Botswana, 2009

I congratulate you,

Sir, on your election as President of the General

Assembly and on the very effective manner in which

you are presiding over its proceedings. I also pay

tribute to your predecessor, Mr. D’Escoto Brockmann,

for his leadership and commitment and for the very

able manner in which he guided us throughout the past

session. Under his leadership, a lot was achieved and

we also weathered a number of turbulent storms.

The global economic environment has

experienced many challenges since our last session.

Never before has our common goal of advancing the

purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter

for the betterment of all mankind been so tested. The

challenges confronting humanity have since grown

tenfold, both in scope and magnitude. The sheer

enormity of these fast-evolving challenges threatens

the very existence of the human race and the security

of our planet.

I am convinced that these challenges are neither

beyond our collective capability to address, nor are

they insurmountable. Our moral imperative is to ensure

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that the United Nations has the requisite resources, the

tools and the capability to respond to the ever-changing

environment in a timely, effective and decisive manner

in order to help Member States address the many

complex and multidimensional challenges.

It is important to remind ourselves of the decision

we adopted at the World Summit in 2005 to

“strengthen the United Nations with a view to

enhancing its authority and efficiency, as well as

its capacity to address effectively … the full

range of challenges of our time”. (resolution 60/1,

para. 146)

In that respect, my delegation welcomes the

progress made in implementing ongoing reforms of the

United Nations with a view to streamlining rules,

mandates and policies in order to promote

transparency, coherence and efficiency in the system.

The global economic crisis that has besieged us

has accentuated existing challenges and made them

more complex. The crisis has been felt more seriously

in developing countries. Human, financial and other

resources are severely overstretched as countries seek

creative and innovative ways to mitigate what has

become the greatest economic threat of our time. The

crisis therefore warrants a concerted effort involving

both developed and developing countries. We should

emerge from the crisis stronger and wiser, with new

thinking about a new global financial architecture.

In the present circumstances, poverty levels in

many economies appear to be spiraling out of control.

Our poverty reduction strategies therefore need to be

revised to face the new challenges. That goes for the

commitments we signed on to at the 1995 Copenhagen

World Summit on Sustainable Development and at the

2000 Millennium Summit. The new strategy should

focus on raising the living standards of all people the

world over. In dealing with those challenges, we

should deploy all the resources of nature and

technology to better life on the planet. But in doing so

we should avoid any actions that could endanger the

very lives that we want to uplift.

The devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic is among

the myriad challenges to which we committed

ourselves to tackle through international cooperation

and assistance. HIV/AIDS undoubtedly continues to be

one of the most daunting challenges of our time.

In June of last year, our leaders gathered in New

York for the midterm review of the implementation of

the goals and targets of the Declaration of Commitment

on HIV/AIDS, which was adopted in 2001. The review

revealed that, despite heightened political momentum

and national and global responses to HIV/AIDS, not

much progress had been made towards mitigating its

effects. Only a handful of countries were reported to be

on track to achieving some of their commitments,

while the majority of countries were found to be

lagging far behind in implementing them. That

situation underscores the urgent need to accelerate the

momentum for universal access to HIV/AIDS

prevention, treatment, care and support.

The ongoing global economic crisis has already

placed people living with HIV/AIDS at great risk, as

many countries have had to cut down on some

HIV/AIDS programmes due to budgetary constraints.

Budget reductions in HIV/AIDS programmes, in

particular, in developing countries, will obviously

result in increased loss of life, as well as an increase in

the cost of health care in the future.

We need to redouble our implementation efforts

as we draw closer to the 2010 deadline for achieving

the goal of ensuring universal access to HIV/AIDS

prevention, treatment, care and support. To that end, it

is essential that as Governments we renew our

commitment to put our people first when it comes to

the kind of policies and programmes we formulate and

implement.

The adverse impact of climate change and global

warming is another problem that requires our urgent

and sustained attention. Our collective response to the

challenge of climate change and global warming

necessitates pragmatism and decisive action. History

will judge us harshly if we cannot muster the political

will and commitment to put in place measures required

to save planet Earth. The Copenhagen meeting

scheduled for December of this year provides an

opportunity to galvanize the efforts of the international

community to address the challenges of climate

change.

More important, the Copenhagen meeting will be

a defining moment in the negotiations on the global

commitments to be made with regard to the Kyoto

Protocol after 2012. Botswana is strongly committed to

those negotiations. We will do everything in our power

to ensure their successful and timely conclusion. We

41 09-53165

therefore call upon Member States to ensure that no

effort is spared in giving the issues under negotiation

the priority attention that they deserve.

Turning to international peace and security, my

delegation is deeply concerned about the deterioration

of the global security situation. We are convinced that

the security of our world is dependent upon the entire

membership of the United Nations working in unison.

The number and intensity of conflicts still raging

in some parts of the world, in particular in Africa, is a

cause for grave concern. It is sad that Africa appears —

at least in my estimation — to have experienced more

incidents of civil strife and violent confrontation than

any other part of the world. In that regard, it is worth

noting that the Security Council remains seized of

conflict situations and developments in a number of

African countries and regions, including Chad, the

Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of

the Congo, the Great Lakes region, Eritrea and

Ethiopia, Somalia and the Sudan, to name but a few.

Somalia remains the most dangerous place in the

world, and a blemish on the conscience of the

international community. Incidents of violence,

kidnapping, banditry and piracy abound. Peacekeepers

have also not been spared that barbarity. We commend

Burundi and Uganda for the courage and heroism of

their troops in support of the peace effort. International

support and assistance is urgently required to deploy a

stabilization force to strengthen the African Union

Mission in Somalia and to support long-term peace and

stability in that country.

With regard to the situations in the Democratic

Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region, it is

thanks to the collective efforts of the United Nations

Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of

the Congo and former President Obasanjo of Nigeria,

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the

Great Lakes Region, as well as other international

initiatives, that there are now prospects for positive

developments. However, we should not underestimate

the gravity of the challenges that continue to hamper

the achievement of lasting peace, stability and

sustainable development in that region and many more

in Africa.

Apart from finding lasting solutions to conflicts,

we should put in place measures to deal with post-

conflict situations, as there is a danger that countries

emerging from conflict could easily relapse into it.

Regional bodies such as the African Union, as well as

the United Nations, must stay focused on assisting

countries to deal with both conflict and post-conflict

situations.

We all know the causes of conflict and instability.

They are the result of bad governance, mismanagement

of national resources and the absence of democracy. In

that respect, we cannot simply demand the full and

active support of the international community in efforts

to achieve lasting peace and stability. We must do more

to consolidate the democratic process, respect for

human rights and the rule of law. In that way, we

would be more deserving and worthy of assistance.

Botswana is disturbed by the emerging trend of

coups and of the unconstitutional transfer of power in

Africa and in other parts of the world. We had thought

that the era of military coups was now history. We

unreservedly condemn the coups that took place in

Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar and

Honduras. We would have been very disappointed if

one such as Rajoelina, who masterminded the

overthrow of a democratically elected Government in

Madagascar, had been allowed to address this

Assembly. We therefore applaud the decision taken by

the General Assembly in that regard.

The Southern Africa Development Community

correctly decided to suspend the regime in Madagascar

from participating in the councils and structures of the

subregional organization. Our continental organization,

the African Union, has also maintained a principled

position of automatically suspending any regime that

comes into power by overthrowing the constitutional

order. The international community must be united in

its determination to isolate the regime in Antananarivo.

We must not give it any comfort by embracing it in

international forums.

We are also witnessing a disturbing development

that undermines democracy and subverts the will of the

people. There is a growing resort to changing

constitutions in order to prolong the grip on power of

leaders and political parties that have lost elections. In

that regard, Africa, and indeed the world at large, must

collectively and in one voice reject the extra-

parliamentary transfer of power and isolate illegal

regimes until constitutional order is restored.

Embracing them in any small measure would be

immoral and would perpetuate those hideous acts

throughout the globe.

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The world can be a better place for us and for

future generations if we persistently nurture democratic

practices, good governance and respect for the rule of

law. As leaders, we should commit to building

fraternity and greater mutual understanding among

peoples across cultures and faiths. We have the

responsibility to lead by example. We must desist from

using inflammatory language that promotes tension and

conflicts.

We cannot and must not condone leaders who, for

their own selfish interests, change the constitutions of

their countries in order to ensure their continued stay in

power. At the same time, we should ensure that our

elections are credible and that they reflect the

sovereign will of the people. Governments should not

be allowed to conduct elections and then tamper with

the outcomes in order to suit their interests. People

must be allowed to freely choose their leaders.

Botswana reiterates its position that it is fully

committed to respecting the integrity and impartiality

of the International Criminal Court so that it can freely

carry out its judicial mandate. We equally support the

principle of universal jurisdiction under international

law and practice. However, we object to situations

wherein its abuse becomes blatant.

In conclusion, I wish to reiterate that the daunting

challenges facing our world today, as stated previously,

cannot and should not be tackled by any one country or

by a group of countries alone. They require a strong

multilateral approach that needs the commitment and

unyielding support of the international community as a

whole. Let us join hands together in an effort to

address those complex challenges. Our timely,

coordinated and effective action will go a long way in

securing a better future for generations to come.