Mozambique is President of the UN Security Council for the month of March 2023. It is also Mozambique’s first time on the Council. Ambassador Pedro Comissário Afonso, the Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the UN, spoke to Africa Renewal’s Franck Kuwonu about his country’s priorities and his own journey as a diplomat. Here are excerpts:
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you have been in this role?
My name is Pedro Comissário Afonso. I went to law school in Maputo, and I have a master’s degree in law from Columbia University, USA. I have been with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1981, so it means almost 42 years of experience in that domain.
I was Mozambique’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York for the first time in1989 to 1996. I then was posted to Portugal, then the Nordic countries and then Geneva. I was later appointed the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and here I am in New York again tasked with the responsibility of representing my country in the UN Security Council.
How has it been so far and what would you consider your main achievements and challenges?
One of the best things in this career is that you have a team that helps you perform the duties and responsibilities assigned to you.
In that context, my most important achievement from 1989 to 1996 was to get the UN, including the Security Council, involved in the peace process in Mozambique. This led to the deployment of a peacekeeping operation from 1992 to 1994. Thus, Mozambique has a long history of cooperation with the UN, particularly in peace and conflict resolution.
Peace and security in Africa is the top, top priority for our presence in the Security Council - first because we are Africans, and second, because we have extensive experience in dealing with conflicts in our own country.
Any other achievements?
Well, each time you are assigned to a post in diplomacy, it means that there must be a priority or some fundamental tasks for you to perform. This was the case when I was posted to Portugal where my main responsibility was to mobilize Portuguese investments for Mozambique. We were coming out of 16 years of conflict and hence we needed a lot of investments. But I was not alone. My colleagues in other parts of the world were also given the top priority mandate of mobilizing investment for Mozambique.
After Portugal, I was assigned to the Nordic countries. These are among our closest friends since the times of our liberation struggle. I was sent there to further energize our cooperation.
In Geneva, where I went as Permanent Representative to the UN and Ambassador to Switzerland, I helped give impetus to our cooperation with the Swiss authorities. With the UN, the most important thing was the end of the demining process in Mozambique. I went back home, and now I am here again.
Did you face any challenges along the way?
I can mention only one. In the 47 years of our independence, we have never served in the UN Security Council until now. So, I was sent here to make sure that our presence is fruitful, according to what the President of the Republic of Mozambique wants. This is the biggest challenge.
Mozambique will be President of the UN Security Council for the month of March 2023. This is also Mozambique’s first time on the Security Council, to serve a two-year term from January 2023. What are your priorities for this presidency and your time on the Council?
There are many priorities. Number one is the global agenda of peace and security because the UN Charter mandates the Security Council to care for peace and security in the world.
Number two is peace and security in Africa. This is the top, top priority for our presence in the Security Council - first because we are Africans, and second, because we have extensive experience in dealing with conflicts in our own country.
Success globally will be if we are able, in two-year’s time, to bring the international community, the UN Security Council, to an understanding and actions on the pressing problems in the world. These are conflicts in Africa, Ukraine, Somalia, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Our number three priority is climate, peace and security.
And number four is women, children, peace and security. This, you can imagine, is topical from a country that has endured the effects of conflicts for a long time.
We also have in mind the question of multilateralism and the Security Council reform.
What would you consider as success for Mozambique and for the African continent?
We do not measure success by what you would like to see as a success. The UN Security Council has 15 member states. Five of them are permanent members with veto power. So, we would like to take the best decisions ever in the Security Council for peace and security in the world. But we must be realistic because some members have the veto power.
So, success globally will be if we are able, in two-year’s time, to bring the international community, the UN Security Council, to an understanding and actions on the pressing problems in the world. These are conflicts in Africa, Ukraine, Somalia, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Along with Mozambique, there are currently two other African non-permanent members on the UN Security Council - Gabon and Ghana. Together you make up the Africa three (A3) on the Council. What can you tell us about how you work together to advance Africa’s interests in this international body?
What we do is to always sit down to coordinate our views and harmonize our positions to better defend the interests of Africa. For example, this week, my colleagues entrusted me with the reading of a statement of the A3 on the situation in Libya. And the same afternoon, Mozambique again, made a statement on Somalia in our individual capacity. But I am mentioning it because, even there we harmonized our views.
The A3 is very important. It is a force in the UN Security Council. Very recently, on 18th February, the President of Mozambique, the President of Ghana, the President of Gabon formally met for the first time to announce the role the A3 will play in the Security Council.
Cyclone Freddy made landfall in Mozambique last Friday, bringing heavy rainfall and floods around Maputo. What has been the impact on the ground and how is the government responding?
We are still assessing the impact, but we know that there was a lot of destruction particularly in the areas of landing. These are cyclical events. Recently, we had floods in the southernmost part of Mozambique. And now we have cyclone Freddy.
How prepared is the country for the next two months of the cyclone season, and to withstand the ever-increasing and devastating impact of frequent natural disasters?
I think Mozambique is one of the African countries most prepared to face these natural disasters. We have an institution – the National Institute for Disaster Management or Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Calamidades (INGC) – charged with the responsibility of taking care of our people in case of natural disasters. So, we are prepared, always. But most of the time, no matter how prepared you are, you still are impacted by the destructive force and challenges of a natural disaster, and this happens everywhere, not just in Mozambique.
The A3 is very important. It is a force in the UN Security Council. Very recently, on 18th February, the President of Mozambique, the President of Ghana, the President of Gabon formally met for the first time to announce the role the A3 will play in the Security Council.
Would you need increased international assistance in the response? What is your message for the international community?
International assistance is always and all the time welcome. We cannot forsake the support of others. Look at what happened with Pakistan. Yet, Pakistan is a country that has been independent much longer than Mozambique and, they still needed international assistance. One of the most important things that we have been telling our partners is to support our institutional capacity. This means that INGC must be given funds and material to face the challenge. And number two is the financial assistance to our country to support our people: children, women, and even the wider population whose homes and crops and living conditions have been destroyed.
We are now in the third year of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the African Union’s theme for 2023 is Accelerating Implementation of the AfCFTA. Mozambique has signed the AfCFTA but has not ratified it yet. In December 2022, Minister of Industry and Commerce Silvino Moreno said this would happen later this year. What is the hold-up?
There is no hold-up. The treaty is being debated by parliament and will be ratified in due time.
In a move to ratify or accede to international legal instruments, it is one thing to sign, and this is done by the government or the executive branch. It is another thing to ratify because the ratification goes to the parliament. In our national Assembly, you do not have just one party. You have other parties and for the best outcome we need to bring everybody together. This is a normal process.
