President Zuma implores UNGA to mind Africa

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Pretoria - South African President Jacob Zuma has spoken out strongly about Africa’s representation in the United Nations Security Council and issues affecting Africa in the global spectrum.

On Monday, President Zuma addressed the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York, chaired by General Assembly President Morgens Lykketoft.

He voiced his concern over progress that has not been achieved on the commitment made by Heads of State and Government in 2005, regarding the early reform of the UN Security Council.

“It is unacceptable and unjustifiable that more than one billion people on the African continent are still excluded as permanent members of the key decision making structure of the United Nations, the UN Security Council,” he said.

The President said a continent with a smaller population than Africa is represented by three countries on the UN Security Council as permanent members and, he said, the UN cannot pretend that the world has not changed since 1945.

“We are no longer colonies. We are free, independent sovereign states. We welcome the fact that the push for the reform of the UN Security Council by Africa has had an impact and has also given some impetus to the Inter-governmental negotiations process, which has been looking at reform.

“We will continue working with progressive states towards the expansion of representation,” said the President.

He implored the UN Security Council to take into account the views of the African continent and its sub-regional organisations when dealing with conflicts in Africa in future.

The current situation in Libya and the Sahel region is a direct consequence of some members of the UN Security Council not heeding informed counsel from the African Union.

“The norm of responsibility to protect was abused for narrow political interests that had nothing to do with the fundamental aspects of the prevention of mass atrocities. 

“The current refugee crisis in Europe is sadly the direct result of the militarisation of civilian unrest, which included the massive arming of civilians and opposition groupings in Libya and Syria and other affected countries,” said President Zuma.

The President said it is critical that the discussions of violent extremism and terrorism in parts of Africa and the Middle East, look into the root causes of the problem and not just the symptoms.

He said the UN General Assembly continues to provide a voice for the voiceless and the oppressed, and that peace, security and development in the Middle East cannot be seen without the resolution of the Palestinian question.

“In a historic and landmark development, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution to allow the Palestinian flag to fly in front of the UN headquarters.

“The resolution was passed by an overwhelming margin, supported by many nations from both the developed North and the South. A solution is urgent otherwise if we delay, in the next decade, we may no longer have a piece of land to justify the two state solution,” he said. - SAnews.gov.za