Mozambique, 2010

Mozambique

associates itself with previous speakers in

congratulating you, Sir, on your unanimous election to

preside over the sixty-fifth session of the United

Nations General Assembly. Indeed we feel confident

that your wisdom and diligence will provide positive

leadership and success for our deliberations. We

reaffirm our commitment to support your presidency

and pledge to fully cooperate with you and all the other

members of the Bureau in the discharge of your noble

mission.

We wish to express our gratitude to your

predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki

of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, for his commitment to

our Organization and for his strong leadership in

carrying out the work of the United Nations, both

productively and effectively during the previous

General Assembly session.

Equally, I would like to commend the Secretary-

General, Ban Ki-moon, for his engagement in

promoting peace and justice and, in particular, for his

tireless efforts to mobilize the United Nations family to

adequately address the global challenges facing the

world and humanity through concerted multilateral

approaches.

Recognizing the steering role of the United

Nations in global governance and highly appreciating

the wise choice of reflecting this important and timely

item during the present debate, I request your

indulgence to seize this opportunity to share some

information about developments in Mozambique. As

we move steadily towards strengthening the democratic

institutions in Mozambique, we are proud to see that

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there have been significant achievements in both the

political and the socio-economic spheres of the

country.

Indeed, thanks to the strengthened political

stability that Mozambique currently enjoys, the

Government is undertaking a comprehensive public

sector reform and decentralization process in the area

of public administration. Similarly, political and social

stability and good macroeconomic management,

supplemented by the attractive investment legislation

already in place, have contributed immensely to

creating conditions conducive to promoting economic

growth and sustainable development.

Our main goal is to eradicate poverty, as it is one

of the major challenges facing our people in their

efforts to improve their living conditions. We are fully

aware that in fighting poverty we need also to

simultaneously address other related challenges,

namely, climate change, the energy crisis, food

insecurity and the global economic and financial crisis,

whose impacts constitute an enduring challenge,

especially for developing economies such as that of

Mozambique. All those challenges are interrelated and

have multiplier effects on our competitiveness and

growth efforts.

The threats posed by the negative impact of

climate change on our environment need to be

continuously dealt with as a priority and should be

comprehensively addressed at the national,

subregional, regional and international levels. The

devastation due to problems originating in climate

change is degrading our environment at an astonishing

pace. In fact, Mozambique and many other countries in

sub-Saharan Africa are being ravaged by cyclical

natural disasters that destroy major arable lands and

thus reduce land productivity.

There is no doubt that small island developing

countries face the risk of disappearing from the world

map. At the same time, it is also important to recognize

the plight of coastal developing countries like

Mozambique, which are suffering from the rise in sea

levels.

The heavy burden resulting from the adverse

effects of climate change constrains the ability of our

Governments to allocate the necessary financial and

human resources to decisively address problems related

to the environment. Hence, developing countries,

particularly sub-Saharan countries, do not have the

required financial resources to undertake the necessary

steps to mitigate the impact of climate change. To that

end, we are committed to continue working in a

concerted manner with international development

partners, especially the United Nations and other

stakeholders with a focus on creating conditions for

adaptation and local community resilience to the

impact of climate change.

Bearing in mind the principle of common but

differentiated responsibility, we would like to underline

that our association with the Copenhagen Accord on

climate change is based precisely on our understanding

that the global nature of climate change demands a true

multilateral response. In that regard, we look forward

to a successful outcome of the sixteenth Conference of

the Parties to the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change — COP 16 — to be

held in Cancún later this year. We commend the active

role of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to

ensure a meaningful result of the climate change

negotiations.

In addressing all the aforementioned challenges,

strong and able global governance is of utmost

importance to ensure the spurring of the political will

needed for concrete actions. The United Nations is the

only intergovernmental organization with a universal

character and the ability to mobilize such a capacity.

That is why we believe that concrete steps to

strengthen the central role of the United Nations in

global governance are required, through providing it

with the adequate resources and authority

commensurate with its global responsibility to fully

respond to the growing global needs.

Mozambique will remain engaged in the ongoing

process of reforming the United Nations to ensure its

efficiency and effectiveness, to increase its credibility

and legitimacy as a representative of the people of the

world.

In that regard, the revitalization of the role and

the authority of the General Assembly as the most

representative and legitimate organ of the United

Nations cannot be overemphasized. It is here where

everyone is represented and every vote counts in deciding

on matters of common interest. So it is here where all the

most important decisions should be taken — from issues

related to the maintenance of peace and security, the

promotion of economic cooperation and social and

humanitarian matters to the promotion of human rights.

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Everyone should abide by and implement all decisions

and resolutions taken here. Therefore, we need a strong

General Assembly, well resourced and with the

necessary authority to assume its responsibilities on

behalf of the international community.

Another important track of reform that we are

very much attached to is the reform of the Security

Council. Although there is no agreement yet on the

level of attainment, we all agree that reform of the

Council should be a priority in the whole United

Nations reform process. It is clear that we need a more

balanced representation in the Council. Moreover, we

are of the view that a Council that is more fair and

democratic in its decisions and actions would

adequately meet the security necessities of the

international community.

For a meaningful reform of the Security Council,

it is imperative that the historic injustice with regard to

the African continent be corrected. Indeed, today it is

no longer acceptable that a continent that represents

almost 30 per cent of the whole United Nations

membership and whose concerns constitute more than

60 per cent of the Council’s agenda is not represented

in the category of permanent member. In that light,

Africa deserves to be allocated permanent seats in any

Security Council reform, based on the Ezulwini

Consensus.

There is also a need for a more coherent and

effective United Nations system, capable of efficiently

addressing and advancing durable solutions for the

pressing economic, social and humanitarian problems

currently facing the world. Member States should also

continue to discuss and find measurable solutions on

how to ensure coherence between policy decisions and

the implementation of commitments agreed in United

Nations international conferences and summits in the

field of development.

In that regard, Mozambique is proud of the

progress made by the General Assembly on system-

wide coherence. In particular, we commend the

Assembly for its recent major step in the establishment

of UN Women. I seize this opportunity to reiterate our

congratulations to Her Excellency Ms. Michelle

Bachelet on her appointment as Under-Secretary-

General of the new entity and pledge our full support

for and readiness to collaborate on the successful

accomplishment of the task of bringing gender equality

and the empowerment of women to the forefront of the

United Nations work.

It is also a fact that, although we are open to

seeing the result of the independent evaluation of the

One United Nations pilot country initiative, it is our

strong belief that the progress made so far in the

implementation of that initiative is extremely

encouraging. Therefore we call on the United Nations

to support all countries that voluntarily decide to

embark on the process of making the United Nations

system work in a more coherent manner at the country

level.

With regard to the maintenance of international

peace and security, Mozambique is committed to

continuing to share its experience in the peaceful

resolution of conflicts, particularly in southern Africa.

In our subregion, we share important responsibilities in

the promotion of peace and security, as well as with

regard to regional integration as part of subregional

and regional efforts to promote international peace and

security and sustainable development.

We advocate international peace and security

because we truly believe that they are part of the

enabling conditions that allow countries to concentrate

their attention on dealing with other pressing needs,

such as the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other

diseases, the fight against international crime and drug

trafficking, addressing poverty-related problems and

the promotion of sustainable development.

It is worth noting that the political situation and

stability in Southern Africa have improved. Indeed, the

process of implementing the Global Political

Agreement in Zimbabwe has made significant strides.

We also remain committed, under the auspices of the

Southern African Development Community, to finding

a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict in

Madagascar.

We are encouraged by the progress being made in

stabilizing the political situation in Guinea-Bissau,

especially the ongoing reform of the armed forces and

the public administration. I take this opportunity to call

on the international community to continue supporting

the ongoing efforts of the Community of Portuguese-

speaking Countries and of the United Nations to find a

sustainable and lasting peace in that sister country.

Mozambique reiterates its support for the efforts

of the international community to find a lasting

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solution to the problem of Western Sahara, and for the

right of that country’s people to self-determination.

Mozambique is concerned that despite all

continued international efforts, it has not been possible

to bring about peace and stability in the Middle East.

Mozambique is deeply concerned about the volatile

situation in that region, where the conflict between

Israel and Palestine continues to deprive the

Palestinian people of the realization of their

fundamental human rights, including the right to their

own land and resources and to live in peace with all

neighbouring countries, including, obviously, Israel.

We need a strong United Nations that can play a

central role in mobilizing Member States and the

international community at large to commit and fully

contribute to regional and international peace and

security and to an enabling environment for the

promotion of sustainable development.

That is why we believe in multilateralism. We

reiterate our commitment to work in collaboration with

all States Members of the Organization in the pursuit

of our common goals to make the world a better place

for all humanity.