November 23, 2024 00:50 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
UK-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations to resume in early 2024 | UK can arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits country based on ICC warrant | Centre to send over 10,000 additional soldiers to violence-hit Manipur amid fresh violence | Chhattisgarh: 10 Maoists killed during encounter with security forces in Sukma | Baba Siddique murder case: Arrested Akashdeep Gill used a labourer's hotspot to evade tracking, say police
We have a duty to leave no one behind, South African President tells world leaders
South Africa
Image: UN Photo/Cia Pak

We have a duty to leave no one behind, South African President tells world leaders

| @indiablooms | 20 Sep 2023, 05:27 pm

The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, addressed the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, stating that while every human effort should be directed towards realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, “our energies have once again been diverted by the scourge of war.”

“Over millennia, the human race has demonstrated an enormous capacity for resilience, adaptation, innovation, compassion and solidarity … these qualities must be evident in how we work together as a global community and as nations of the world to end war and conflict,” he said.

He urged the international community to invest in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and supported Secretary-General António Guterres’ call for sustainable and predictable financing for peacebuilding efforts.

He also expressed concern about unconstitutional changes of government in parts of Africa and stressed the need for collaboration with the African Union to support peace efforts across the continent.

Empower women

President Ramaphosa also highlighted the importance of empowering women, advocating for gender equality and equal access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunities.

Noting that women represented 50 per cent of South Africa’s cabinet, and that he was being accompanied at the General Assembly this year by an all-women delegation, he called for greater female representation on the global stage.

He also voiced concerns over rising global temperatures, noting that 17 of world’s “climate hotspots” were in Africa.

“Africa is least responsible for the climate damage that has been caused, yet it bears the greatest burden,” he said, calling on world leaders to accelerate decarbonization while pursuing shared prosperity.

Security Council reform

President Ramaphosa also highlighted the need for inclusive, democratic, and representative international institutions.

“The recently held BRICS summit in Johannesburg also affirmed the voice that the UN Security Council should be reformed and ensure that those nations that are not represented must be represented,” he said, referring to the recent meeting held by his country alongside Russia, India and China.

Concluding his remarks, the South African leader urged all nations to demonstrated that “we have the both the will and the resolve” to secure a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future for our world and more importantly, for the generations that will follow.

“Leaving no one behind – that is the duty that we all have,” he said, recalling the guiding promise made by the international community with the adoption in 2015 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Related Images
Xi Jinping, Putin in Russia 22 Mar 2023, 02:56 pm
Related Videos