THE PERMANENT MISSION OF
SOUTH AFRICA
TO THE UNITED NATIONS
STATEMENT
BY
H.E. DR. NKOSAZANA DLAMINI
ZUMA
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH
AFRICA
TO THE
GENERAL DEBATE
OF THE 55th SESSION OF THE
UNITED NATIONS GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
NEW YORK
13 September 2000
Mr.
President
Your
Excellencies
Distinguished
Delegates
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
Allow
me to congratulate you on assuming the stewardship of this historic Assembly
and also to congratulate your predecessor, HE Dr Theo Ben Gurirab, for the
sterling Work he has done in guiding the work of the Assembly during the
previous session.
The
dawn of the millennium offers a unique opportunity for us to reflect on the
successes and failures of the United Nations since its inception. It also provides
us with an opportunity to dream about the future of humanity in the 3rd millennium.
The
founders of the UN based their declaration on asserting human dignity, human
rights and equality of woman and man and promotion of better social standards.
Indeed billions today enjoy human rights and they live in dignity, free from
diseases, ignorance and fear, enjoying the benefits of technology and
scientific advance and able to take full advantage of the process of
globalization.
Equally
there are billions who are humiliated, degraded and stripped of their innate
human dignity and worth by poverty, diseases, ignorance, homelessness, hunger
and wars.
Mr. President
This
Assembly, following the very inspiring Millennium Summit, provides us with an
opportunity to reflect on the wise words of the leaders of the world and on the
declaration they adopted.
Global
consensus has at last emerged and confirms that we live in one world, belong to
the same human race, and therefore, whilst each government has the responsibility
to take care of its citizens, we all have to work together for the good of
humanity as a whole. This means that we have to create a people centered world
which is more caring, with a strong sense of solidarity where we are all our
brothers' and sisters' keepers.
There
is also universal consensus now that, whilst billions of people are degraded
and dehumanized by poverty, disease and hunger there are indeed enough
resources in the world to feed, educate and restore the dignity of human beings
and make this world a better place for all. It is therefore clear that the
eradication of hunger and poverty should be the priority of all priorities.
There
is also agreement that we have a collective responsibility in dealing with
infectious diseases like malaria, TB, sexually transmitted diseases and
HIV/AIDS. This means there is a need to mobilise material and human resources,
provide better infrastructure, provide health education and ensure access to
affordable medicine.
Mr. President
There
is consensus that Africa poses the biggest development challenge. The success
or failure of the UN and of humankind as a whole in this century will be
determined by their success in dealing with the African development challenge.
We
would like to urge the UN, in partnership with the OAU and regional
organizations to accelerate the work towards peace and stability in Sierra
Leone, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Angola, DRC, Sudan and Burundi so that these
countries should take their rightful place in the continent and be seized with
the needs of their people, promote development and produce and export goods and
not be areas of perpetual suffering and war that result in them being the net
exporters of refugees.
We
welcome the Brahimi Report and are studying it as it contains very serious
suggestions about the future operations of the UN.
The
UN, particularly the Security Council is humanity's principal agent for
collective security, and it needs urgent reform so as to be able to live up to
this solemn responsibility. The world has changed dramatically and continues to
change. It is imperative that the composition and role of the Security Council
should reflect that change and should not remain outdated.
The
Bretton Woods institutions are equally in need of urgent reform in order to
discharge their mandate and respond to the new development challenge.
Mr. President
The
World Trade Organization has to adapt international trade rules so that they
are equitable and fair and take account of the global development challenge.
It
is a source of great concern to the developing countries that increasingly
decisions are taken outside the UN and other global structures by developed and
rich countries when these decisions have a great impact on the poorer countries
and directly affect the lives of billions of poor people.
That
is why a partnership between poor and rich countries and dialogue between North
and South is critical.
Nuclear
weapons still constitute a threat to our planet. We have to pursue the path of
universal disarmament and the destruction of all weapons of mass destruction.
The
need to protect the environment has assumed greater importance and we can only
succeed if we work together.
Mr. President
The
self determination of the people of East Timor, Western Sahara and Palestine
must be a concern to all of us. To this end we urge the United Nations to do
all it can to expedite the processes in East Timor and Western Sahara. We
commend the Peace efforts in the Middle East and the role of the United States.
We would like to pledge our support to the Palestinian and Israeli leadership
as they try to find creative solutions to their problems. They must take
advantage of this unique historic moment as it seems that a real possibility
exists for a solution.
The
equality of women and men still remains a subject of great concern. All we need
to do is look around this hall to realize how far we are from realizing the vision of the founders
of the UN. The feminization of poverty is of great concern. The marginalization
of women in the sovereign states and in the multilateral fora means that our
countries and organizations, including the UN, are functioning at half capacity
and are deprived of the unique qualities, energies and creativity that women
would bring.
In
this context, I cannot forget the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. She
deserves active support from this gathering and the world.
Mr. President
The
United Nations was founded in part to make sure that the monster of fascism and
racism should not rear its ugly head again. Unfortunately all over the world
racism and xenophobia are on the increase. Some countries and regions are
developing a new fortress mentality.
This
should flash red warning lights to all of us and activate our utmost vigilance
against the scourge of racism and xenophobia.
It
is only when we turn our backs from racism, xenophobia and other forms of
discrimination that we can succeed in building a caring world ‑ when we
feel diminished by the suffering and hunger of other human beings. It was for
this reason that we felt a sense of obligation and agreed to host the World
Racism Conference next year. Of course our country and people experienced the
most systematic, most brutal and most inhumane form of racism, which you, the
UN, declared a crime against humanity. We are happy to take our place in the
fight against racism in our country and in the world. It is our fervent hope
that the Conference will come up with a programme of action against racism,
xenophobia and other forms of discrimination.
Mr. President
In
conclusion;
Let
us all put our collective will, courage and intellectual creativity together in
shaping the dream of a better world; a world of solidarity, a world where no
child should starve, die of preventable and curable disease, be taken to war
and not to school, where no child can be a slave or be used as an object for
trafficking, a world where children grow up as children and play with toys and
not have to be breadwinners and worry about where their next meal is going to
come from. A world where women will enjoy all rights and where the eradication
of poverty and war is our collective responsibility. The dream for the new
millennium is indeed realisable. If we act with courage and determination we
can turn the hopes of billions across the world into reality.
Thank you