YouSaid · the spoken record

Thabo Mbeki,

lines on the record: 142
first: 1999-09-24
most recent: 2007-09-24
sittings or episodes: 8
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We are happy that there are encouraging peace processes in Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Sudan, with the Comoros already having held successful elections. We are particularly pleased because these positive developments will create the possibility for millions of our fellow Africans to reaffirm the sanctity of human life and security and to engage in the important tasks of rebuilding their countries to bring about a better life for all. As part of our commitment to wage a sustained struggle to realize the long-deferred hopes of the peoples of Africa, we have agreed to the establishment of various institutions, including a peer-review mechanism, which must help us ensure that we honour our commitments to democracy, human rights and good governance.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Clearly, the objectives of the African Union and the programme enunciated in the New Partnership essentially, and of necessity, seek to advance the aims contained in the Millennium Development Goals. Naturally, the United Nations — as an Organization seized of the task to address the critical issues of peace, human rights and poverty eradication within the framework of sustainable development — will forever be central to the success of the African Union and the accomplishment of the goals of the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Accordingly, on behalf of the united peoples of Africa, we are honoured and privileged to commend to this Organization both the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development. We are convinced that with the support of the United Nations, we will transform this into an African century.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“It results from the transformation of the Organization of African Unity, which championed the cause of the unity and independence of Africa for nearly 40 years. The African Union is Africa's practical and determined response to its past and present, in favour of peace and stability, democracy and human rights, cooperation, development, prosperity and human dignity. Its programme for the socio-economic revitalization of our continent is the New Partnership for Africa's Development, which must help us to eradicate poverty and underdevelopment throughout Africa and, within the context of the African Union, end Africa's humiliation as an object of charity.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“We have a common task to ensure that this Organization truly lives up to its obligations to do all the things that make for peace. We have a solemn obligation to give real meaning to the message of hope we proclaimed in the Millennium Declaration. It may be that future generations will say that if we have learned anything at all from the horrendous events of 11 September, it is that the General Assembly should dedicate its efforts to the accomplishment of these tasks. In keeping with that perspective, we have come to the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly to report that the peoples of Africa have risen to those challenges by forming the African Union. Our Union is based on the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“That an unprecedented number of heads of State and Government had gathered at the United Nations to make that commitment to cooperation among the peoples of the world — to peace, prosperity and justice throughout our universe — gave hope to the billions throughout the world who know the painful meaning of oppression by 10 another, of war and violent conflict, of poverty and injustice. None of those who spoke from this podium knew that a year after they had pledged to use their energies and talents to provide a meaningful life for all, peace in this country and the rest of the world would be brutally challenged by the murderous terrorist attack of 11 September. We meet a day after the anniversary of that fateful 11 September. We have a collective duty to reaffirm our united resolve to create a world free of the fear of terrorism.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“I would like to join in thanking the outgoing President of the General Assembly for the diligent manner in which he managed the affairs of the Assembly. I would also like to congratulate you, Mr. President, for taking over the leadership of the Assembly at its fifty-seventh session. We hope that you will have a successful tenure in your stewardship of this important body. Allow us to also welcome Switzerland and East Timor to membership of the United Nations. Two years ago, the world's political leaders met at this place and, through the historic United Nations Millennium Declaration, reaffirmed our faith in the United Nations Organization and its Charter as indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Peace and security for all, freedom and democracy for all, prosperity for all and genuine equality in conditions of diversity must surely be the outcomes towards which the United Nations and all of us must strive. Our actions must affirm the seriousness of our intent.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“As we all know, substantial capital flows into the developing countries are critical in the struggle to defeat poverty and underdevelopment. All these constitute vital component parts of what must inform the outcome of the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in September next year. We are confident that the Summit will reach positive conclusions that will include firm global, regional and national commitments to the elaboration, integration and implementation of economically efficient, socially responsible and environmentally sound development policies. There is no doubt that our global village has the resources and capacity to meet the needs of all its citizens. What is needed is the collective will of the international community to act decisively to meet this challenge, inspired by a sense of human solidarity.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“As we meet here, members of the World Trade Organization are engaged in critical negotiations in Doha, Qatar, hopefully to agree to a new equitable trading relationship that is fair and just. It is imperative that there be a non-discriminatory and equitable trading system that promotes sustainable development. Soon, ministers of health, the World Health Organization and others concerned will be finalizing the details relating to the global health fund to deal 13 with the major communicable diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. The International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held next March in Mexico, will cover a range of pertinent issues, such as debt relief, official development assistance and foreign direct investment.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Africa, for its part, has developed a New Partnership for Africa’s Development, which is a product of the consciousness among the African people that they themselves hold the key to the continent’s development, security and stability. Africans across the continent have arrived at the correct determination that human rights, democracy, peace, stability and justice are the fundamental building blocks for a prosperous continent. Concomitantly, African countries are taking measures, jointly and severally, to improve the conditions for much-needed investment, economic renewal and development. Naturally, the United Nations has a pivotal role to play in this regard.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“As the Durban World Conference concluded, racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance remain a critical part of the practices that serve to alienate billions of people and contribute to mutual antagonisms among human beings. The international community should spare no effort to ensure that this affront to human dignity is totally eradicated. Last year, we convened in this very Hall in the historic Millennium Summit. Solemnly, and with serious intent, we adopted the Millennium Declaration. The heavy and urgent obligation we now face is to implement the programme of action spelt out in that Declaration. This constitutes and must constitute the decisive front of struggle against terrorism.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Together, we must take the firm position that no circumstances whatsoever can ever justify resort to terrorism. The need to realize together the goal of determining the matters that make for peace once again underlines the need for properly representative international institutions to build the necessary global consensus. It would seem obvious that the fundamental source of conflict in the world today is the socio- economic deprivation of billions of people across the globe, coexisting side by side with islands of enormous wealth and prosperity within and among countries. This necessarily breeds a deep sense of injustice, social alienation and despair and a willingness to sacrifice their lives among those who feel they have nothing to lose and everything to gain, regardless of the form of action to which they resort.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“In this context, we might recall the words of the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, when he said “too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart”. The sacrifice of the Palestinian people should not be allowed to drag on any longer. Whatever these long-suffering people might themselves think and feel, it is clear that there are some in the world who will justify their destructive rage by claiming to be front-line fighters for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Beyond this, we must act together to determine the issues that drive people to resort to force and agree on what we should do to eliminate those issues. At the same time, we must make the point patently clear that such determination does not in any way constitute an attempt to justify terrorism.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“We have responded positively to this call because it is timely, correct and just. All these are important elements of what has to be done to respond to those who committed the mass murders of 11 September. But they also indicate the way forward as we consider the rules that should guide us as we confront the threat of terrorism over the longer term and beyond the critically important operations and activities focused on the events of 11 September. They put the matter firmly on our common agenda: We must also achieve global cooperation for the speedy resolution of conflict situations everywhere in the world. In this regard, it is clear that the situation in the Middle East cries out for an urgent and lasting solution.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“It has stated that such actions, including military actions, should not degenerate into collective punishment against any people on any grounds whatsoever, 12 including those of religion, race or ethnicity. Accordingly, it is indeed necessary that humanitarian assistance be extended to the people of Afghanistan. We fully agree with that approach. The United States Government has also said that these actions should be of the shortest duration possible, consistent with the objective that must be achieved. Again, we agree with this without reservation. The call has gone out that all Governments and countries should contribute whatever they can to ensure that the common efforts to find and punish the terrorists responsible for 11 September are met with their just results.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“11 September emphasized the point that, even as the democratic system of government is being consolidated throughout the world, even as we all work to sustain the possibility of a serious and meaningful global dialogue, there are some who are prepared to resort to force in pursuit of their goals. Clearly, there must be a response. But what should that response be? Immediately, it is correct that we must achieve global security cooperation so that the perpetrators of the 11 September acts of terrorism are apprehended and punished. Correctly, the Government of the United States has emphasized that all action that is carried out must be clearly targeted against the terrorists.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Necessarily, all of us must experience a shared sense of ownership of this convention, precisely because it would not be merely a statement of principles, but a set of injunctions and prescriptions that will be binding on all of us as States. Thus should each one of us be ready to integrate our respective sovereignties within a global human sovereignty, defined and governed by all of us, with none treated as superior or inferior. The challenge to unite the peoples of the world to fight the common threat of terrorism brings to the fore the need to speed up the transformation of the United Nations so that it is able to respond to the global challenges we face together, in an equitable manner. This means that it needs to be efficient, effective and responsive to the needs of humanity as a whole.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“None within this village will be safe unless all the villagers act together to secure and guarantee that safety. All must act to promote the safety and security of one and all, on the basis of a shared responsibility born of a shared danger. Accordingly, we have no choice but to get together in the village square to agree on the threat that confronts us. Together, in that village square, we have to determine what we do about this commonly defined threat. This is the ineluctable conclusion we must draw from the terrorist attacks of 11 September. To guarantee world peace and security in the light of the threat posed by terrorism requires that this Organization, the United Nations, must discharge its responsibility to unite the peoples of the world to adopt an international convention against terrorism.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“There can be no doubt but that the peoples of the world have to unite in action to defeat terrorism. There can be no hesitation among any of us in the resolve to work together to ensure that those responsible for the heinous actions of September 11 are brought to justice. This is so not only because many nations lost their citizens on that terrible day, important as that is. It is so, because terrorism has demonstrated that it has no respect for borders. It has shown in a very graphic, tragic and painful manner, as it did also in Kenya and Tanzania, that our very humanity renders all of us, without exception, potential targets of cold-blooded murder. Where we might have used the concept of a global village loosely in the past, on 11 September terrorism taught us the abiding lesson that we do indeed belong to a global village.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“The reason for this is that two months ago, the forces of terror struck at this city, New York — the Headquarters of this Organization — and Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States of America. It is proper that we take advantage of this occasion once more to convey our condolences and deepest sympathy to the people and the Government of the United States for the immense loss of life and property imposed on them through a callous act of murder. We extend the same sympathy to all other peoples who lost citizens as a result of the colossal outrage of 11 September. We speak here about the terrible tragedy of 11 September on behalf of our Government and the people of South Africa. We speak also on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Please accept my congratulations, Mr. President, on your assumption of the stewardship of this important Assembly. 11 We also wish to congratulate your predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri, for the skilful manner in which he guided the work of the Millennium Assembly of the United Nations. Allow me also to salute the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on being elected to a second term and, together with the United Nations, being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2001. This is because of the tireless work of both the Secretary-General and the United Nations to realize the ideal that we all cherish: a world in which all people can live in peace, security, freedom, equality and justice. As has already been noted and as we all know, this general debate has begun later than usual.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Let future generations not say that because of the force of inertia we failed to act.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“It would also respond to the most deep-seated feelings of the peoples of the developed North, who can have no interest in conflict, oppression and poverty, even if these occur beyond the borders of their own countries. It also goes without saying that the democratic systems in which we operate would also require that, through committed advocacy, we should secure the support of the electors for what should be a programme of action of the United Nations for the twenty-first century. 10 The evolution of human society has presented the world leaders who will stand at this rostrum with new possibilities to move our globe a giant step forward towards a new actuality, of which the poor and the powerless dream every day. We will be betraying those millions if we do not act to turn their dream into reality.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The United Nations documents to which we referred earlier give us a starting point. Accordingly, we believe that there is no need for anyone among us to rediscover a new vision that would inform our actions to build a new world which affirms the dignity and worth of the human person. What is necessary is that we match the beliefs we profess with the necessary action. We speak of action that will practically address the related issues of peace, democracy and development. I am certain that such a practical programme of action would meet the aspirations not only of the members of the Organization of African Unity and the Non-Aligned Movement, of which we are a member.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Bit by bit, our institutions are changing through reform, reorganisation and restructuring — but the process is much too slow, haphazard and piecemeal — it must become more conscious, imaginative and radical.” Once more, the matter turns on the will of the political leaders actually to discover among themselves the moral and intellectual courage to do what is correct and necessary. What is correct and necessary also requires that in this field as well, which affects socio-economic matters, we should review the functioning of all multilateral institutions, including those that belong within the United Nations family. This should be done to ensure that these too reflect the very necessary imperative of the democratization of the international system of governance.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“What we are saying is that the functioning of the markets does not and cannot exclude conscious interventions being made, both to increase economic opportunities and to raise the standards of living and the life possibilities of many in the world denied their human dignity by the scourge of poverty. In his interesting book Living on Thin Air, the British author Charles Leadbeater, writes: “The new (knowledge driven) economy needs a mobilizing vision and institutions fashioned to make it real.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“However, it is clear that there is no automatic or inherent mechanism within the operation of the markets to enable both capital and technology to make the sort of impact we are talking about on all countries of the globe. When we say this we should not be taken to mean that we are contemptuous of all that has been said about what each country needs to do to create the conditions conducive to investment and technology transfers. Nor should it be taken to mean that we are reopening the debate about the role of markets in the allocation of resources.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Further to this, science and technology continue to develop in such a way that it is difficult to believe that, taken together with the large concentrations of capital that characterize the world economy, the means do not exist within human society to make the required impact on poverty, ignorance and disease. Indeed, it can be argued quite rationally that international peace, democracy and prosperity are a necessary condition for the further rapid growth of the world economy, and with it the further expansion of the corporations, both small and big, which require global markets. Similarly, the revolution in information and communication technology, a critical driver of the process of globalization, both enables and calls for higher levels of education and standards of living among the billions who constitute the human population.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“It is a matter of common cause among all of us that the levels of poverty, ignorance and disease that continue to afflict billions around the globe constitute a direct denial of the dignity and worth of the human person to which we have committed ourselves. I am certain that we would also agree that the process of globalization has also been accompanied by growing inequality within and among countries. We have also seen how movements of short-term capital have produced disastrous economic consequences in some countries. As with the challenges of peace and democracy, it is our firm belief that sufficient resources exist within the world economy actually to address the social progress and the better life for all for which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights calls.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Of course, none of these proposals gainsay the need for the United Nations to act with all necessary vigour to help end all existing conflicts of which it is seized, including those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Western Sahara, East Timor, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Kosovo and others. 9 We started off with a quotation from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which speaks of affirming the dignity and worth of the human person, the promotion of social progress and securing a better life for all. We argued that conditions exist for movement towards the realization of the objectives spelt out in the Declaration.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The management of the world today through the exercise of such power, however modified, will itself subvert the objectives of democracy and peace, spawning pretenders to the throne at global, continental and regional levels. Simultaneously as the United Nations focuses on the critical question of the prevention of conflict, so must it attend to such issues as the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, the implementation of the ban on anti- personnel mines, the removal of mines in those countries which face this problem and the control of the proliferation of small arms.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“If indeed we are seriously committed to these critical objectives of peace and democracy in the world, then we have no excuse to permit the further postponement of the meaningful restructuring of the United Nations. If we were honest with ourselves, we would admit that what is blocking progress is the desire to accommodate what are perceived as new power relations, to reinstitutionalize relations of inequality within the United Nations in an amended form. This is based on the thesis that the institutionalization of such relations has precedence over the Organization’s founding principle of respect for the principle of equal rights among the nations. In the situation of the cold war and the prevalence of dictatorship in many countries, the politics of power might have been seen as the only path to survival.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Sometimes, our response to conflicts has been to wait for them to develop into violence, and even wars, and subsequently to intervene through costly peacekeeping operations. These, at times, serve to freeze those conflicts, perpetuate polarization and make their timely resolution more difficult. Moreover, the requirement on the United Nations to make such interventions to prevent the outbreak of hostilities imposes an obligation on the United Nations that it should be seen by Governments and peoples as a truly even-handed interlocutor and peacemaker. It can attain this only if it works genuinely to “develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self- determination of peoples”, as stated in Article I, paragraph 2, of its Charter.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The developments on which we have commented would suggest that the Organization has a responsibility to focus especially on the objective contained in Article I, paragraph 1, of its Charter, which says, “to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace ... and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace”. This, we believe, imposes a solemn and supreme responsibility on the United Nations to work for the prevention of conflicts and to endeavour to resolve them so that a durable peace can be established.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The mere spread of democracy throughout the world speaks of a greater commitment among the nations to the resolution of national and international conflicts by peaceful means. I am certain that when President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the current Chairperson of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), addresses the Assembly, he will report on the important decision recently taken at the Algiers summit of the OAU to exclude from its ranks, with effect from the next summit, all military regimes that may still exist on the African continent. A further decision was taken to assist such countries resolutely to move towards a democratic system of government.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In any case, the process of globalization necessarily redefines the concept and the practice of national sovereignty. The frontiers of that sovereignty are being pushed back, especially as regards the smaller countries of the world, such as our own. As this happens, inevitably, so does it become necessary that a compensatory movement take place towards the reinforcement of the impact of these countries on the system of global governance through the democratization of the system of international relations. The developments we have spoken of also suggest that perhaps, and depending on what we all do, humanity has never had as bright a prospect for durable world peace and security as it does today.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The first is that there should be no need on the part of any country to seek to establish spheres of influence as a supposed necessary condition for the advancement of its national interests. Secondly, the very sustenance of democracy across the globe requires that in every democratic country the ordinary people should feel that they actually do enjoy the right to determine their destiny. In other words, no country should be required to restrict its exercise of this 8 right simply because some other more powerful country dictates that this should be so. Thirdly, these circumstances create the possibility for a more democratic system of international governance, as would be reflected by a correct restructuring of this very Organization.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The only logical way to address this is vigorously to sue for universal disarmament and the destruction of such weapons. Secondly, I believe it would be correct to say that the overwhelming majority of countries in the world have opted for democratic forms of government. Having learned from their own experiences, the nations have turned their backs on dictatorship. Of course, we cannot say that such dictatorships do not exist or that no attempt will be made in the future to establish them. But we can make bold to say that these exceptions prove the rule, rather than disprove the proposition we are trying to advance. The combination of these two factors should lead to three conclusions, at least.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Only time will tell whether we have the moral and intellectual courage to rise to this challenge. But this we feel we can say: that conditions exist in the world today for us successfully to pursue the vision contained in the United Nations documents to which I have referred. What may be in short supply is the courage of the politicians, as opposed to an abundance of good- sounding rhetoric. What are these conditions of which we speak? The cold war has come to an end. There is no sign anywhere of an ideology-driven contest among super-Powers which dictates that each should seek to destroy the other in order to protect itself. It is true that a number of countries still possess weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons, which constitute a threat.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The central message they contain is expressed in the words of the preamble to the Declaration: “the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom”. We believe that the time has come for all of us to ensure that we work together to reconstruct human society in a manner consistent with this perspective. We further believe that what we have said constitutes a particular and historic challenge to those who occupy positions of political leadership in the modern era, those who, like us, will have the privilege of addressing this General Assembly.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We are pleased that you will be working with the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, who has demonstrated unquestionable commitment to the realization of the attainment of the goals of the Organization. The Charter of this Organization and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provide all of us with the vision towards which we should strive. At the time these documents were adopted, they reflected the international determination to ensure that the catastrophe occasioned by the rise of fascism and Nazism should never recur. We recall them today because we believe that the time has come for determined measures to be taken to ensure that they inform what happens in the common world we all share.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“On behalf of our Government and in my capacity as Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, I wish to extend our sincere congratulations to you, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, on your election as President of the General Assembly. I would also like to thank you for the kind remarks you made about my country as you assumed your high position. We have worked together for many decades. Thanks in good measure to your statespersonship, as neighbours we live together in peace and have joined hands as equals to ensure the all-round fulfilment of both our peoples. These experiences convince us that you will discharge your responsibilities as President of the General Assembly in a manner that will help humanity make our common world a better place for all.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)