Zambia, 2010

I stand before this

Assembly as an envoy of His Excellency Mr. Rupiah

Bwezani Banda, President of the Republic of Zambia.

Zambia wishes to align itself with the statement

delivered by His Excellency Ngwazi Professor Bingu

Wa Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi

and current Chairperson of the African Union.

This session is taking place amid global

challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity,

environmental degradation, international terrorism,

piracy, HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty and hunger, among

others. It is an occasion for all Member States to

collectively engage in dialogue aimed at finding

solutions to the challenges that our countries are

facing, in order to contribute to the socio-economic

development and well-being of our people.

The Assembly’s theme this year is appropriate, as

it provides an opportunity to reaffirm the central role

of the United Nations in global governance. The role of

the United Nations is felt in areas such as

peacekeeping, security, human rights, the promotion of

gender equality and the fight for social justice and

equality. However, emerging global challenges, such as

the recent financial and economic crisis, also call for a

greater role for the United Nations in global economic

governance. In that regard, our Government would like

to see a strengthening and enhancing of capacity in the

United Nations to enable it to deal with some of those

challenges.

Allow me to express Zambia’s gratitude to the

Secretary-General for organizing the important high-

level meetings that preceded the general debate.

The summit to review the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) provided an opportunity

for the international community to take stock of

existing gaps and the challenges faced in the

attainment of the MDGs. At that meeting I elaborated

on the progress Zambia has made and the challenges

we continue to face in our efforts to attain the MDGs.

In spite of the strides made in improving the

macroeconomic environment and putting in place

development frameworks, the incidence of poverty in

my country remains high, partly because our efforts

alone are not enough. I therefore wish to reiterate calls

to the international cooperating partners to honour all

of their commitments to ensure that the 2015 targets

are realized.

Let me also add that the measures that the

Zambian Government has adopted to address the issue

of hunger and poverty include devising agricultural

sector policies that enable smallholder farming

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households to improve their productivity. In that

connection, this year Zambia has recorded a bumper

harvest of maize, which is our main food crop. That

will ensure food security and increased incomes for

smallholder farmers, who constitute the majority of the

farming community.

We are mindful, however, of the fact that climate

change, as evidenced by persistent periods of droughts

and floods in our countries, poses one of the most

serious threats to the agricultural sector and thus to

overall food production. While as a Government we are

doing everything possible, such as investing in

agricultural research and irrigation methods, the debate

on climate change should not lose sight of the need to

assist developing countries, including Zambia, in

building capacities to adapt in order to mitigate

negative impacts on the agricultural sector. Without

those, poverty and hunger will persist in my country.

Zambia shares the concerns of the Secretary-

General regarding current global resource loss and

ecosystem degradation. It is important that mankind

reverse the ongoing trends of natural resource loss and

ecosystem degradation as a commitment to protect

biodiversity. That will be achieved only if all

stakeholders step up their efforts and meet the MDGs

and other internationally agreed development goals.

My delegation welcomes the positive

developments that have occurred in the past year in the

area of arms control and disarmament. The Security

Council’s convening of a summit to address

disarmament issues, the Secretary-General’s launch of

a five-point nuclear disarmament proposal, the entry

into force of treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free

zones in Central Asia and Africa, and the convening of

a summit in Washington to discuss nuclear

disarmament and non-proliferation, among others, must

indeed be commended. We hope those efforts and the

momentum generated will be sustained and will lead to

the resolution of all outstanding issues in the area of

disarmament.

Zambia, however, continues to face difficulties in

controlling the inflow of small arms and light weapons.

The illicit trade in small arms threatens security and

retards social and economic development in our

country. Zambia therefore calls for the establishment of

a strong and legally binding international instrument on

the arms trade. We strongly support the convening of

the United Nations conference in 2012 to establish

legally binding common international standards for the

import, export and transfer of conventional arms, with

specific measures against defaulters.

On the reform of the United Nations, in particular

the Security Council, Zambia reaffirms its support for the

African position, as espoused in the Ezulwini Consensus

and the Sirte Declaration, that Africa should be granted,

among others, not less than two permanent seats, with all

of the prerogatives and privileges including the right of

veto, and two additional non-permanent seats. Africa is

the only continent without permanent seats, and yet it has

the second largest membership of the United Nations.

Granting Africa permanent seats will redress that

historical injustice.

The Government of Zambia recognizes the

important role that women play in attaining

development. Furthermore, we recognize that the

empowerment of women and their inclusion in the

decision-making process have enhanced their role in

development. That is why Zambia has integrated

women of all sectors of society in decision-making

positions, and we are committed to doing even more.

Our Government welcomes the establishment of

UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender

Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and the

appointment of Ms. Michelle Bachelet, the former

President of Chile, to head it. It is our hope that the

new Entity will have a strong and effective presence at

country level and will help Member States implement

standards and will provide them with the much-needed

financial and technical support required to achieve

women’s empowerment, equality and equity.

As the Assembly is aware, Zambia has been

hosting refugees prior to and since its independence in

1964 and is party to all refugee conventions. My

country was among the first on the African continent to

host a refugee camp. Zambia is committed to hosting

refugees, and our experience has demonstrated that

voluntary repatriation is a desirable and durable

solution. However, as an under-resourced and least

developed country, hosting refugees is a major

challenge for us. We therefore call upon the

international community to provide financial assistance

to enable us to discharge that responsibility through the

provision of minimum standards of care.

In addition to the question of refugees, the issue

of internally displaced persons, which has continued to

increase worldwide, especially in Africa, equally calls

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for our attention. The adoption by the African Union

last year of the Convention for the Protection and

Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa is

an important landmark that requires the support of the

international community at large.

The sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe continue to

cause great suffering to the people of that country and

to the southern Africa region as a whole. Similarly, the

embargo that the United States has imposed on Cuba,

which the United Nations has condemned through

numerous General Assembly resolutions, has caused

untold hardship to the people of Cuba. Zambia calls on

this body to ensure that the sanctions on Zimbabwe and

the United States embargo on Cuba are lifted.

In an effort to consolidate democratic

governance, Zambia is in the process of enacting a new

constitution. The National Constitutional Conference

that was established to oversee the process concluded

its work and submitted a draft constitution, which

awaits tabling before Parliament. As the Assembly may

be aware, Zambia will hold presidential and general

elections in 2011. As in the past, international election

observers, including those from the United Nations,

will be invited.

As we reaffirm the role of the United Nations in

global governance, let us not be complacent in the face

of great suffering and hardship in our world. Let that

be the force that drives us to action, where all nations

will work together in meeting the goals and aspirations

of our peoples.