Intervention by H.E Mr. OSMAN SALEH MOHAMMED Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the State of Eritrea
Intervention by
H.E Mr. OSMAN SALEH MOHAMMED
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Eritrea
At the Interactive Debate on
"Lasting Peace through Joint Global Governance"
Tehran, 28-29 August 2012
Your Excellency Ali Akbar Salehi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Islamic Republic of Iran
Excellencies and Dear Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen
Let me extend my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the people
and government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the warm reception
and generous hospitality extended to my delegation since our arrival.
I wish to congratulate the Islamic Republic of Iran for its
assumption of the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement. On behalf
of the Eritrean people and my government I extend condolences to
the people and government of Islamic Republic of Iran on
consequences of the tragic earthquake.
Let me also express my delegation's deepest appreciation to the
Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the outgoing Chairman of
the Coordinating Bureau for its outstanding and able leadership in
steering the work of our Movement for the last three years.
Mr. Chairman,
The theme of our gathering, "Lasting Peace through Joint Global
Governance", is indeed timely and encapsulates the greatest challenge
of our time. At a time when our societies, more than ever, have come
to realize how small our world is and how our destinies are
intrinsically intertwined, global problems, such as food insecurity,
climate change, energy crisis, violence and conflicts, unemployment,
human trafficking, organized crime and terrorism, to mention but few,
continue to persist unabated.
The limitations of existing structures of global governance to
effectively deal with the present and emerging challenges are more
evident than ever. But, efforts to harness effective multilateral
response of the daunting global challenges are faced with increasing
unilateralism and militarism of few big powers. In the past decades,
these countries have often resorted to unilateral embargos,
economic sabotages, and direct and indirect military
interventions to destabilize countries and change national
governments. Regrettably, we are increasingly witnessing that
international body such as the United Nations Security Council and
the Human Rights Council being dragged into taking action on matters
that have nothing to do with the maintenance of international
security or promotion of human rights. These have not only undermined
the sacrosanct principles of international relations respect to
sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of
states; but also made the world a more dangerous place to live for
many of our societies.
Developing countries, which constitute the membership of our
Movement, are the most adversely affected by many of the global
challenges; yet, due to the lack of equitable representation in
global institutions our voices and perspectives are often
underestimated and ignored. This was primarily due to the fact that
the global south has so far failed to speak with one voice. We in the
Non-Aligned Movement must rise beyond short-term differences, and
collectively approach global challenges with one voice to reform the
existing system. As NAM members, we need to be vigilant by ensuring
that the United Nations and its institutions are not used in
undermining the principles of international law that they were
created to protect and promote. We should ensure that the bodies of
global governance are utilized to promote peace and dignity and
ensure a better standard of living for the generations to come, and
not to impose the will of the few big powers on others. To this
end, our Movement must pursue a proactively strategy to render the
global governance more efficient, adaptable, transparent and truly
representative. We should collectively work to ensure the full
participation of developing countries in decision-making and norm-
setting; and make global structures more responsive to the needs of
the developing world.
Mr. Chairman,
The growing and deepening economic inequalities between the
rich and the poor countries have for long led for the political
marginalization of the South. The impact of the world financial and
economic crisis, coupled with food and energy crises, continue to
enormously affect the efforts of developing countries to attain the
Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including MDGs. The
discouraging results of the long awaited Rio+20 Conference last
June, primarily due to the lack of commitment from the
developed world has sent a clear message, "business as usual" is not
a solution. Our collective conscience compels us to galvanize our
efforts and resources in order to find immediate and innovative
solutions anchored in the South-South cooperation and integration.
Close economic, cultural and technological exchange is not only a
desire but a must if we are to meet the hopes and aspirations of our
societies.
Mr. Chairman,
In conclusion, as many distinguished speakers mentioned the greatest
source of global insecurity and inequality is the desire of some
countries to dominate and exploit. We should combat this adventurism
by enhancing and promoting multilateralism. We need to translate
through action the noble goals of our Bandung, the preservation and
promotion of peace and elimination of hunger and deprivation and the
establishment of a just and stable world order. Eritrea is committed
to play its role along with other sisterly countries in order to
ensure the implementation of the decisions of this Summit.
Thank You!
Received on Fri Aug 31 2012 - 23:52:15 EDT
