Lesotho, 2013

At the very outset, allow

me to congratulate Mr. Ashe on his well-deserved

election to the office of the President of the General

Assembly. I assure him of my delegation’s full support

and cooperation during his tenure of office. I also

wish to commend his predecessor for the exemplary

leadership he demonstrated during the previous session.

From the humble beginnings of a fledging

organization more than six decades ago to a massive

expansion in membership today, the United Nations

has undoubtedly stood the test of time. Its worth as an

indispensable entity in shaping the world of our time is

a matter of common cause. Some of the great strides the

United Nations has made span the peaceful settlement

of disputes, restoring calm in many countries through

peacekeeping, raising awareness of human rights and

eradicating diseases. Nevertheless, much still needs to

be done.

Much of the world remains mired in poverty and

disease, while peace, security and stability continue to

be fragile. Economic development continues to be the

greatest challenge in our history. As we ushered in a new

millennium 13 years ago, we adopted the Millennium

Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs) in order to focus the world’s attention on ending

extreme poverty in all its forms. The 2015 deadline for

the achievement of the MDGs is fast approaching, yet it

is clear that not much progress has been made in many

countries in achieving the Goals. Alive to that fact,

the United Nations is engaged in various processes in

preparation for the post-2015 development era. It is in

this context that we welcome the theme for this session,

“The post-2015 development agenda: setting the stage”.

One of the key outcomes of the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) was

that we launched a process to develop a set of sustainable

development goals (SDGs), which would build upon the

MDGs and converge with the post-2015 development

agenda. We note the progress that has been made in that

regard and hope that the letter and spirit of the Rio+20

outcome document, “The future we want” (resolution

66/288, annex), will be upheld. It is our hope that we

will develop SDGs that are simple to implement, while

also paying attention to the reality that no one size fits

all.

The post-2015 development agenda must be an

integral framework that will build upon the successes

and failures of the MDGs. We need to reflect on the

experiences and lessons learned in implementing the

MDGs, the results achieved and opportunities missed.

It is time for this body to come together and exercise its

collective responsibility to finalize this one shared goal

of articulating and shaping a development agenda that

is inclusive and people-centred. A new development

agenda, premised upon the sovereign equality of all

States while recognizing their interdependence and

mutually reinforcing roles, should be our goal. To

achieve that, a renewed spirit of solidarity, cooperation

and mutual accountability must underpin our efforts.

It is equally important, in our view, to pay special

attention to the perils of climate change for our physical

world, as well as its destruction of ecosystems, all of

which result in land degradation and contribute to the

decline of agricultural productivity. Agriculture is the

mainstay of our small economies. In order to address

that challenge, agriculture and food security have to

be given the necessary prominence in the envisaged

development agenda.

Similarly, sustainable mountain development

should be our ideal. To a country such as Lesotho, with

over 60 per cent of its land area covered by mountains,

sustainable mountain development is imperative for the

people to survive. Mountains are valuable water sources

with rich biodiversity. As such, international support

for conservation programmes and the protection of

mountain ecosystems should be at the forefront of our

plans.

The state of peace and security in the world is

gradually getting worse. The possession of nuclear

weapons and other weapons of mass destruction

remains the principal threat to the survival of

humankind. The widespread sectarian strife in the

Middle East and elsewhere and xenophobia are some

of the great challenges to global peace. Sadly, discord

remains among Member States on how to overcome

those problems.

Of particular concern to my delegation is the

situation in Syria, which poses a serious and growing

threat to international peace and security. Scores of

civilians continue to be the principal victims. Women,

children and the elderly are bearing the brunt of the

conflict. The use of chemical weapons in Syria is not

only abhorrent, but also a crime against humanity. We

condemn it in the strongest terms, as it threatens to

undermine the norm against the use of chemical weapons

universally embraced by the international community.

We welcome the partial report of the United Nations

chemical weapons inspectors investigating the use of

those weapons in Syria, and hope that the culprits will

face the might of international law and justice.

The crisis in Syria has the potential to engulf the

whole Middle East region, with global ramifications.

We call on the international community to find a quick

and lasting solution to the conflict. Whether in Syria or

anywhere else, perpetrators of crimes against humanity

must be held legally accountable for their actions.

History has revealed that human societies can

enjoy peaceful, orderly progress only if the rule of

law obtains. The conviction that peace and justice

are inextricably intertwined has always underpinned

the efforts of the United Nations in the area of the

maintenance of international peace and security.

Indeed, the International Criminal Court (ICC), created

in 1998, is a beacon that speaks to that truism. We must

use institutions, such as the ICC and other international

legal tribunals, as a reflection of the international

community’s increasing rejection of impunity and

evidence that there is a rising tide in favour of the

rule of law. At the same time, we need to ensure that

institutions, such as the ICC, are adequately insulated

against politicization. Selective prosecutions must be

avoided.

A decade has passed since the initiation of

the notion of the responsibility to protect. Yet, the

operationalization of that concept has not become a

reality. The fact that crimes of mass atrocity continue

to be committed around the world is a stark reminder

that the time for a collective approach to protecting

populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic

cleansing and crimes against humanity is now. Most

mass atrocities often do not occur spontaneously, but

rather as part of a planned process. Over the years, we

have learned the important lesson that the Organization

cannot stand on the sidelines when challenged to take

preventive action. In so doing, we should guard against

the misuse and abuse of the norm of the responsibility

to protect by infringing on the national sovereignty or

altering the legal obligation of Member States to refrain

from the use of force except in conformity with the

Charter of the United Nations.

From the Horn of Africa and across the Sahel

region to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the

African continent is facing a rise in lawlessness and

conflicts. As we celebrate the jubilee of the formation

of our continental organization, the Organization of

African Unity, we are resolved, as leaders of Africa,

that Africa must open a new chapter going forward and

extricate itself from the conflicts that have so soiled its

reputation and compromised its development. We are

determined to build a safe, secure and peaceful Africa

from here forward.

With the presence of extremist groups and

terrorist entities in the Middle East and elsewhere,

terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to world

peace, security and development. The ugly face of

that scourge has once again resurfaced in Kenya. We

condemn the barbaric killings of innocent people in the

Westgate mall in Nairobi, committed by Al-Shabaab.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families that

have lost their loved ones. We all know that solutions

to these problems cannot be through military means

alone. We have to invest more in creating a holistic and

integrated approach that targets, among other things, the

improvement of economic development, the promotion

of the rule of law, the protection of human rights and

fundamental freedoms, and good governance.

In the face of the numerous global challenges

existing in the world today, promoting more effective

global governance should be at the forefront of the

international agenda. We, the membership of the United

Nations, should strive for an international Organization

with improved efficiency and effectiveness. In our

efforts to reform the United Nations, emphasis needs to

be placed on enhancing, inter alia, its accountability and

that of all its organs and bodies and the programmes of

Member States, irrespective of their size and influence.

It would be remiss of me not to express solidarity

with the people of Cuba for having endured sanctions for

so many years. We also want to express our unwavering

solidarity with the people of Western Sahara, who have

languished under the yoke of colonialism for far too

long. In the same vein, we express our unwavering

support for the people of Palestine. As a small country

that was surrounded by apartheid South Africa for

almost a century, we understand the pain that others

who still languish under that kind of situation feel.

Those situations are a challenge that this body can

easily remove from our agenda simply by doing what is

right. In true brotherly solidarity, we appeal to this body

to remove those final vestiges of colonial oppression.

In conclusion, I need not emphasize that our

peoples do not necessarily look at this Organization as a

mirror reflecting a divided and troubled world. Rather,

they yearn for progress and solutions to the problems

besieging their world. They want ideas, leadership and

concrete hope for the future. Our actions and decisions

should embody themes of peace and development that

look far beyond the immediacy of the moment. The

challenges that confront us today must be, more than

ever before, addressed with the candour and decision

that the present global economic and political situation

dictates to us all.