of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa, at the handing-over
ceremony of the Group of 77 and China, United Nations, New York
12 January 2006
His Excellency Jan Eliasson, President of the General Assembly
His Excellency the Honourable KD Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Foreign Trade of Jamaica
His Excellency Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Mr Kermal Dervis, Administrator of UNDP
Dr Jose Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General, DESA
Excellencies
Ladies and gentlemen,
I have the honour to accept the Chair of the G77 and China for 2006 on behalf
of the Government of the Republic of South Africa. I would like to take this
opportunity to pay a special tribute to Minister KD Knight, Foreign Minister of
Jamaica, and Ambassador Stafford Neil and their team, for Jamaicaâs outstanding
stewardship of the G77 and China in 2005. I would also like to commend
Jamaicaâs tireless efforts in promoting the development agenda under difficult
negotiating circumstances that led to the Outcome Document of the High Level
Summit held in September 2005.
South Africa accepts the responsibility to Chair the Group of 77 and China on
behalf of the Africa Group that nominated us for this esteemed position. We are
humbled by the honour extended to us to represent the development needs and
aspirations of the entire developing world.
We can assure you that we will spare no effort in ensuring that we collectively
enhance the development agenda of the South.
South Africaâs foreign policy is committed to the realisation of a just and
equitable global economic order. We believe that in order to achieve a better
life for all, we must pursue development from a global perspective. We are
committed to the development of Africa, and of the entire developing
world.
At the same time, we are fully aware that the expectation of a just and
non-discriminatory international economic and social order has yet to be
realised. The impact of globalisation has been uneven and has left us with a
world beset by acute economic and social inequalities. It is a world where
international economic relations continue to be marked by uncertainty,
imbalances and recessions that result in the continued marginalisation of
developing countries, in particular the least developed countries.
The 2005 World Summit clearly demonstrated that the implementation of the
internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), would not be achieved in Sub-Saharan Africa, unless there is a
dramatic increase in resource flows as a matter of urgency.
South Africa looks forward to working with the G77 and China to reaffirm the
principles of our movement and to strengthen our unity, cohesion and vision of
a fair and equitable multilateral system. South-South co-operation is the most
potent instrument in maintaining and strengthening solidarity and
multilateralism among the countries of the South and is a framework for our
partnership with the North.
We are committed to work with our development partners to advance the
development agenda and the eradication of poverty. It is our belief that the
eradication of poverty in the world is not only an issue of importance for
developing countries but also a matter of our collective global interest.
Recently, we have witnessed how underdevelopment has fuelled the tragic
problems of migration between Africa and Europe.
The United Nations (UN) has a fundamental role to play in promoting the
achievement of sustainable development for all. In the past few years the
ability of the United Nations in galvanising support and political will for
development has been evident as the UN managed to set the global agenda for
development through the MDGs and other internationally agreed development
goals.
We will continue to reiterate the importance of maintaining a balanced approach
in addressing security and development. The success for development
depends not only on political will, but also in making certain that there are
adequate, reliable and predictable resources for addressing the permanent
threat to peace and security posed by underdevelopment.
This means that the G77 needs to continue strengthening the ability of the UN
to build international consensus and at the same time encourage our development
partners to support the various aspects of the development agenda.
As part of our strategic approach to the follow-up to the 2005 World Summit, we
need to ensure that the follow-up on development is fully
comprehensive. Some of the areas in which we need to focus include
ensuring coherence in international development co-operation, addressing the
systemic issues, technology transfer, debt reduction, financing for
development, and building on the outcome of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Hong Kong Ministerial outcome.
In recent years, the world has seen a growing incidence of natural disasters as
well as other instances of serious environmental degradation. This shows
the need for our movement to continue to give priority to the achievement of
sustainable development.
We will spare no effort in championing the needs of the Group of 77 and China
in the follow-up and the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on
Sustainable Development and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further
Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States.
The eradication of poverty in the world requires a full commitment of the
international community to address the needs of all countries with special
needs, many of whom belong to our Group.
In 2006, we will have an opportunity to undertake a five-year review of the
Brussels Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
This review should be an occasion for the international community to enhance
concrete support for the LDCs. It is a tragedy that after so many years
very few LDCs have managed to graduate from this category.
It is also important that support be provided for the implementation of the
Almaty Programme of Action for the Landlocked Developing
Countries.
We also need to build on the experience of the past few years in which the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) has served as a
forum for interaction between the UN system and international financial
institutions, civil society and the private sector. The 2005 World Summit
reaffirmed the importance of an effective ECOSOC as a principal body for
co-ordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on issues of
economic and social development.
A strengthened ECOSOC can become a pillar for development within the UN system,
just as the Security Council remains for the security agenda. A stronger ECOSOC
can only benefit the G77 and China in promoting our policies within the
system.
The G77 and China cannot be indifferent to the rest of the reform agenda of the
United Nations. The coming months are going to be critical for UN reform that
must be comprehensive to include reform of the Security Council, the
establishment of the Human Rights Council, and management reform.
At the same time, we have noted the recent decision taken by the General
Assembly on the UN budget. We would hope that the reform effort does not
threaten the United Nations with a financial crisis that can only further
weaken our beloved organisation. We therefore hope that the General Assembly
will be ready to lift the spending cap on the budget when the Secretary-General
indicates later that he requires the remaining funds to continue his
stewardship of this organisation.
In conclusion, allow me to also pay tribute to the other countries that have
held the honour of leading our great movement in recent years. We hope
that our collective efforts will take this movement to even greater
heights.
I thank you.
Enquiries: Nomfanelo Kota
Cell: 082 459 3787
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
13 January 2005
