Statement by His Excellency the President of the Republic of
Zimbabwe, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe during the general debate of the
68th session of the United Nations Generally Assembly, New York, on
September 26, 2013:
Your Excellency, the President of the 68tb Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. John William Ashe,
Your Majesties,
Your Excellences, Heads of State and Government,
Your Excellency, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Comrades and Friends
Let me begin by extending warmest congratulations to you Mr. John
William Ashe, on your election as President of the 68tb Session of the
General Assembly. Your election to this esteemed office is a befitting
tribute to the personal and diplomatic qualities that you have exhibited
over the years.
Mr. President,
Throughout the world, peace and development have remained the
dominant themes of our times. People all over the world have been
raising their voices in favour of peace, development and cooperation and
against war, poverty and confrontation. Here at the UN we all
acknowledge that peace, security, development and human rights are the
pillars of the UN system and the cornerstones of our collective
well-being.
In this regard, the theme for this Session - The Post-2015 Agenda :
Setting the Stage - is quite pertinent and timely as it gives fresh
impetus to our undertaking that achieving the internationally agreed
Development Goals, including the MDGs and mapping the way forward beyond
2015, requires our collective efforts. The UN, as the centre for
international cooperation, should lead in promoting the envisaged
development.
Mr. President,
Thirteen years ago, our global efforts were mobilised behind the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and we now have less that 1,000 days
to meet those targets. Our review and stock taking exercise reveal that
while there have been some significant achievements, there are still
gaps and unevenness in the attainment of these goals. In the case of
Zimbabwe, we have made progress towards achieving universal access to
primary education, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB.
Some of the goals, however, are, due to lack of capacity, mainly
financial, off track and in some areas, progress has stalled including
in those areas relating to the eradication of poverty and hunger, child
mortality, universal access to maternal and reproductive health,
environmental sustainability and access to potable water and sanitation.
As a country, we are committed to undertake coordinated efforts to
accelerate progress to complete the unfinished business of the MDGs in
the remaining period to 2015. Any unachieved goals by then, should be
integrated into the post-2015 development agenda.
Mr. President,
Zimbabwe fully shares and supports the emerging consensus that
eradicating poverty in all its dimensions should be the overarching goal
of our post 2015 agenda. Eradicating poverty by 2030 may be an
ambitious goal, but it is attainable if we mobilise our collective
efforts. Building on the foundation of the MDGs, the post 2015 agenda
should go beyond the social development agenda of the MDGs and achieve
structural transformation in our economies that delivers inclusive and
sustainable growth.
We expect a shift that will bring about industrialisation, decent
jobs and qualitative change to the lives of our citizens. We are
determined to modernise our infrastructure and ensure access to
sustainable energy for all, food security and nutrition. However, we
recognise that we cannot do this in isolation from other partners.
In the same vein, we also support calls to prioritise gender
equality, the health related MDGs, education and environmental
sustainability in the post-2015 development agenda among other issues.
These are critical issues in our quest to achieve sustainable
development for all our people.
Mr. President,
The lofty objectives of the UN Charter in the economic arena will
remain unfulfilled unless all Member States join in efforts genuinely
and seriously, to address challenges that developing countries face in
their pursuit of development including meeting the MDGs.
It is therefore imperative that our discussions address what has so
far been the weakest link - the means of implementation. It must be
understood that in addition to national efforts, substantial
international support and an enabling international economic environment
are essential if the MDGs are to be achieved by 2015 especially in
Africa. It is therefore important to fulfil the commitments made to
support Africa in various international fora. The UN should track the
fulfilment of these commitments.
Mr. President,
Zimbabwe supports the reform of the UN to strengthen its central role
in promoting multilateralism and to be effective in tackling current
and future global challenges. We are convinced that the reform will
strengthen the organisation's capacity to fully promote and implement
the principles and objectives of the UN Charter and improve its
democratic decision making.
In this regard, the reforms in the economic and social actions of the
UN remain of fundamental importance to us. Our firm belief in
multilateral cooperation means that we place a premium in the ability of
the United Nations system to deliver efficient development
co-operation.
The democratic transformation of the architecture of the
international financial system is quintessential as is a root-and-branch
reform of the international trading system. The terms of trade have
hugely burdened developing countries for too long.
Mr. President,
Zimbabwe supports the ongoing efforts to revitalize the General
Assembly which is the most representative organ of the United Nations.
We believe that the General Assembly should take the lead in setting the
global agenda and restore its primacy that has over the years been
encroached upon by other organs.
We cannot accept situations whereby the UN Security Council is
increasingly encroaching on issues that traditionally fall within the
General Assembly's purview and competence, including in the area of norm
setting.
Indeed, recent events have revealed that its formal decisions have
provided camouflage to neo-imperialist forces of aggression seeking to
militarily intervene in smaller countries in order to effect regime
change and acquire complete control of their wealth. This was so in
Libya where in the name of protecting civilians, NATO forces were
deployed with an undeclared mission to eliminate Muammar Gaddafi and his
family. A similar campaign had been undertaken in Iraq by the Bush and
Blair forces in the false name of eradicating weapons of mass
destruction which Saddam Hussein never possessed.
We appreciate the central role that UN should play in furthering
multilateralism in preference to unilateralism. In this regard, we
applaud the consultations and negotiations on the eventual destruction
of the chemical weapons in Syria. My country expresses its gratitude and
appreciation to Russia and China for their principled stand on Syria.
We hope and trust that the Syrian people will soon sit in dialogue to
discuss peace and desirable political reforms. Those western countries
in pursuit of hegemony as they pretend to be advocates of democracy must
be resisted.
Mr. President,
For Africa, the reform of the United Nations Security Council is
especially long overdue. The anachronistic and unrepresentative
character of the Security Council must be redressed. For how long should
Africa continue to be denied the right to play a pivotal role in the
United Nations Security Council as it decides measures on conflicts
within its own borders?
The Security Council needs to be more representative, democratic,
transparent, accountable and accessible to the wider membership for its
decisions to have more legitimacy. Africa's case for the correction of
the glaring historical injustice of being unrepresented in the permanent
category and under-represented in the non-permanent category has been
made through the clear, fair and well-articulated Ezulwini Consensus.
Zimbabwe remains steadfast in its support of the Ezulwini demand.
Mr. President,
Zimbabwe strongly condemns the use of unilateral economic sanctions
as a foreign policy tool to effect regime change. Thus, the illegal
economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States and the
European Union violate fundamental principles of the United Nations
Charter on state sovereignty and non-interference in the domestic
affairs of a sovereign state.
Moreover, these illegal sanctions continue to inflict economic
deprivation and human suffering on all Zimbabweans. In the eyes of our
people, the sanctions constitute a form of hostility and violence
against them for the simple crime of undertaking the land reform
programme by which land was put in the hands of the then majority
landless Zimbabweans.
Our small and peaceful country is threatened daily by covetous and
bigoted big powers whose hunger for domination and control of other
nations and their resources knows no bounds. Shame, shame, shame to the
United States of America. Shame, shame, shame to Britain and its allies.
Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans, so are its resources. Please remove your
illegal and filthy sanctions from my peaceful country. If these
sanctions were intended to effect regime change, well, the results of
the recent national elections have clearly shown you what they can do.
Mr. President,
We are preached to daily by the west on the virtues of democracy and
freedom which they do not totally espouse. Zimbabwe took up arms
precisely to achieve our freedom and democracy. Yet we have been
punished by United States through the odious Zimbabwe Democracy and
Economic Recovery Act enacted in 2001 to effect regime change in the
country.
Now, this malicious intent to continue the relentless persecution of
our small and peaceful country has happened again through the USA's
rejection of the recent absolutely democratic and fair election results
of our July 31st general elections, even as they were applauded by the
African Union and all our regional organisations.
It appears that when the USA and its allies speak of democracy and
freedom they are doing so only in relative terms. Zimbabwe however
refuses to accept that these western detractors have the right to define
democracy and freedom for us. We paid the ultimate price for it and we
are determined never to relinquish our sovereignty and remain masters of
our destiny. As we have repeatedly asserted, Zimbabwe will never be a
colony again!!
I thank you.
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