Minister and African Union Commission Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma was honoured with the South-South Award in New York, United States of America (USA) on 23 September 2012. The UN conferred on Dr Dlamini Zuma the South-South Awards for Global Leadership.
The ceremony was part of the 2nd Annual South-South Awards which took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel during the High-Level Segment of the 67th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.
This year, the 2012 South-South Awards ceremony celebrates with Heads of State and Government, UN Ambassadors, top UN officials and other distinguished guests from the private sector and civil society e-governance, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, while looking ahead to the future of Sustainable Tourism, initiatives that are successfully helping to advance the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of the Group 77 and Helen Clark, Administrator of UNDP provided their statements in support of the UN Day. These year’s awards were at the instance of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The event, which was hosted by the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, attracted more than 20 serving and former Heads of State including former Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo who also received an award in the same category.
Other recipients of the awards include the Prime minister of Lesotho Mr Thomas Motsoahae Thabane and the Zambian President Michael Chilufya Sata. Following the success of last year’s event, which saw the award going to the President of Tanzania and other recipients, this year, the award focused on e-government and tourism.
The United Nations Millennium Development Goal's High-Level Summit recognised that progress toward the MDGs had been mixed in the past 10 years. World leaders stressed the need to accelerate the pace of progress if the MDGs are to be achieved by 2015. The demand for a new push to the MDGs has come from leaders of the South as expressed by the recent conference on “ICT and Sustainable Urbanisation” held in Hong Kong on 16 April.
The 2012 South-South Award recognises, shares and disseminates the most outstanding success stories and lessons learned in South-South and triangular cooperation in using ICT for development. The Awardees include government leaders, business, ICT innovators and practitioners, and youth leaders.
Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma honoured with the 2012 South-South Awards launched at the United Nations
