South Africa expects election to the United Nations Security
Council non-permanent seat for 2007/08 during its general assembly
in New York this week, said the Department of Foreign
Affairs.
South Africa's candidature for the seat was endorsed by the African Union summit in Banjul, The Gambia, in July, said foreign affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa.
President Thabo Mbeki and Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma arrived in New York from Cuba on Sunday evening for the general assembly on Tuesday and Wednesday. They were in Cuba for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit.
“President Mbeki and Minister Dlamini-Zuma are participating in the United Nations general assembly within the context of South Africa's conviction that the multi-lateral system of global governance remains the only hope to challenges like poverty and under development," said Mamoepa.
He said the government saw the assembly as an opportunity to consult on UN reform; promote multilateralism and respect for international law as means of achieving global political and economic stability, and security; and promote the African agenda and New Partnership for Africa's Development and the developmental agenda of the South.
The assembly would also give the international community an opportunity to review progress implementing the UN reforms as agreed in 2005.
It would also allow them to bid farewell to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who would complete his tenure at the end of 2006.
Mbeki would address the assembly on Tuesday and attend a summit on Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday. He had also received a number of requests for bilateral consultations, including one from European Union Foreign Policy Adviser Javier Solana, said Mamoepa.
President Mbeki is expected to return to South Africa on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Dlamini-Zuma, in her capacity as the chairwoman of the AU's committee of "post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan", will lead an SA delegation to New York on Monday for the AU peace and security council meeting.
The situation in Darfur will be reviewed at the meeting. - Sapa
South Africa's candidature for the seat was endorsed by the African Union summit in Banjul, The Gambia, in July, said foreign affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa.
President Thabo Mbeki and Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma arrived in New York from Cuba on Sunday evening for the general assembly on Tuesday and Wednesday. They were in Cuba for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit.
“President Mbeki and Minister Dlamini-Zuma are participating in the United Nations general assembly within the context of South Africa's conviction that the multi-lateral system of global governance remains the only hope to challenges like poverty and under development," said Mamoepa.
He said the government saw the assembly as an opportunity to consult on UN reform; promote multilateralism and respect for international law as means of achieving global political and economic stability, and security; and promote the African agenda and New Partnership for Africa's Development and the developmental agenda of the South.
The assembly would also give the international community an opportunity to review progress implementing the UN reforms as agreed in 2005.
It would also allow them to bid farewell to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who would complete his tenure at the end of 2006.
Mbeki would address the assembly on Tuesday and attend a summit on Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday. He had also received a number of requests for bilateral consultations, including one from European Union Foreign Policy Adviser Javier Solana, said Mamoepa.
President Mbeki is expected to return to South Africa on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Dlamini-Zuma, in her capacity as the chairwoman of the AU's committee of "post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan", will lead an SA delegation to New York on Monday for the AU peace and security council meeting.
The situation in Darfur will be reviewed at the meeting. - Sapa
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