Permanent
Mission of the' United Republic of Tanzania
to
the United Nations
STATEMENT BY
HON. JAKAYA M. KIKWETE, MP,
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AND INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION
OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF
TANZANIA
AT THE MILLENNIUM SUMMIT
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
205 East 42nd Street, Room
1300, New York, New York 10017
Tel. No. (212) 972-9160
SPEECH BY HON. JAKAYA M. KIKWETE, MINISTER
FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
AT THE MILLENNIUM SUMMIT OF
THE UNITED NATIONS
NEW YORK - 7TH SEPTEMBER, 2000
Mr. President,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and
Gentlemen.
At the outset my delegation
would like to join other delegations in congratulating you, President Sam
Nujoma of the Republic of Namibia, and the President of Finland, H.E. Tarja
Halonen, for your well-deserved co-presidency of this important and
historic Millennium Summit of the United Nations. So far, you have steered the
business of this conference very well and we are assured of successful
deliberations.
I would also like to
apologize, on behalf of my President, H.E. Benjamin W. Mkapa, for his absence
from this historic event. He would have liked to be here to exchange views with
other leaders on the future of the United Nations but he could not do so
because of unavoidable national commitments related to constitutional
obligations. However, my President is very hopeful that the Summit will be a
resounding success.
Mr. President,
Tanzania attaches a lot of
importance to the Millennium Summit. We consider this Summit to be the new
foundation for a renewed international commitment to the ideals, prómise and
vision of a 21St Century United Nations. We are hopeful that this landmark
event will not end as a lost opportunity but will instead be a turning point
for the future of this Organization and for the aspirations of all our people
the world over. I want to take this opportunity to commend our illustrious
Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his report on the role of the United
Nations in the 21 s`
century which
encapsulates very well the challenges we face and must overcome.
Mr. President,
In its 55 years of
existence, the United Nations has lived its mission and vision. Our
Organization was created essentially for the maintenance of world peace and
security after the catastrophic experiences of the two World Wars. It is
remarkable that since the end of the Second World War, the world has not
experienced another war, and hopefully forever won't. Throughout its existence,
the United Nations has been able to intervene and resolve a number of wars and
conflicts which have been threatening global, regional, as well as peace and
security in individual nations. Wars and conflicts have been prevented,
resolved and better managed with United Nations' involvement and assistance. I
wonder what the situation of the world would have been without the United
Nations.
Mr. President,
While the United Nations has scored noticeable success in the area of peace and security, much more work needs to be done in the field of prevention and resolution of conflicts and wars. The existence of huge arsenals of nuclear weapons poses a major potential threat to world peace and security. This has to be eliminated for the sake of humanity. The United Nations therefore needs to do more about it now and in future. The United Nations also needs to deal with the problem of illicit traffic and proliferation of small arms which fuels a lot of the over 80 conflicts going on in different parts of the world. Tanzania is of the view that for greater success and effectiveness, the United Nations needs to work in close collaboration with regional mechanisms and initiatives in dealing with conflicts.
Mr. President,
The promotion of human
rights, as well as social and economic development among nations and peoples of
the world was another important objective of the United Nations. In this regard
the United Nations recorded glorious successes in decolonization which has
enabled many colonized countries attain independence. The United Nations stood
by the struggling masses of Africa, Asia and Latin America in our struggle
against colonialism and apartheid. Today, apart from a few enclaves of non-self-governing
territories, the world is virtually free from classical colonialism. It is our
hope that the United Nations will continue to provide advocacy for the
selfdetermination and independence of these remaining territories. The United
Nations also has to continue the promotion and advocacy for the observance of
fundamental human rights as it has done over the years. We believe respect for
human rights forms a firm basis for peace, security and development in
societies and nations.
Mr. President,
There is need for the United
Nations to be more involved in matters relating to social and economic
development. Tackling the problems of poverty, especially in Africa and the
LDCs, needs to be given top priority. Perhaps nowhere is the problem more
compelling than in Africa where there are 33 of the 48 poorest countries in the
world. It is no accident that the overreaching development objective of Africa
remains the eradication of poverty, ignorance and disease. As an African, I am
humbled by the United Nations in addressing pressing African problems and
issues of concern. But the United Nations needs to do more in the case of
HIV/AIDS otherwise untold misery lies ahead of us.
Mr. President,
The United Nations has
always been a good advocate of the poor and the weak in their search for
meaningful development. We recall the numerous initiatives made by the United
Nations from the 1970's to create a new international economic order and make
the international community respond to the plight of the poor. Our Organization
has to do that more forcefully now than ever before because of the obvious
challenges ahead of us. Expectations that globalization and liberalization
would lead to increased growth and development has yet to produce tangible
results for developing countries. It is recognized that there are opportunities
in globalization and liberalization but the majority of the developing
countries are still marginalized arising from their weakness as well as the
lack of a conducive international environment for development.
Mr. President,
The specific challenges
facing developing countries in this regard deserve special attention. Apart
from bilateral and multilateral assistance, we also look to the UN to be in the
forefront in ensuring that economic issues are put at the center, of its
activities. In this regard it is expected that, among other things, the UN will
promote measures that would encourage increased technical assistance and
greater flow of resources and investments from developed to developing
countries.
Mr. President,
There is also an urgent need
for comprehensive debt relief measures, particularly for LDCs. We welcome the
greater international awareness for the need to address this issue. The
enhanced HIPC and other debt cancellation measures would no doubt release
scarce resources and direct them towards addressing issues of poverty
eradication and social and economic development.
Furthermore we expect our
United Nations to continue to call upon the developed countries to provide
unhindered market access for goods from developing countries. It is important
also that developed countries should make technology available to developing
countries on concessional and grant basis with the aim of bridging the
technological gap between the developed and the developing countries. In this
regard international support, including through the UN is needed for realizing
such capacity building measures.
My delegation expresses its
hope that the UN in the new millennium will continue to play an active role in
supporting developing countries, particularly those in Africa, in improving
health amenities and the treatment of pandemics including HIV/AIDS, Malaria and
Tuberculosis.
Mr. President,
The United Nations is as
relevant today as it was 55 years ago. The world still needs the United
Nations. But for the United Nations to perform its mission and vision, it has
to be strengthened in its structure and resources. There is need to address the
serious financial problems affecting the UN budget and the financing of the UN
development programme. In this regard we call upon all member states, to pay
their contributions to the UN on a timely fashion.
It is our view that the reform of the Security
Council is long overdue. The Council's continued legitimacy demands urgent
democratization through an equitable representation of developing countries in
both permanent and non-permanent membership categories. We also share the
view that the expansion of the Council should include both developed and
developing countries.
Thank you.