the international community to overcome the
scourge of terrorism. It must be borne in mind that all
States, large and small, and in every region, are
vulnerable and could be affected by terrorism.
Therefore, all Member States have to ensure that the
strategy is implemented and further updated in order to
confront the evolving challenges.
13 06-53958
We fully support the African Nuclear-Weapon-
Free Zone Treaty and call for the elimination of all
nuclear weapons by those States that possess them. As
part of our commitment to a peaceful world, we
support the efforts of the Conference on Disarmament
concerning the prohibition of the development and
manufacture of new types of weapons of mass
destruction. We also continue to be part of the
campaign against the trafficking, sale and distribution
of small arms and light weapons. Such weapons
encourage terrorism on an international as well as on
an individual level.
The Kingdom of Swaziland welcomes the
establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission, and
we look forward to the realization of the goals
envisaged in the formation of that body. We are also
proud to congratulate a sister State, the Republic of
Angola, on her election to be the first to preside over
this important and unique Commission.
The recent tragic events that took place in
Lebanon and northern Israel are a cause for great
concern and a challenge to the Peacebuilding
Commission. The Kingdom of Swaziland stands firmly
behind the collective effort of the international
community to ensure the implementation of the
Security Council resolution that ended the conflict
between Israel and Hizbollah. We are of the view that a
comprehensive peace process must be revived as a
matter of urgency.
While we are especially encouraged by the
developments towards peace on the African continent,
we remain concerned about the worsening security
situation in Darfur in western Sudan, where thousands
of people have been killed and more than 2 million
displaced since the conflict erupted in 2003. We urge
the parties concerned to demonstrate a spirit of
necessary compromise and to cooperate with efforts
made to facilitate the search for peaceful and lasting
solutions. The Kingdom of Swaziland supports
unequivocally every effort that is being made to sustain
peace in this area. We join our fellow Member States in
calling for support from the United Nations. We fully
hope and expect that commitments in words will be
followed up by deeds.
We welcome the results of the historic first-round
elections that took place in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, the first of its kind in 40 years. These elections
were the first crucial step towards the recovery of that
country, and we support every effort by the United
Nations and the international community to consolidate
this achievement, bearing in mind that it will make a
difference not only to the Democratic Republic of
Congo but to the African continent as a whole.
The recently established Human Rights Council
has just concluded a successful inaugural session. The
Kingdom of Swaziland welcomes the creation of this
historic new body. The creation of the Council was
indeed a step in the right direction towards
strengthening our Organization’s human rights tools.
We believe that the work of the Council will be guided
by the principles of universality, impartiality,
objectivity, non-selectivity, international dialogue and
cooperation. In this regard, we align ourselves with the
rest of Africa in supporting a less-politicized body that
will respond promptly to cases of human rights abuses
in any part of the world.
The Kingdom of Swaziland believes that the
ongoing reforms of the United Nations are essential,
especially if the Organization is to retain its global
credibility. It is therefore our hope that the many key
reform proposals that were deferred to this session will
be dealt with satisfactorily. Meanwhile, we welcome
the progress that has been made so far, including the
establishment of a United Nations Ethics Office, the
Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights
Council.
Neither renewal nor reform would be complete
without the reform of the Security Council. In the quest
for an overall agreement on this issue, the Kingdom of
Swaziland supports the position of the Non-Aligned
Movement and the African Group concerning the
composition and working methods of the Security
Council. We hope and expect that positive results will
flow from the conclusion of this matter.
As a Member State of this body, we recognize the
vital role that the major United Nations conferences
and summits have played in identifying commonly
agreed objectives which should lead to the successful
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). However, we do realize that nothing can be
achieved without adequate funding, especially for
developing nations. Even though promises have been
made, the time has come for them to be translated into
actions.
The breakdown and suspension of negotiations of
the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round is
06-53958 14
lamentable. However, insofar as the outcome is
concerned, the Kingdom of Swaziland believes that the
needs of developing nations must be fully taken into
consideration. Failure to do so will undermine the
already limited trade opportunities of these nations and
detract from the pursuit of policies in key areas, such
as employment, industrialization, food security, rural
development and sustained economic growth.
While we welcome the relevant ideas and general
principles for designing microeconomic, sectoral and
trade policies contained in the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development’s Trade
Development Report of 2006, we still believe that the
specific needs of developing nations have to be
addressed.
On a more domestic note, let me report that the
HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to be one of the biggest
challenges faced by the Kingdom of Swaziland. As we
begin to realize the benefits of a full-scale national
roll-out of antiretroviral drugs, a critical area of
concern is the care needed by the estimated 63,000
children who have been orphaned by the pandemic.
That is why, among many other structures we
have put in place to curb this scourge, we have revived
the concept of the “KaGogo”, which means, literally,
“grandmother’s house”. These KaGogo centres are
being constructed across the country and are a new
initiative based on traditional ways that empower local
communities to look after their orphans within
traditional structures. During the High-level
Conference on HIV/AIDS held in June 2006, His
Majesty King Mswati III clearly spelled out the scale
of the pandemic and how it is taking its toll on our
nation. It is indeed our greatest challenge.
The Kingdom of Swaziland fully supports the
Political Declaration that was adopted at the High-level
Conference, and we are confident that this renewed
commitment will strengthen the global response to the
pandemic. Thus, we realize the urgency of combining
our efforts to ensure that the rate of infection decreases
and that greater access to treatment and care for those
who are already living with the virus is achieved. We
fully support the efforts of such organizations as the
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS), especially in terms of minimizing the
threat of HIV to young people. We believe that that is a
moral obligation and is essential for halting the
escalation of the infection rate. In this regard, we look
forward to working closely with United Nations
agencies in order to alleviate the situation.
On a more positive note, the Kingdom of
Swaziland is now implementing the recommendations
of our job creation summit, which took place last year.
His Majesty King Mswati III always stands behind his
people and fully supports the idea of the participation
of the people in building the economy. For instance, he
encourages them to start their own businesses as a
means of reducing the unemployment level. However,
we still face significant challenges, e.g., market
fluctuations in certain products such as sugar and
textiles. We also encourage our people to enter into
partnerships and join ventures with foreign direct
investors in order to develop our nation.
In conclusion, allow me to allude to the fact that
there is indeed much vital work to be completed during
this sixty-first session of the General Assembly. The
Kingdom of Swaziland is confident that the initiatives
already taken will lead to the renewal of our
Organization, and we look forward to a new dynamic
and vibrant working period. We are indebted to the
United Nations for all we have received and achieved
over the years towards the development of our nation.
I am, therefore, charged by His Majesty The
King, Her Majesty The Queen Mother, the Government
and the people of the Kingdom of Swaziland with
proclaiming the renewal of our commitment to the
Charter of the United Nations. We ask for God’s
blessings upon those charged with leading the
Organization to give them the wisdom and direction
they require to carry out these tasks on behalf of all the
peoples of the world.