Eswatini, 2004

Allow me to convey

to all members of the United Nations family the warm

greetings and best wishes of His Majesty

King Mswati III, Her Majesty the Indlovukazi, the

Government and, indeed, the entire Swazi nation.

The Kingdom of Swaziland congratulates you,

Sir, on your election to the presidency of this session.

We are especially proud that a fellow African has been

elected to that demanding position, and we are

confident that your diplomatic skill and experience will

help you to lead the Assembly towards a successful

conclusion of its deliberations.

In the aftermath of 11 September 2001, the world

is understandably preoccupied with the question of

security and the war on terror. The Kingdom of

Swaziland continues to condemn, in no uncertain

terms, terrorism which constantly threatens world

peace, security and stability. As part of our support for

the alliance against terrorism, the Government of

Swaziland is currently studying the United Nations

conventions that deal with terrorism, to ensure not only

the adaptation of such important conventions, but also

compliance with them. The Parliament of the Kingdom

of Swaziland will be debating, and will hopefully pass,

its long-awaited anti-terrorism bill during its next

session.

Future world stability is also threatened by the

continuing spread of weapons of mass destruction. Our

failure as an Organization in that regard thus far is due

to inability to agree on a time frame suitable to all

Members for arms control and nuclear disarmament.

The Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-

Ban Treaty (CTBT) were designed as an essential first

step towards a world free from the danger that such

weapons pose. We clearly need to find a way to

strengthen the non-proliferation regime and to prevent

the flow of conventional weapons and anti-personnel

landmines into zones of conflicts or into the hands of

terrorists. The Kingdom of Swaziland therefore calls

upon the Conference on Disarmament to implement the

proposal of the Non-Aligned Movement by

establishing, as its highest priority, an ad hoc

committee to begin negotiations on a programme for

the complete and time-bound elimination of nuclear

weapons from those countries that have them.

While the possibility of global conflict has

diminished since the end of the cold war era, it is a fact

that there has been a corresponding increase in the

incidence of internal conflicts and cross-border

disturbances, arising from a variety of causes,

including ethnic and religious confrontation.

The situation in the Middle East is inevitably at

the centre of the debate on peace and security. The

Kingdom of Swaziland pledges the continuation of our

support for all initiatives and efforts aimed at resolving

that situation and at bringing peace and stability to the

Middle East. We sincerely believe that the vital role of

the United Nations continues to be critical to the

resolution of the Middle East conflict.

The creation of the African Union and the New

Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and

the great strides that have been taken in the past two

years, are a clear indication that we are moving in the

right direction. We are convinced that, with the support

of the international community and in the spirit of the

true partnership that is demonstrated by mutual respect,

we shall succeed in our objectives, initiatives and

efforts to raise the living standards of our peoples.

We have placed our trust in NEPAD to be the

vehicle for that shift away from the underdevelopment

and conflict of the past by addressing the fundamental

root causes of our problems. The ongoing integration

of our initiatives and programmes within the African

continent will make possible sustainability and true

growth in our economies. Together, in unity of

purpose, we shall succeed. In that regard, we welcome

the establishment by the Secretary-General of the

Advisory Panel on International Support for NEPAD,

which will, in our view, help us to be more effective in

our efforts to promote Africa’s development.

Our united effort is also addressing the conflicts

that continue to threaten peace, stability and security

on the African continent. We realize that, without those

elements, our development goals will continue to elude

us, especially because, apart from resources that are

wasted on arms, our people can be productive and be

able to trade among themselves and with the rest of the

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world only under conditions of peace, stability and

security.

The establishment of the Peace and Security

Council of the African Union is a landmark event in

our efforts to manage our conflicts. In particular, allow

me to single out for commendation Secretary-General

Kofi Annan for his tireless efforts to highlight and

address African problems. We look forward to the

complete resolution of the dispute in Somalia, and in

particular to the resolution of the dispute in the Darfur

region of the Sudan.

The complex challenges facing the world today

lend greater significance and urgency to initiatives for

the reform of our Organization. The Kingdom of

Swaziland believes that those reforms are essential if

the United Nations is to retain the global credibility

and authority that are so necessary to its operations.

Our aim must be to transform the Organization into a

structure that is truly representative of all Members and

that is transparent and efficient in its operations, while

remaining consistent with the purposes and objectives

of our founding Charter. We believe that achieving

balanced representation in the principal organs of the

United Nations should be a priority.

In that regard, we support an increase in both

permanent and non-permanent seats in the Security

Council. The Security Council in particular requires

reform in order to strengthen its legitimacy. Its

composition must reflect the plurality and diversity of

the membership of the United Nations, to recognize the

profound geopolitical changes that have taken place in

recent history. However, due to a lack of political will

on the part of some Members to increase the

membership of the Security Council, progress in the

reform agenda remains unattainable.

Turning now to the question of development, we

believe that the Millennium Declaration marked a

turning point in carrying out the mission unanimously

entrusted to the United Nations in the area of

sustainable development. Indeed, for the first time,

heads of State or Government agreed on specific goals

and targets in the social, economic and educational

fields, up to the year 2015. In our view, the leaders

were correct to make the related topics of peace,

security, development and poverty eradication

priorities to be addressed, because future world

stability depends on the ability of national

Governments to increase the momentum for economic

development and their capacity to improve the delivery

of job creation and essential services such as health

and education.

Developing countries have been facing special

difficulties in responding to the challenges brought

about by globalization. As a result, many developing

countries, especially the least developed ones, have

remained marginalized in the globalizing world

economy. Consequently, the benefits of globalization

are unevenly distributed. In that regard, the Kingdom

of Swaziland believes that in order to maximize the

benefits of globalization, the process of integration into

the world economy should take into account the level

of economic development of each country and the

capacity of its institutions and enterprises. In

particular, specific national development potentials and

socio-economic circumstances, as well as differing

initial conditions relating to size, resource

endowments, economic structure and location, should

be considered. It is also necessary to take into account

the specific development, financial and trade needs of

developing countries, in view of the fact that there can

be no one-size-fits-all trade development strategy.

I believe that I speak on behalf of many from the

developing world when I say that small economies are

not receiving fair treatment in global trade. The

proposed removal of preferential terms for our

agricultural products and the continuation of subsidies

for such products from the developed world is bound to

deal a fatal blow to many of our weak economies. We

request understanding and appreciation of our situation

by our developed partners. We are asking for a

partnership that will take into account our unique

situations as developing economies so that we can

participate effectively in the global market. For our

part, as small economies, we pledge quality and high

standards for our products. Our farmers are more than

ready to deliver the best to international markets. It

should be noted that agricultural incomes are the

cornerstone of development for our rural communities.

For our part in the Kingdom of Swaziland,

poverty alleviation remains the number-one priority.

Sixty-six per cent of our people are living below the

internationally recognized poverty line, yet our

classification as a lower-middle-income country

prevents our access to many of the funds and resources

that are available to those in different categories. We

will be working with the United Nations to ensure that

this situation is corrected.

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In the meantime, we are focusing our efforts and

available resources on programmes that meet the

challenges of poverty in a sustainable and equitable

manner. Our national development strategy, which is

the result of direct consultation with all stakeholders,

has incorporated all eight priority United Nations

Millennium Development Goals so as to provide us

with a blueprint for government action towards

achieving the vision of improving the livelihood of our

people by 2022.

Despite all our best efforts and our limited

success in many areas, we are restricted in our capacity

to meet our objectives due to a multitude of problems

that are affecting us simultaneously and that we cannot

overcome on our own. As is the case with all

developing countries, we are particularly at risk in

times of global economic difficulties and are

particularly vulnerable to disease and to the effects of

changing weather patterns.

Weakening our efforts to meet our development

challenges is the threat posed by multiple health

hazards, including malaria and tuberculosis, but

especially HIV/AIDS. AIDS continues to claim the

lives of many of our people. No sector of development

has been spared the ravaging impact of the HIV/AIDS

pandemic, with enormous strain placed on our financial

and human resources as we make the required

interventions. We are attacking the enemy on various

fronts, with priority on prevention, care, counselling

and treatment. Our National Emergency Response

Committee has had some success with regard to home-

based and community-based care for those already ill

as a result of infection.

Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing an

exodus of qualified nurses, who are being employed in

the developed world. The exodus has adversely

affected our capacity-building efforts. That exodus,

together with other wider impacts of HIV/AIDS, has

dealt our economy a heavy blow.

The Kingdom of Swaziland continues to make the

welfare of children a priority in our development strategy.

In that regard, both the Government and the private

sector, including non-governmental organizations

(NGOs), have responded with zeal and determination

to the plight of orphans and other vulnerable children,

resulting from the effects of the pandemic. The

Government is providing bursaries for such children in

order to ensure that their education is not disrupted.

The Government and the business community, in

partnership with NGOs, are providing school feeding

schemes in order to improve their nutritional balance.

We are also using our traditional structures to cater for

their material and emotional needs; this includes the

provision of local reporting structures to prevent the

abuse of those children. The chiefdoms also provide

fields where communities grow food for orphans and

other vulnerable children.

Let me take this opportunity to express the most

profound gratitude of the entire Swazi nation to the

United Nations and to all our development partners for

the support we continue to receive as we face that

killer disease. The support we have received from the

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

continues to prop up and sustain our programmes and

strategies in our fight against this scourge. Fellow

members, we shall be forever grateful to you all.

The Kingdom of Swaziland is fully committed to

the principles of good governance and the rule of law.

The nation has just completed debating the Kingdom’s

draft constitution, and the draft will soon be submitted

to Parliament for final consideration before the end of

this year.

For more than 30 years, the Kingdom of

Swaziland has been enjoying excellent relations with a

nation which, despite an outstanding record in

international development assistance and despite

fulfilling every requirement for membership in the

Organization, is nonetheless excluded from

participation in the activities of the United Nations. I

am referring here to the issue of the 23 million people

of the Republic of China on Taiwan, who are denied

the right to contribute to the global initiatives

undertaken by this world body. The Government and

the people of the Republic of China on Taiwan have

made enormous advances in economic, social and

political terms, and they have shown themselves ready

and able to share their experience and advice with all

the nations of the world. The Kingdom of Swaziland,

therefore, proposes to the Assembly that the time has

come to revisit this issue so as to ensure the inclusion

of the Republic of China on Taiwan in the activities of

the United Nations and its associated agencies.

In conclusion, I would like to take this

opportunity to express the deep gratitude of His

Majesty the King, the Indlovukazi, the Government

and the people of Swaziland to the United Nations and

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its agencies for the many programmes of assistance

undertaken in the Kingdom of Swaziland since our

independence.

We believe that the United Nations, as the only

truly global Organization, remains the only hope for

overcoming the many complex challenges facing the

world today. Despite the setbacks, and despite the

obstacles to achieving our collective aims, there can be

no doubt that the world could be a more troubled place

without the combined efforts of all of us. The Kingdom

of Swaziland, therefore, takes great pride in

reaffirming our commitment to the principles and

ideals set out in the Charter, and we ask Almighty God

to watch over and guide us in the challenging times

ahead for our Organization.