 |
| Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, Hon. Sophia Simba and Super Model Flaviana Matata of Tanzania congratulating President Kikwete after his address at the United Nations General Assembly. |
STATEMENT BY HIS
EXCELLENCY DR. JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF
TANZANIA, AT THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE SEVENTIETH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NEW YORK, 29 SEPTEMBER 2015
Theme: “The
United Nations at 70: the road ahead for peace, security and human rights”
Your Excellency, Mr. Mogens
Lykketoft, President of the General Assembly;
Your Excellency, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, United Nations
Secretary-General;
Excellencies Heads of State and Government;
Distinguished Delegates;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
I join
those who spoke before me in congratulating you, on your well-deserved election
to preside over the 70th Session of the General Assembly. Your
election is a fitting tribute to your distinguished political career, having served
as a Finance Minister, Foreign Minister and recently as Speaker of the Danish
Parliament. It is also a reflection of the high regard this august Assembly has
for your great country, Denmark. I would like to assure you of my country’s full
support and cooperation in discharging your duties and responsibilities.
Mr. President;
I
wish to pay glowing tribute to your predecessor Hon. Sam Kahamba Kutesa, Minister
for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda for the outstanding manner in
which he steered the affairs of the sixty-ninth session of the Assembly. Indeed,
this great son of the African soil has done us proud. A deserving word of
appreciation also goes to our illustrious Secretary-General His Excellency Ban
Ki Moon and his staff, for their dedicated service and efforts in promoting the
ideals and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
Mr. President;
I
also commend you, your predecessor and the Secretary General for the excellent
work which has culminated into the adoption of the Post 2015 Development Agenda
and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with their 169 targets. We sincerely hope that there will be reliable
mechanisms of ensuring availability of means of implementation and follow-up. It
was failure to have such mechanisms which was responsible for the short falls
in the implementation of the MDGs.
Mr. President;
My
delegation welcomes the theme designated for this general debate, namely “The United Nations at 70: the road ahead
for peace, security and human rights”. Indeed, at 70 years the United Nations has not
only withstood the test of time but has evolved and become a stronger
organization. I am glad we all agree that a lot has been achieved in the past 7
decades. Equally, we agreed that not everything that the founding fathers
envisaged the UN would do has been done satisfactorily.
The
United Nations has succeeded to prevent another world war but challenges of
preserving world peace and security remain. Interstate and intrastate conflicts
and wars are many and on the increase. Terrorism has become a serious global
threat. There are still too many people who live under conditions of abject
poverty, squalor and depravation in a world of unprecedented wealth.
The
Partnership Between UN and Regional Organization
Mr. President;
Unlike
70 years ago, today there is better understanding, cooperation and partnership
between countries and organizations in preserving peace and security. It is easier today for the world to come
together for a course of peace than it was before.
As a
matter of fact most of the conflicts we are witnessing today are being handled,
first and foremost, by regional and sub-regional organizations. The UN,
therefore, must seek to forge strategic partnership with
these organizations. By taking advantage of the knowledge these organizations
have of the history and nature of the crises, the key players and culture of
the people, it would be easier to manage and resolve the conflicts. Where and
when appropriate, the United Nations should invest in strengthening
the capacity of these organizations and their member states, in anticipating,
detecting, preventing, managing and resolving conflicts. I am of the view that
this capacity is urgently needed in Africa.
The
Security Council Reform
Mr. President;
We
highly commend the President of the Sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly
and the Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on reform of the
Security Council, for efforts made. It is the wish of member states to see an
acceleration of the negatiation process during this 70th Session.
For the UN Security Council to remain what it was 70 years ago is
incomprehensible and, to say, the least, unacceptable. It is high time the
demands of the majority of the membership of the United Nations are heard and
heeded too.
We
must be mindful of the fact that the credibility of the UN depends on a more
agile, representative and responsive Security Council. Let all of us muster
political will and accomplish this long overdue task, for the sake of our
Organization. In the mean time we must
continue to support the Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly.
Peace
Keeping Operation
Mr. President;
Peace
keeping operations remain one of the most dependable instruments of promoting
world peace and security. I believe it will remain so for many years to come. I
am told there are about 125,000 men
and women deployed in 16 peacekeeping missions across the world. Tanzania is
proud to have contributed 1,322 of
these gallant people who often times serve under challenging conditions.
Sometimes they are compelled to serve in places where there is little or no
peace to keep. Tanzania stands ready to contribute more whenever requested to
do so.
Combating Terrorism
Mr. President;
We
can not talk about security challenges of today without mentioning terrorism.
This is the security challenge that the United Nations and the entire
international community must remain vigilant in the coming decade. While reiterating
our strongest condemnation of terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations,
we believe there is an urgent need to bolster efforts at all levels for
fighting the scourge. Collectively, we must aspire to improve our preparedness,
collaboration and response to the threat we face.
Global Epidemics
Mr. President;
The
Ebola outbreak in West Africa last year is a stark reminder of how dangerous
epidemics can be and how vulnerable we are as nations and people. More than 11,000 people lost their lives including
citizens of the US and Spain and about 28,000 were infected. The
economies of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone were devastated. Economic
activities and services almost ground to a halt thus causing gigantic losses to
the economies of the three countries. The World Bank estimates that they lost
about USD 2.2 billion of their GDP
as a result. There were about 7,000 children who lost their parents and about half a million
people who became food insecure. More than 5
million children lost valuable schooling and skills-development time. It
requires mammoth recovery efforts to get these economies and societies back to
where they were before the outbreak. Unfortunately, many countries in Africa also,
suffered irrespective of how far a country is from the three affected countries.
The tourist industry has been affected the most.
Mr. President;
The
biggest lesson from the handling of this Ebola outbreak in West Africa is that the
world needs to be better prepared to prevent and respond to epidemics in future.
This was not the case unfortunately. It is in this regard that, we should all
commend the Secretary General for the wise decision he took of establishing a
High Level Panel on Global Health Crises to come up with recommendations about
how the world can respond better to public health emergencies of global concern
in future.
I was
given the honour of chairing the panel. It is premature for me to report
anything substantive now to this august Assembly. We will complete our work in
December, 2015 and I am sure our report will be brought before this Assembly
for information and action. We look forward to your support.
US/Cuba Relations
Mr. President;
Tanzania
welcomes the historic and momentous decision taken by the United States of
America and the Republic of Cuba to restore diplomatic relations and reopen embassies
of the two countries in Washington D.C. and Havana. We join the people of Cuba and the United
States in celebrating this landmark achievement.
We
commend President Barack Obama and President Raul Castro for their bold and
courageous leadership. The two leaders and countries have proved to all of us,
the power of dialogue in finding solutions, even to deep rooted difference and long
standing conflicts. We extend best wishes to our US and Cuban friends as they
open a new chapter in their bilateral relations. We hope and appeal to the
United States to lift the economic embargo which has condemned the people of
Cuba to untold socio-economic hardships, poverty and misery for the last 50
years.
Palestine
Mr. President;
In
the same vein, it is our wish that Israel and Palestine would resume the
dialogue so that their long standing conflict can be resolved peacefully. It is
high time the pain and suffering endured by the people of Palestine over the
many decades was put to an end. Also, it is about time the people of Israel
lived peacefully and harmoniously with their neighbours.
It is
regrettable that we are celebrating seventy years of the founding of the United
Nations this conflict remains unresolved. Tanzania subscribes and supports the
two states solution, with the state of Israel and a sovereign, contiguous and
viable state of Palestine living side by side, in peace, security, harmony,
mutual recognition, trust and cooperation. We believe it is possible and
achievable. We must double our efforts.
The
Question of Western Sahara
Mr. President;
Another outstanding matter which this
organisation has to ensure that it does not continue to be left unresolved is
the issue of Western Sahara. The lack of movement on the side of the United
Nations to implement its decisions on the matter is both regrettable and
incomprehensible. The people of Saharawi
have waited for far too long to get the opportunity to determine their fate and
future. Let this esteemed Organisation of ours muster political will and pluck
up courage to do what it had long decided to do. At seventy years the United
Nations is old enough and has accumulated a lot of wisdom and experience to put
this matter to rest. Please do it.
A
Farewell Message
Mr. President;
On September
20th, 2006, I stood on this very podium, for the first time and
addressed this august Assembly as the newly elected fourth President of my dear
country: the United Republic of Tanzania. Today, I am standing here to bid farewell to
you all as I am about to leave office at the completion of my two term mandate,
as provided for in the Tanzania Constitution.
I
thank all of you for the invaluable support and cooperation extended to me, my
administration and my country in the past ten years that we have worked
together. Kindly be assured that I will
always value each and every one’s contribution. I feel proud to have had the
opportunity to work with all of you in promoting the ideals of the United
Nations and contributed to the pursuit of world peace, security, stability and
development.
As I take
leave of you, I would like to assure you that Tanzania shall remain a faithful
member and an unwavering supporter of the United Nations’ Organisation. I am confident that you will find in my
successor, a likeable and dependable friend and ally. Please accord him or her
the necessary support and cooperation in fulfilling his or her duties and responsibilities.
Conclusion
Mr. President;
The
road ahead for peace, security and development remains challenging but worthy
the journey. It requires our renewed resolve and reaffirmation of our
commitment to the ideals, values and principles laid down by the founding
fathers of the United Nations seven decades ago in San Francisco. All nations, individually and collectively,
should endeavour to promote them as we have been doing in the last seventy
years. It can be done, play your part.
I thank you.
 |
| Hon. Nandi-Ndaitwah Netumbo, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Namibia congratulating President Kikwete at the UN, New York. |
 |
| H.E. Wilson Masilingi, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United States of America. |
 |
| Ambassador Samwel Shelukindo, Head of Department of Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation |
 |
| Eva Ng'itu, Foreign Service Officer responsible for Common Wealth |
 |
| Justin Kisoka, Foreign Service Officer at the Tanzania Permanent Mission to the United Nations responsible for fith committee |
