I take this opportunity,
Madam President, to warmly congratulate you on your
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at
its sixty-first session. My delegation welcomes your
leadership and assures you of our unwavering support
as you carry out your duties. We are confident that
under your able leadership the reform programmes of
the United Nations will be advanced.
I also take this opportunity to thank your
predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, for the leadership he
provided in steering the affairs of the sixtieth session.
My delegation noted with satisfaction the service he
rendered, and also noted that under his presidency
positive advances were made towards the reform of the
United Nations.
Malawi welcomes the admission of the Republic
of Montenegro as the 192nd Member of the United
Nations. Malawi wishes President Filip Vujanovic and
the people of the Republic of Montenegro continued
peace and prosperity as they chart the way forward and
take their place in the United Nations.
At the end of this year we bid farewell to
Mr. Kofi Annan, who has served as Secretary-General
for two consecutive terms. I am happy to join previous
speakers in paying tribute to Mr. Annan for the
dynamic leadership he has provided to the United
Nations during his tenure of office.
Mr. Annan had many achievements, but perhaps
one of the greatest was his ability to remain calm and
well focused under great pressure. During his tenure of
office the United Nations faced daunting challenges,
including the fight against famine, hunger and natural
disasters in many parts of the world; civil wars in
Africa and conflicts in the Middle East and the Gulf
region; international terrorism; and the fight against
HIV/AIDS. It is therefore with great pleasure that, on
behalf of the people of Malawi, and on my own behalf,
I honour and pay tribute to Mr. Kofi Annan for his
sterling service to the United Nations. I trust that he
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will continue to be of service to humanity in other
capacities.
The theme of this year’s session, “Implementing
a global partnership for development,” is very
pertinent, because during the 2005 session we renewed
the mandate of the United Nations to meet the
challenges of the millennium, such as eradicating
global poverty and injustice, and the promotion of
democracy, human rights, peace, security and stability
in Member nations. We asserted that these are essential
ingredients for sustainable economic and social
development and that they are interlinked and mutually
reinforcing in the quest for the betterment and well-
being of humanity as a whole.
I believe that in the search for global partnership
for development the greatest challenge that the United
Nations faces is to eradicate the poverty that engulfs
the majority of humanity.
I believe that global peace, security and stability
cannot be assured if the greater section of humanity
lives in abject poverty. It is our hope that those who
have will learn to share with those who do not have.
In order to present to the Assembly the need for a
global partnership framework as a way to achieve a
faster and sustainable rate of economic growth, let me
use my own country as an example. In Malawi we have
determined priorities to fast track socio-economic
growth for the people. We are cognizant that in a poor
nation like ours everything becomes a priority, but we
have agreed on a set of “priorities within priorities”
that we want to implement in the next five years. These
are agriculture and food security, irrigation and water
development, transport and communications
infrastructure, energy, integrated rural development
and the prevention and management of HIV/AIDS. We
believe that, when fully implemented, these sectors
will, together, pull our people out of poverty.
We have given the highest priority to agriculture
and food security because this sector is a mainstay of
our economy and we intend to make Malawi a hunger-
free nation. We are assisting smallholder and peasant
farmers to increase their productivity in food and cash
crops by providing cheap fertilizers and high-quality
farm inputs. This will provide food security as well as
expand agro-processing industries, and it will mean
adding value to our products. We seek international
support in this area.
Secondly, we need international partnership in
irrigation and water development. This would reduce
our country’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture. We
aim at having small-, medium- and large-scale
irrigation schemes and the construction of multi-
purpose dams throughout the country. This will enable
Malawi to produce enough food even when rains fail.
Thirdly, we consider transport and
communications infrastructure to be essential for
growth and development and, indeed, a good candidate
for international partnership. We are convinced that
through well developed road networks we will not only
improve movement of goods and services from rural
areas to the urban centres, but also enhance domestic
and international trade.
More importantly, Malawi seeks global
partnership in opening up access to the Indian Ocean
through the existing Shire-Zambezi waterway, which is
navigable all the way from an inland port in Malawi to
the port of Chinde, in Mozambique, on the Indian
Ocean, only 238 kilometres away. This waterway
would benefit Malawi and other southern African
countries, especially Mozambique, Zambia, Rwanda,
Burundi and Zimbabwe.
Fourthly, Malawi has selected energy as another
area of international partnership. We believe that it is
imperative for our country to develop adequate and
reliable energy for agriculture, irrigation, transport,
industry and all other areas of economic
transformation.
Fifthly, Malawi would welcome international
partnership in promoting integrated rural development
aimed at eradicating poverty among the rural
communities. We have recognized that the economic
stratification of our country is such that the greater
percentage of the people live in rural areas in squalid
conditions. We seek donor support to boldly take
development to rural areas through promoting rural
growth centres.
Lastly, Malawi seeks international partnership in
HIV/AIDS prevention and management. We recognize
that our country on its own, without the full support of
the international community, cannot successfully wage
the battle against HIV/AIDS. I am happy to say that
during the past two years Malawi has made tremendous
progress in AIDS awareness campaigns, the supply of
anti-retroviral drugs and voluntary testing.
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This is Malawi’s agenda for implementing a
global partnership for development. I am submitting
this agenda to the United Nations for support.
Before I end my statement, I need to mention two
important issues.
First, through a global partnership, Malawi has
reached the completion point of the Heavily Indebted
Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. I and the people of
Malawi are truly grateful that our multilateral debts
have been cancelled by the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank. We thank the [G-8 countries
for spearheading the Initiative and for their
commitment to it. We believe that this is a true
example of global partnership in development.
The second issue that is germane to global
partnership is for me to reiterate my plea for the
readmission of the Republic of China – Taiwan — as a
Member of the United Nations. Many of those present
will agree that since the end of the cold war, and with
the advent of globalization, Taiwan has quietly
contributed to the work of the United Nations and its
specialized agencies in various areas, including
technology, medicine, research, industry and
international trade. That contribution becomes
increasingly important, especially within the principle
of universality, equity and justice.
Let me conclude by drawing attention to the
report entitled “In larger freedom: towards
development, security and human rights for all”, by
Mr. Kofi Annan, who stated:
“The right to choose how they are ruled, and who
rules them, must be the birthright of all people,
and its universal achievement must be a central
objective of an Organization devoted to the cause
of larger freedom.” (A/59/2005, para. 148)
To me, such larger freedom means the freedom of
every nation to belong to the United Nations, the
freedom from oppression of one nation by another, and
freedom for every nation to contribute to the global
partnership for development. These are the freedoms of
the United Nations that should be cherished and
upheld.
I therefore appeal to the Security Council to
reconsider the fact that Taiwan should be granted
observer status in the United Nations and its
specialized agencies, pending a full review of its
membership. I am convinced that continued denial of
Taiwan’s participation in the community of nations
poses a moral and legal challenge to the United
Nations.