YouSaid · the spoken record

Stanislaus Mudenge

lines on the record: 66
first: 1996-09-24
most recent: 2001-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
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 hope that the implementation of the resolutions of that conference will go some way towards checking the spread of the disease. In conclusion, let me assure one and all that Zimbabwe will partner all international efforts towards the eradication of terrorism in all its forms, as well as exert all its energy in combating the pestilences that afflict humanity, especially poverty and underdevelopment.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Zimbabwe’s infection rate among the adult population is estimated to be 30 per cent, while hundreds of thousands of children have already been orphaned as a result of this dreaded disease. In the light of this, my Government and, indeed, those of other developing countries, will need all the assistance we 37 can get to complement our own efforts. We look forward to having this issue be seriously addressed by the international community. The international community should develop strategies to ensure that AIDS drugs developed by pharmaceutical companies become more affordable for developing countries. Let me extend my sincere thanks to the Secretary-General for convening the special session on HIV/AIDS in June this year.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“It is most unfortunate that our efforts at rectifying unsustainable colonial imbalances are seen by some as a crisis; the real crisis lies in the persistence of that legacy. Zimbabweans are resolved to correct that colonial injustice, in spite of the outcry from some quarters by people who regard the defence of the present injustice as their historic responsibility. It is unacceptable that a minority, whether black or white, should own over 70 per cent of the best arable land in any country. That may be acceptable in some countries; in Zimbabwe, we have decided to say “No”. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has become a serious developmental issue. As the Secretary-General’s report on the work of the Organization (A56/1) indicates, the pandemic is destroying the economic and social fabric in our countries.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“That is the crisis in my country, to which the spokesman of the European Union referred from this rostrum. Zimbabwe has policemen in Kosovo, policemen in Sierra Leone and policemen in East Timor. We are trying to bring peace to the Congo. We do not have a crisis; we have a land dispute. The lofty objectives of the United Nations Charter in the economic arena will remain unfulfilled unless all Member States join in efforts, genuinely and seriously, to redress inherited colonial imbalances that persist in developing countries. Social justice, political stability and sustainable development in Zimbabwe can be better achieved through genuine and committed support for land redistribution programmes than through the vilification or demonization of its leadership and policies.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Some, like the Openheimer family, own land that is nearly the size of Belgium — one man owns property the size of Belgium in Zimbabwe. My Government’s land reform programme guarantees that none of the white farmers will be left landless. Every existing white farmer who wants to farm is assured of getting one farm. The programme is not about total alienation or dispossession, but about equitable redistribution. What is more generous or equitable than that? As to who should pay for compensation, we reached understandings and agreements with the former colonial master when we negotiated our independence at Lancaster House in 1979. Obligations to pay compensation were assumed by the former colonial Power. Provided that all parties honour their obligations, the so-called land crisis in Zimbabwe will evaporate overnight.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Over 70 per cent of the arable land — the best of that land — is owned and utilized by less than 1 per cent of the population, represented by approximately 4,100 white farmers, most of them of British descent, while nearly 13 million black Zimbabweans eke out a living from the remaining 30 per cent — the worst of the arable land. Such a situation has to be corrected in the interests of equity, justice, social harmony and political stability in the country and, indeed, in our region of southern Africa. My Government has begun a land reform and redistribution programme, which, while ensuring that more people are settled on acquired land, will leave the current owners with only one farm each. At present, some of them own 18 farms each — and an average farm in Zimbabwe is 2,000 hectares.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“We need not recall much more evidence of the persistence of this phenomenon than the proceedings of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, barely two months ago. The continued refusal on the part of some former colonial Powers to acknowledge the devastating effects that colonialism has had, and continues to have, on the economic development of most of the former colonies has also been much in evidence. It is no accident that it is those former colonies that today occupy the lower rungs of the development totem pole. In Zimbabwe, the colonial legacy is poignantly evident in the racially skewed land-ownership structure, which is a direct result of racist policies and the laws of successive colonial regimes between 1890 and 1980.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“The human and institutional capacities of developing countries must be strengthened, and more emphasis must be placed on enhancing the role of trade and development, with better access provided for goods 36 and services from developing countries. Currently, we are experiencing a situation in which developing countries in general, and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries in particular, seem to lose through the World Trade Organization arrangement the little that they had gained, even from previous protocols. One of the most enduring features of the present and of the latter part of the last century has been the persistence of the colonial legacy in many developing countries. That legacy has been evident in relations between and within States.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Israel must bite the bullet and accept that until a Palestinian State becomes a reality, there can never be lasting peace in the Middle East. I must express our concern over the lack of progress in the area of reforming the Security Council to make it more democratic and fully representative of the aspirations of a large section of the international community which has had a limited voice for far too long. It is our considered view that conflict resolution around the globe could be enhanced by a reformed and more representative Security Council. On the eve of the Doha meeting, my delegation would like to stress that necessary measures must be taken to strengthen the ability of developing countries to be integrated in a beneficial way into the global system.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“We all must play our part in restoring peace and stability to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and indeed to the Great Lakes region. The continued unnecessary suffering and loss of life among the civilians in Angola are indefensible. Through the Sanctions Committee and other measures, we have determined that UNITA must be denied and deprived of the resources and means to continue to wage war against the Angolan people. It is time that we ensure that those sanctions are indeed effective by not only respecting that sanctions regime ourselves, but also exposing those who continue to aid and abet UNITA in its deadly activities. The situation in the Middle East demands urgent action and resolution on the basis of the long-standing Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). The question of a Palestinian State brooks no delay.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“In addition, the trust fund established by the Secretary- General in October 1999 to support the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had, two years later, received only the paltry sum of $1.1 million. The serious matter of inadequate resources was one of the major factors that contributed to the curtailment, both in number of participants and in duration, of the inter-Congolese dialogue in Addis Ababa last month. We welcome and appreciate South Africa’s offer to host the next session of the national dialogue and meet some of the related expenses. We hasten to add, however, that South Africa must not be burdened and abandoned because of this generosity and willingness to contribute to the peacemaking efforts.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Nevertheless, the Security Council, by adopting what it calls a step-by-step approach, continues to show excessive caution or hesitancy, almost indistinguishable from lack of commitment or confidence, in the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the major threat to that peace process today. I wish to renew our appeal to the Security Council to more strongly and convincingly demonstrate its support for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by providing adequate human, financial and other resources. In this context, we note that as of 30 September 2001, unpaid assessed contributions for MONUC to the Democratic Republic of the Congo special account amounted to $246.9 million.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Since that time, some progress has been made in implementing the ceasefire agreement in that country. All those involved in the process — the signatories to the ceasefire agreement and the United Nations Security Council — are agreed that conditions are favourable for the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers under phase III of the deployment of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). As a matter of fact, just yesterday, the Security Council adopted resolution 1376 (2001), supporting the launching of phase III deployment of MONUC.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“The anthrax was developed by the apartheid regime in South Africa under the guidance of Dr. Basson, better known as “Dr. Death”, who then supplied it to Ian Smith. Many Zimbabweans perished both before and after independence. The anthrax spores that were spread by the racist regime of Ian Smith during our liberation struggle more than 20 years ago continue to claim victims exclusively within the black population of our country to this day. More people and cattle have died of anthrax this year in Zimbabwe than elsewhere in the world. Thus not only are we vehemently opposed to this evil scourge and other forms of terrorism, but we also know the pain and loss associated with it. In my address to the General Assembly at last year’s session, I dwelt at length on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“This is indisputably the most brutal act of terrorism in this new millennium. Our hearts go out to the families who lost their loved ones, and indeed all the people and the Government of the United States. It is our duty as Members of this world body, which stands for global harmony, peace and security, to say “Never again” to such vileness. Zimbabwe lost two of its nationals in those tragic attacks. As the people of the United States grapple with the threat posed by biological weapons of mass destruction in the form of anthrax, we in Zimbabwe, who have hitherto been the greatest victims of this weapon, know what it means and what they are going 35 through. For during our own liberation struggle, anthrax was used as a weapon of mass destruction by the racist regime of Ian Smith.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“Annan’s re-election is indeed both a testimony to and recognition of his unique and rare abilities to give leadership, vision and unity of purpose to the international community in meeting the challenges that face us today. This recognition has been amply demonstrated by the conferment of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize on the person of the Secretary- General and on the United Nations. I congratulate both Mr. Annan and the United Nations. The Secretary-General enters the elite corps of Nobel laureates at a time of most serious challenge to international solidarity and cooperation, as we reflect on the events of 11 September, when the people of the United States of America, and indeed the whole world, were plunged into unprecedented sorrow in the wake of the heinous terrorist attacks here in New York and in Washington.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“My delegation congratulates Mr. Han Seung-soo on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session. His election to that office is a demonstration of the confidence and trust that the international community has placed in him to steer it through the challenges of our time. It is our fervent hope that, through his leadership, this Assembly will translate the Millennium Declaration into reality. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank his predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri of Finland, for the sterling work accomplished during the past session of the Assembly. Today, I am privileged to join others in congratulating Mr. Kofi Annan for his re-election as United Nations Secretary-General for a second term. Mr.”
2001-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 56 (2001)
“The thrust of the United Nations agenda — and, indeed, of development — is therefore to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy, peaceful and creative lives. I wish to put it to this Millennium Assembly that the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century is to champion the agenda of the world's weak, those marginalized and impoverished by globalization, those currently circumscribed to the margins of policy and decision-making in the international economic and socio-political system. In brief, it is to protect the weak and manage the strong.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“As the United Nations organ uniquely mandated to maintain international peace and security, the Security Council should make itself equally attentive to the needs of the world's family of nations, including through cooperation with regional arrangements everywhere, as provided for in Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. Or is it true that so long as the Security Council remains unreformed, it will always fail to respond adequately to the interests of all the Members of the United Nations? As we review the progress of nations and design the role of the United Nations in the twenty-first century, we need to remind ourselves that “we the peoples” of the world constitute the real wealth of the brotherhood of nations.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“For we still have cause and occasion to feel marginalized in so many respects. We know what it is like to give passage to emergency aircraft and sea vessels that criss-cross our airspace and waterways to attend to emerging crises in distant places while our own crises simmer on and explode in our faces. Our ceasefire agreements and truces are tested beyond limit, while the United Nations stands aloof and unimpressed; yet urgent interventions are deployed to flashpoints in other regions, even without ceasefire guarantees. Hesitant and half-spirited interventions by the Security Council in several African conflicts have neither done the job nor enhanced the credibility of the United Nations.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Geographically, Africa is probably the world's most fragmented region. The continent is demarcated by about 165 borders dividing it into 53 countries, 22 of them with less than 5 million people and 11 with less than 1 million. That fragmentation imposes real constraints on development, and, without economic integration, Africa will fall farther behind. We therefore call upon the international community to support our efforts at regional integration as we promote regional public assets and initiatives, including regional infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports and power-pooling systems, infectious disease control, centres of excellence for training, regional markets and trade, and agricultural research and early warning systems for drought. Despite talk of the global village, it is apparent that Africa's lonely days are not yet over.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Globalization is thus undermining the ability of Governments to serve as guarantors of the social, economic, political and cultural health of our communities. At the expense of our common goals and objectives for international economic cooperation, we have surrendered to blind market forces in the faint hope that somehow things will, as if by magic, turn out right. The consequences of that impoverishing process are clearly visible in a number of alarming trends, such as the takeover of national assets by transnational corporations in the name of public enterprise 21 privatization and commercialization. As a result, Africa enters the new century hanging on the vagaries of global markets, accounting for only 1 per cent of global gross domestic product and about 2 per cent of world trade.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Poverty amid plenty is an affront to our common humanity. At a time when the world has the wherewithal to attack poverty vigorously, spectacular affluence and abject poverty are found side by side. In contrast to its potential as the ultimate provider of new opportunities for growth and development worldwide, globalization has been accompanied by widening income disparities among, as well as within, countries and regions. Its ill effects have disproportionately victimized the most vulnerable and marginalized nations and sections of society. Globalization is redefining the nature and role of States and the governance of international bodies, thereby subordinating democratic political processes to unaccountable economic and financial actors and institutions.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“In Western Sahara, the international community owes it to the Sahrawi people to ensure the early holding of a free and fair referendum to allow them the priceless opportunity to determine their destiny. On the global economic front, the last decade of the twentieth century witnessed tremendous progress in some parts of the world, but it also saw stagnation and setbacks, even in some countries that had previously experienced fast economic growth. Periods of economic and financial crisis lead to retrenchment, wherein concern for people gives way to concern for balancing budgets and payments. Those crises have underscored the importance of understanding and strengthening the social underpinnings of development to ensure that peoples, their cultures and their societies are taken into account in the process of development.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“With regard to the Lockerbie affair, we still await the Security Council's comprehensive and final response to Libya's full compliance with the Council's resolutions. It was the Council's own commitment that such a conclusive step would be taken 90 days after Libya's full compliance. We call for transparency and fairness in the trial itself, at The Hague, to avoid any miscarriage of justice. The international community must never lose track of the long, drawn-out dialogue on the peace process in the Middle East, particularly in Palestine. We call for good faith and consistency in the negotiations until the brotherly Palestinian people attain statehood with national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“While the crisis is far from resolved, we are mollified by the position taken by the Security Council, through the Angola sanctions Committee, to ensure the effective application of the embargo against UNITA. We support the SecretaryGeneral's stance of naming and shaming the violators of sanctions as a way of preventing the opportunism and greed that fan conflicts. This was the position adopted by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) at its last summit, in Lomé, Togo. In both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola, we challenge the United Nations, and the Security Council in particular, to come to the aid and defence of the innocent victims of war, to protect their natural heritage and resources from pillage, and to safeguard their territorial integrity and national sovereignty.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“I reiterate, and categorically so, that Zimbabwe is committed to the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement and to Security Council resolutions adopted on this question. In this regard, Zimbabwe is ready to immediately withdraw its troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, under the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, as soon as the United Nations deploys peacekeepers in that country. We therefore urge the Secretary-General to deploy the observer mission already authorized by the Security Council as part of phase two deployment, so that we can move to phase three and the deployment of actual peacekeepers in order to enable us to leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Like their neighbours in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the peace-loving people of Angola are victims of an imposed war that has been fomented by greed rather than grievance.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Instead of punishing those who invaded the Democratic Republic of the Congo, instead of censuring those who are violating the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in blatant desecration of cardinal principles of the Charter, instead of questioning those who are already in contempt of Security Council orders to withdraw immediately from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, some members of the international community have chosen, rather, to 20 victimize Zimbabwe, whose troops are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the invitation of the Government of that country. Exactly what outcome does the international community wish to see in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Some of the proponents of the Zimbabwe Democracy Act 2000 have demanded that Zimbabwe withdraw its troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo before they can even consider withdrawing that measure. Are we being punished for creating conditions that enabled the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies to deliver assistance to Congolese communities? Are we being vilified for enabling thousands of Congolese children to get polio vaccinations and other types of life-saving immunization? After offering our partnership in the quest for peace and human well-being, we expect the international community to respond accordingly and cooperate with us.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The responsive intervention of the SADC allies effectively contained the situation and established the relative calm and stability prevailing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today. It also paved the way for the peace process that culminated in the signing last year of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, which, all involved agree, offers the best hope for establishing and maintaining peace in the region. What does Zimbabwe get in return for its sacrifices in upholding the principles of the United Nations Charter? Sanctions and threats of more sanctions are the response. For helping to create the very conditions that enabled the United Nations to set foot in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe is today questioned, tried and sentenced to pariah status.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“For while the current international financial architecture is subservient to the interests of the rich and the strong, even to the satisfaction of their last extraterritorial exploit, it remains for ever insensitive to the survival needs of the small, the weak and the poor. Zimbabwe's involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help prevent mayhem, bloodshed and the overthrow of a legitimate Government there is another “crime” cited in the Zimbabwe Democracy Act 2000. At the invitation of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, together with other allies of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), sent troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help fend off an invasion by two of that country's neighbours.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The measure seeks to hurt Zimbabwe's fortunes even further by issuing United States directors at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank with standing directives to vote against Zimbabwe at every opportunity. This means that even if Zimbabwe met all macroeconomic requirements and exercised the requisite fiscal discipline it would still be disqualified in its quest for assistance from the Bretton Woods institutions, on the basis of political considerations that are totally extraneous to the stipulated technical criteria. Just what are the rules of the game, and to whom are these international financial institutions accountable? Do we need any further justification for the resounding call for a new international financial architecture?”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“It proposes to prescribe the outcome of our land reform exercise and seeks to virtually usurp the authority of the Parliament of Zimbabwe. Most ironically, the so-called Democracy Act proposes to authorize the investment of United States funds of around Z$ 300 million in the breeding of opposition parties in Zimbabwe. That amount, which is exclusively for opposition parties, is more than four times the Z$70 million distributed by the Zimbabwean fiscus among all political parties that have a stipulated threshold representation in Parliament. Are we expected to just stand idly by and watch helplessly as our destiny is determined from outside our country? Where, I ask, is our self-determination and our sovereignty, for which so much blood and so many lives were sacrificed by our people?”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“We cannot, in one breath, pay lip service to human rights, equality and poverty eradication and, in the next, defend inequality, which condemns the majority to a life in squalor. We invite all our partners to see through the veil of the negative and racist media 19 blitz, acquaint themselves with our people's real need for justice, restoration and agrarian reform and help us remove the barriers that constrain poor people's ability to benefit from their economy and to contribute to its growth. Our determination to undertake land reform in Zimbabwe is one of the “crimes” cited in the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy Act 2000, which was passed by the United States Senate in June this year and is before Congress as I speak.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“As I speak, the Government of Zimbabwe is in the process of taking back 5 million of the 12 million hectares of our prime land to settle landless peasants. Zimbabwe's land reform programme is meant not only to correct the wrongs wrought on our society by colonialism, but also to restore our people's heritage and basic means of subsistence and economic participation. In this endeavour, we have received neither the cooperation of those sectors of our society to which colonialism bequeathed special privileges, nor the acknowledgement or support of former colonizers who willed those privileges. In pursuit of their policies, those powerful interests have employed their financial might, as well as their control of the media to not only choke our economy but also to demonize us before the world.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“As we enter the twenty-first century and the new millennium, the people of Zimbabwe, in a very symbolic and yet historic way, find themselves concluding painful chapters of their experience, whose closure is critical to the laying of a foundation for a better future. Structural inequalities are a fundamental reality of Africa's colonial past, which many countries like my own are grappling with to this day. In my country 70 per cent of Zimbabwe's best arable land is still controlled by less than 1 per cent of the population — roughly 4,500 settlers or their descendants. This is in a country of nearly 13 million people. It is a historical fact that the colonial regime forcefully robbed us of this land without paying us any compensation.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“I wish to congratulate Mr. Harri Holkeri of Finland on his election to the presidency of this historic session of the General Assembly. I also take this opportunity to congratulate his predecessor, my dear brother and colleague, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, the Foreign Minister of Namibia, on a job well done. Zimbabwe joins other Members of the Assembly in welcoming the admission of Tuvalu as the one hundred and eighty-ninth Member State of the United Nations. Since a Millennium Assembly can only come once in a lifetime, it is my singular honour and pleasure to address this Assembly. The twentieth century was probably the most eventful in the history and the experience of Zimbabwe.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Since it is an item on the agenda of this Assembly, it is imperative that Member States freely express their views on this matter. We of Africa have a clear and unambiguous position. We believe that it is Africa’s turn to provide a Secretary-General. We have had one term so far and, following the normal practice, are entitled to a second term. The African leaders, meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon, this year, endorsed the candidature of the incumbent, His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. We stand ready to engage all Members of this Organization in the process of finalizing consultations on this subject.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Whereas the Organization has clearly played a significant role in the containment and settlement of disputes through peace-keeping activities, and in the expansion and codification of international law, it has largely failed to have any significant impact on the development process in developing countries. The few developing countries that have managed to score any breakthroughs have done so in spite of the United Nations. As the General Assembly outlines its medium-term plan for the period 1998-2003, my delegation, together with others, will seek to ensure that the development process, particularly Africa’s economic recovery and development, is underwritten by the Organization’s irrevocable commitment. Finally, let me turn to the agenda item dealing with the election of the Secretary-General of this Organization.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The Charter envisaged an identifiable role for the United Nations in promoting development, which is a prerequisite for, and the ultimate corollary of, peace. My delegation maintains that the United Nations is uniquely placed to play a policy-making and resource identification role. Its decisions must necessarily set the pace and direction for other institutions such as the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization. In conclusion, the strength of the United Nations lies in its universality and its impartiality in implementing its mandate to promote peace and security, economic and social development, human rights and international law as outlined in its Charter.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“To act otherwise would be counter-productive and an injustice to the noble cause of wildlife conservation as a whole. My country intends to make constructive suggestions on this subject at the CITES meeting next year. To remain relevant and effective, the United Nations must stay at the centre stage of global activities. Its worldwide responsibilities cannot be delegated; nor can its Charter-enshrined priorities be subordinated to issues extraneous to its purposes and principles. We are taken aback by the efforts of those who seek to prescribe to the United Nations a reform exercise that would force the Organization to diminish and to reorient its Charter- enshrined role in promoting development to the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the blind forces of the market.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Global conservation strategies and policies have to be implemented in the national interest and within the means available for the benefit of each country. We in southern Africa have adopted effective conservation policies over the years that have seen the 19 growth of our elephant herd beyond the levels our ecosystem can support. It would be unfortunate, and indeed an irony of our times, if we, who have conceived and successfully implemented innovative wildlife conservation policies, should find ourselves being penalized for our success and the failure of others. The international community has an obligation to adopt new, dynamic and flexible policies that would enable countries such as South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and my own country to reap the benefits of their wildlife conservation successes.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“In recognition of the important role that solar energy can play in the advancement of socio-economic development and in reducing environmental degradation, the Summit adopted a comprehensive World Solar Programme 1996-2005 with a view to creating effective mechanisms to speed up and facilitate the use of solar energy. We call upon the United Nations Secretary-General, the specialized agencies of the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and the international community at large to lend the necessary financial and other forms of support to the Programme to enable it to succeed. In June 1997 another conference of equal environmental significance, the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), will convene in Harare. The challenges facing this conference will by no means be small.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“The ever-dwindling natural resource base, global warming, persistent droughts and desertification are eloquent reminders that humankind’s current destructive processes of growth are pushing our planet towards the precipice. Under these circumstances, the search for safer, environmentally sound and sustainable approaches to development, including the utilization of new and renewable resources, has become more urgent now than ever before. Only last week, leaders from 103 countries, from all regions of the world, heeding this historic challenge of our time, gathered in Harare, Zimbabwe, for the first-ever World Solar Summit to map out strategies aimed at promoting the development and utilization of solar and other forms of renewable energy.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“That poverty is the root cause of most of the world’s social ills, including strife and peace-threatening conflicts, cannot be overemphasized. We appeal to Governments the world over to respond in earnest to the clarion call of the Copenhagen world social summit and to spare no effort at both the national and international levels, to roll back the advancing scourge of poverty. It is needless to stress that the elimination of poverty and the attainment of the broader goal of sustainable development will remain impossible to achieve unless nations show renewed political resolve to implement policies aimed at enabling humankind to better manage and live with its environment, as agreed to at the Rio de Janeiro summit and at subsequent Conferences.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“When the founding fathers of the United Nations outlined the purposes and principles of this Organization, they envisioned a United Nations that would “be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.” As we seek to enhance the relevance of this Organization to the world today, it is imperative that we understand that the vast majority of the people of this world expect the United Nations to be a principal actor for progress and change, and to be equipped to play an effective and leading role in improving the economic and social situation of the world’s citizens. As we commemorate the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, we are alarmed at the growing extent of abject poverty, which now engulfs 20 per cent of the world’s population.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Only last week, this Assembly carried out a review of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. In the statements made by representatives of African countries, it was made abundantly clear that the international commitments made in 1991, like those made at the launching of United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development 1986-1990 earlier, had not been fulfilled. We therefore call on the international community, and our development partners in particular, to mobilize the requisite financial resources to augment our efforts and give fresh impetus to the realization of the goals set out in United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Unfortunately, even the increased food supplies in the world are inaccessible to more than 1.5 billion hungry people who are acknowledged to be living in abject poverty. We cannot accept that the legacy of hungry and malnourished people is what our generation will bequeath to the twenty-first century. We expect development to bring food to our dining tables, clean water into our homes, better housing, improved health and security to all our children. The present trend towards globalization and the deepening interdependence among economies should foster a universal feeling and sense of belonging to the global village whose concept we have now come to take for granted, but whose benefits accrue to only a few countries.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“These ambitious and painful reforms could flounder if developed countries fail to complement these sterling efforts by taking decisive measures to reduce the stock of our debt and by removing the wall of protectionist barriers. We also call on the developed countries to take decisive measures, as a matter or urgency, to increase the flow of official development assistance, private investment and the transfer of technologies to developing nations. 18 In a few days, world leaders will assemble in Rome for yet another world summit. This time, the international community will focus its attention on the important question of food security and the good health of the people of the world.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)
“Given the negative economic trends in some of our countries, the developed countries and international financial institutions should seriously consider debt- forgiveness for low-income developing countries. Such a course of action would stop the flight of much-needed resources from these countries and create new possibilities for real savings for investment and growth. I wish to affirm that we, the developing countries, fully accept and recognize that we bear the primary responsibility for our own development; we have accordingly undertaken various economic structural adjustment reforms, often at enormous social and political cost.”
1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)