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Date : 24/10/2006
Source: Department of Foreign Affairs
Title: van der Merwe: United Nations (UN) Day


Address by Deputy Minister Sue van der Merwe on the occasion of United Nations (UN) Day, Diplomatic Guest House, Pretoria

The Resident Co-ordinator of the United Nations in South Africa, Mrs Scholastica Sylvan Kimaryo
The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Heads and representatives of international organisations, including UN agencies, funds and programmes, in South Africa
Representatives of civil society and academia
Government and private sector representatives
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen

It is my great pleasure to host this reception to commemorate the occasion of "UN Day" as we celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the UN 61 years ago, on 24 October 1945. The role of the UN has never been as pertinent as it is now. This is because of the growing importance of multilateralism in the face of the many challenges that now confront humanity. Since we only set aside one day of the year, the 24th of October, to commemorate UN Day, let us pay tribute to the work of an organisation that is sometimes taken for granted.

Let us also remember the dedication and tireless commitment of the team of professional international public servants who help give effect to the work of the UN system as a whole.

In our own national context, it is appropriate that we recall with thanks and appreciation the importance of the UN to democratic South Africa. To a large extent, we owe our successful transition to democracy to the sustained and dedicated efforts of the UN and so many of its Member States in their unwavering support of our struggle for freedom. As a people who benefited directly from the efforts of the UN to defeat the apartheid system of institutionalised racial discrimination, South Africans carry a special responsibility to prove with our actions that an effective partnership with the UN is possible.

Allow me, therefore, on behalf of government, to congratulate the 17 UN agencies that make up the UN Country Team in South Africa on this important collective birthday! We join with many nations around the world in recognising your achievements and reaffirming our ongoing support for the important work of the UN system as a whole.

By doing so, we are all too aware of the current global context. We understand the need to reform the UN, to enhance the authority, efficiency and efficacy of the organisation, as well as its capacity to address the pressing challenges we face in the 21st century. The question for us in the new millennium must be how best we can address pervasive poverty and underdevelopment that faces millions of people around the world. Ultimately, the UN serves three great purposes to promote development, security and human rights, including the right to development. Equal weight and urgent attention must be given to each. In this regard, we endorse the affirmation made by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his report "In Larger Freedom" that:

"…we will not enjoy development without security, we will not enjoy security without development, and we will not enjoy either without respect for human rights and the rule of law." Without development there can be no security we will not achieve one without the other and that neither is sustainable without respect for human rights, which empowers individuals and communities. For this reason, the UN must be reformed to become an effective instrument for this common purpose.

In January 2007, South Africa will assume a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for a period of two years. We are privileged and honoured by the mandate that our election to this position bestows upon us and are grateful to the peoples and governments of Africa, the countries of the South and the world for the overwhelming confidence bestowed upon us to serve the people of our continent and the world, in the UN Security Council.

It is our firm conviction that the multilateral system of global governance remains the only real hope for resolving the many challenges that face humanity today. South Africa will therefore work with all members of the Security Council and with regional organisations, in the collective pursuit of global peace, stability and security. In conjunction with the African Union, it is our specific goal to create and strengthen synergies between the work of the African Union Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council, with a view to the resolution and prevention of conflict on the continent of Africa.

As a member of the UN Security Council, South Africa will also continue to work with all members of the United Nations General Assembly in the common pursuit of much needed, comprehensive reform of the United Nations, which must of necessity include the reform and expansion of the United Nations Security Council.

As we serve on the UN Security Council, South Africa’s foreign policy objectives will remain firmly focussed on the following:

* the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment
* the achievement for peace, security and stability
* restructuring institutions of global governance, which in turn will re-align the global balance of power
* the fight against terrorism
* the promotion of sustainable environmental practices
* issues of democracy and good governance.

It is also perhaps fitting that as we celebrate UN Day we pay a special tribute to outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan who has provided such capable leadership to the UN over the last decade. In his address to the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly on 19 September 2006, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 (G77), President Mbeki put it eloquently when he said:

"The G77 and China as well as my own country, South Africa, sincerely thank the Secretary-General for the selfless and dedicated work he carried out during one of the most challenging periods of this organisation. In the midst of increasing poverty and underdevelopment during an era of unprecedented wealth accumulation and technological advances and as the river that divides the rich and the poor zones of the metaphorical global village ever widens, the Secretary-General of the United Nations never lost focus on the imperatives of our time."

President Mbeki went on to add:

"We thank him for never losing sight of the fact that poverty and underdevelopment remain the biggest threat to the progress that has been achieved and that equality among the nations, big and small, is central to the survival, relevance and credibility of this global organisation."

We value the legacy of Secretary-General Annan. South Africa believes that the UN and its specialised agencies should be at the centre of international co-operation aimed at tackling global problems. The UN system as a whole must therefore provide an effective framework within which successful multilateral co-operation can take place. We therefore look forward to working with Secretary-General-elect Ban Ki-Moon to build on the legacy established by Mr Kofi Annan.

The UN is an essential instrument through which multilateral processes can be brought to contribute meaningfully to the solutions to the problems and challenges we all face today. I am pleased to say that in South Africa, in our own way, the government and the UN have been breaking new ground in the development of a new working relationship and a new strategic partnership.

As is the case in other countries, the work of the various UN agencies operating in South Africa is guided by the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The UNDAF is developed in consultation with government on the basis of an agreed Common Country Assessment (CCA), which seeks to identify the root causes of the major development challenges faced by a country.

The current UNDAF for South Africa is about to expire and preparations began last year for a new framework agreement, which will inform the work and operations of the UN agencies operating in South Africa for the period January 2007 to December 2010.

South African government adopted a widely inclusive process, in arranging at a new framework. This presented challenges for us all in terms of co-ordinating inputs from government and matching them with UN requirements for the UNDAF. Since this was the first time the UNDAF process was managed in this way, we had no precedent or established practice to draw on. I am pleased to say that the efforts have produced positive results.

I am indeed honoured to participate later today in a signing ceremony that will symbolise government's appreciation for the work being done in South Africa by the UN system, as well as re-affirm our commitment to multilateralism and to the UN as an organisation.

The experience gained by government and the UN Country Team in working together on the new framework will be used in a forthcoming country-level assessment of the role that the UN system has played in contributing to South Africa's development.

This evaluation, which will be conducted jointly by government and the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG), will be unprecedented within the UN system. It will also be the first time for the UN that an evaluation is conducted at the country level on a system-wide basis, looking at all of the UN agencies represented in South Africa, as opposed to the previous practice of looking at the programmes of individual UN agencies in isolation.

The evaluation will be forward-looking, with a view to determining the ideal role that the UN system should be playing in South Africa and what the most appropriate operational model for the partnership between government and the UN should be. Such an evaluation will also provide both government and the UN system with valuable lessons learnt and best practices, which could inform future interactions during the implementation of the new UNDAF.

At a strategic level, the proposed evaluation wild also help to ensure that the UN programmes and projects in South Africa are clearly focussed on, and aligned with, South African Government priorities. As I have noted, this is an aspect that government stressed during the negotiation of the new UNDAF.

In closing, I would like to echo the words of outgoing UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his recent address to the UN General Assembly, when he said: "What matters is that the strong, as well as the weak, agree to be bound by the same rules, to treat each other with the same respect. What matters is that all peoples accept the need to listen; to compromise; to take each other's views into account.

"What matters is that they come together, not at cross purposes but with a common purpose - a common purpose to shape their common destiny. And that can only happen if peoples are bound together by something more than just a global market, or even a set of global rules.

"Each of us must share the pain of all who suffer, and the joy of all who hope, wherever in the world they may live. Each of us must earn the trust of his fellow men and women, no matter what their race, colour or creed and learn to trust them in turn. That is what the founders of this Organisation believed in. It is what I believe in. It is what the vast majority of people in this world want to believe in."

South Africa will continue to strive to ensure that the United Nations lives has a future as a strong and effective multilateral organisation, enjoying the confidence of the peoples of the world, and capable of addressing the matters that are of primary concern to all humanity. On UN Day, let us re-affirm our commitment, more than ever before, to work together to focus on what really matters.

Thank you.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
24 October 2006
 

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