Eswatini, 2006

It is a great honour

and privilege for me to deliver this important statement

on behalf of the delegation of the Kingdom of

Swaziland. Allow me to convey the warm greetings

and best wishes of His Majesty King Mswati III, Her

Majesty the Queen Mother, the Government and the

people of the Kingdom of Swaziland to the whole

United Nations family.

The Kingdom of Swaziland warmly congratulates

you, Madam, on your historic election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-first

session. We are confident that your wide experience

and proven legal and diplomatic skills will ensure

success in addressing the challenging and daunting

issues that face the Assembly at this session. We would

also like to commend the excellent work of your

predecessor, Mr. Jan Eliasson, Minister for Foreign

Affairs of Sweden, in particular for his skilful

leadership and the great effort he put into directing the

General Assembly at its previous session.

The Kingdom of Swaziland would like to pay

special tribute to Mr. Kofi Annan for his outstanding

work during his tenure as our Secretary-General.

Through his untiring and dedicated efforts, he

demonstrated the vision and qualities that saw him

successfully lead our Organization into the twenty-first

century, despite the daunting challenges that the

Organization faced. We also commend him for his

initiatives in contributing to the economic and social

development of the African continent through the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Kingdom of Swaziland is delighted to extend

a warm welcome to our Organization’s newest

Member, the Republic of Montenegro, whose accession

is a further confirmation of respect for the principles of

universality and representation enshrined in the Charter

of the United Nations.

However, as we welcome our new Member, we

remain conscious of the fact that the principle of

universality has not been applied to its fullest. I am

referring to the exclusion of Taiwan. With the

admission of Montenegro, almost all the countries of

the world have become Members of this global

Organization, all except one — Taiwan. The exclusion

of this nation poses a legal and a moral challenge to the

international community. The time has come for the

United Nations to stop enforcing a policy of exclusion

against the 23.6 million people of Taiwan. The

Kingdom of Swaziland believes that accepting Taiwan

as a member of the United Nations would not only

restore the rights of the people of that island but would

also contribute to ensuring that peace and stability is

maintained in the Taiwan Strait. We believe that every

country in that region should be allowed to participate

in working towards peace, stability and positive

development. We propose, therefore, that General

Assembly resolution 2758 (XXVI) of 1971 be

reviewed carefully, with a view to restoring the legal

and moral rights of the people of Taiwan to be part of

the United Nations family.

The Kingdom of Swaziland joins the world in

condemning terrorism and threats to international

peace and security. We condemn all acts of terrorism

that have taken place over the past year and we offer

our sympathies and prayers to all those who were

affected by such acts, especially the families and

friends of those who lost their lives. The world has, in

recent times, seen an upsurge of terrorism on an

unprecedented level.

We welcome the recent agreement on a counter-

terrorism strategy, which demonstrates the commitment

of the international community to overcome the

scourge of terrorism. It must be borne in mind that all

States, large and small, and in every region, are

vulnerable and could be affected by terrorism.

Therefore, all Member States have to ensure that the

strategy is implemented and further updated in order to

confront the evolving challenges.

13 06-53958

We fully support the African Nuclear-Weapon-

Free Zone Treaty and call for the elimination of all

nuclear weapons by those States that possess them. As

part of our commitment to a peaceful world, we

support the efforts of the Conference on Disarmament

concerning the prohibition of the development and

manufacture of new types of weapons of mass

destruction. We also continue to be part of the

campaign against the trafficking, sale and distribution

of small arms and light weapons. Such weapons

encourage terrorism on an international as well as on

an individual level.

The Kingdom of Swaziland welcomes the

establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission, and

we look forward to the realization of the goals

envisaged in the formation of that body. We are also

proud to congratulate a sister State, the Republic of

Angola, on her election to be the first to preside over

this important and unique Commission.

The recent tragic events that took place in

Lebanon and northern Israel are a cause for great

concern and a challenge to the Peacebuilding

Commission. The Kingdom of Swaziland stands firmly

behind the collective effort of the international

community to ensure the implementation of the

Security Council resolution that ended the conflict

between Israel and Hizbollah. We are of the view that a

comprehensive peace process must be revived as a

matter of urgency.

While we are especially encouraged by the

developments towards peace on the African continent,

we remain concerned about the worsening security

situation in Darfur in western Sudan, where thousands

of people have been killed and more than 2 million

displaced since the conflict erupted in 2003. We urge

the parties concerned to demonstrate a spirit of

necessary compromise and to cooperate with efforts

made to facilitate the search for peaceful and lasting

solutions. The Kingdom of Swaziland supports

unequivocally every effort that is being made to sustain

peace in this area. We join our fellow Member States in

calling for support from the United Nations. We fully

hope and expect that commitments in words will be

followed up by deeds.

We welcome the results of the historic first-round

elections that took place in the Democratic Republic of

Congo, the first of its kind in 40 years. These elections

were the first crucial step towards the recovery of that

country, and we support every effort by the United

Nations and the international community to consolidate

this achievement, bearing in mind that it will make a

difference not only to the Democratic Republic of

Congo but to the African continent as a whole.

The recently established Human Rights Council

has just concluded a successful inaugural session. The

Kingdom of Swaziland welcomes the creation of this

historic new body. The creation of the Council was

indeed a step in the right direction towards

strengthening our Organization’s human rights tools.

We believe that the work of the Council will be guided

by the principles of universality, impartiality,

objectivity, non-selectivity, international dialogue and

cooperation. In this regard, we align ourselves with the

rest of Africa in supporting a less-politicized body that

will respond promptly to cases of human rights abuses

in any part of the world.

The Kingdom of Swaziland believes that the

ongoing reforms of the United Nations are essential,

especially if the Organization is to retain its global

credibility. It is therefore our hope that the many key

reform proposals that were deferred to this session will

be dealt with satisfactorily. Meanwhile, we welcome

the progress that has been made so far, including the

establishment of a United Nations Ethics Office, the

Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights

Council.

Neither renewal nor reform would be complete

without the reform of the Security Council. In the quest

for an overall agreement on this issue, the Kingdom of

Swaziland supports the position of the Non-Aligned

Movement and the African Group concerning the

composition and working methods of the Security

Council. We hope and expect that positive results will

flow from the conclusion of this matter.

As a Member State of this body, we recognize the

vital role that the major United Nations conferences

and summits have played in identifying commonly

agreed objectives which should lead to the successful

implementation of the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs). However, we do realize that nothing can be

achieved without adequate funding, especially for

developing nations. Even though promises have been

made, the time has come for them to be translated into

actions.

The breakdown and suspension of negotiations of

the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round is

06-53958 14

lamentable. However, insofar as the outcome is

concerned, the Kingdom of Swaziland believes that the

needs of developing nations must be fully taken into

consideration. Failure to do so will undermine the

already limited trade opportunities of these nations and

detract from the pursuit of policies in key areas, such

as employment, industrialization, food security, rural

development and sustained economic growth.

While we welcome the relevant ideas and general

principles for designing microeconomic, sectoral and

trade policies contained in the United Nations

Conference on Trade and Development’s Trade

Development Report of 2006, we still believe that the

specific needs of developing nations have to be

addressed.

On a more domestic note, let me report that the

HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to be one of the biggest

challenges faced by the Kingdom of Swaziland. As we

begin to realize the benefits of a full-scale national

roll-out of antiretroviral drugs, a critical area of

concern is the care needed by the estimated 63,000

children who have been orphaned by the pandemic.

That is why, among many other structures we

have put in place to curb this scourge, we have revived

the concept of the “KaGogo”, which means, literally,

“grandmother’s house”. These KaGogo centres are

being constructed across the country and are a new

initiative based on traditional ways that empower local

communities to look after their orphans within

traditional structures. During the High-level

Conference on HIV/AIDS held in June 2006, His

Majesty King Mswati III clearly spelled out the scale

of the pandemic and how it is taking its toll on our

nation. It is indeed our greatest challenge.

The Kingdom of Swaziland fully supports the

Political Declaration that was adopted at the High-level

Conference, and we are confident that this renewed

commitment will strengthen the global response to the

pandemic. Thus, we realize the urgency of combining

our efforts to ensure that the rate of infection decreases

and that greater access to treatment and care for those

who are already living with the virus is achieved. We

fully support the efforts of such organizations as the

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

(UNAIDS), especially in terms of minimizing the

threat of HIV to young people. We believe that that is a

moral obligation and is essential for halting the

escalation of the infection rate. In this regard, we look

forward to working closely with United Nations

agencies in order to alleviate the situation.

On a more positive note, the Kingdom of

Swaziland is now implementing the recommendations

of our job creation summit, which took place last year.

His Majesty King Mswati III always stands behind his

people and fully supports the idea of the participation

of the people in building the economy. For instance, he

encourages them to start their own businesses as a

means of reducing the unemployment level. However,

we still face significant challenges, e.g., market

fluctuations in certain products such as sugar and

textiles. We also encourage our people to enter into

partnerships and join ventures with foreign direct

investors in order to develop our nation.

In conclusion, allow me to allude to the fact that

there is indeed much vital work to be completed during

this sixty-first session of the General Assembly. The

Kingdom of Swaziland is confident that the initiatives

already taken will lead to the renewal of our

Organization, and we look forward to a new dynamic

and vibrant working period. We are indebted to the

United Nations for all we have received and achieved

over the years towards the development of our nation.

I am, therefore, charged by His Majesty The

King, Her Majesty The Queen Mother, the Government

and the people of the Kingdom of Swaziland with

proclaiming the renewal of our commitment to the

Charter of the United Nations. We ask for God’s

blessings upon those charged with leading the

Organization to give them the wisdom and direction

they require to carry out these tasks on behalf of all the

peoples of the world.