‘There Cannot be War in Lebanon, Full Stop’, Underlines Foreign Minister, Noting that Suffering on All Sides Must End
Ministers and delegates emphasized the need for a just global order, equitable resource distribution and global financial reform, while decrying the ongoing unilateral actions that undermine the dignity and development of poorer nations as they concluded the annual high-level general debate.
Since 26 September, Heads of State and Government, as well as ministers, took the rostrum, taking stock of the state of the world as the General Assembly launched its seventy-ninth session.
Philémon Yang (Cameroon), President of the General Assembly for the current session, delivered closing remarks, noting that, in the general debate, the organ heard from 190 Member States, including contributions from 71 Heads of State and 53 Ministers. However, it was disappointing and unacceptable that only about 10 per cent of the speakers were women, he noted. “This glaring disparity speaks to a deeper issue that we cannot ignore,” he said, underlining the need to “do far better on gender equality”.
Drawing attention to the extremely dramatic escalation of violence between Israel and Hizbullah in Lebanon, he urged: “The world must not allow an all-out war to happen in this volatile region.” Calling on all parties — Israel, Hamas and Hizbullah — to urgently conclude a ceasefire, he said that all States supplying weapons to the region must desist from such actions. “No sustainable peace will be achieved militarily,” he asserted.
Echoing the call for de-escalation, Mélanie Joly, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada, said: “There cannot be war in Lebanon. Full stop.” “The suffering — on all sides — must end,” she stressed, urging Israel and Hizbullah to accept an immediate ceasefire. Highlighting the issue of gender equality, she called it “unacceptable” that “for nearly 80 years, no woman has occupied the position of Secretary-General”. She said that the next leader of the United Nations must be a woman, expressing hope that delegates at the General Assembly in 2025 will address Madam President. “We, women, have the right to be equal in everything: education, in employment and every other opportunity,” she stressed.
“We will not be silent ever. We denounce and condemn the genocide that the Government of Israel and its ‘First World’ allies have committed, commit and continue to commit against the glorious people of Palestine, against the courageous people of Lebanon and against so many other brave, valiant, dignified people,” said Valdrack Ludwing Jaentschke Whitaker, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua. Underscoring the scourge of climate change on the developing countries, he voiced solidarity with all countries and peoples “affected by barbarism and the brutality which was unleashed and is being unleashed against our Mother Earth and our resources”. Climate change is none other than selfishness and the pillaging of our earthly resources, he added.
Elaborating further on the destructive impacts of climate change, Seán Fleming, Minister of State of Ireland, pointed out that those who have contributed least to climate change are among the most vulnerable to its impacts. “We need collective action, at speed and at scale, to avert the most catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis,” he said, adding that Ireland’s international development budget is at record levels and, per capita, it is one of the strongest providers of humanitarian assistance.
Among the delegates who emphasized the impact of external actions and lack of global cooperation on the growth and prosperity of nations was Albert Shingiro, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation of Burundi, who said: “We condemn all those who attach political conditions to development aid while at the same time forgetting that the world is multipolar.” Unilateral measures destroy the social fabric of countries they are imposed upon, he said, noting that the only path towards true independence requires economic independence. Pointing out the Government’s plan to put the country on track to be a developed country by 2060, he added: “Peace without development is a mere pipe dream.”
Addressing the exploited peoples — peoples left behind — Bakary Yaou Sangaré, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Nigeriens Abroad of Niger, said that it is not the affluent countries that will be finding solutions for them. “I affirm that these solutions are within us — they consist in refusing to demean ourselves by begging for aid,” he emphasized, calling for partnerships in which natural resources are paid for at the price that they deserve. “My country is willing to sign partnership agreements with foreign investors based on the principle of win-win cooperation while respecting the dignity of our peoples, which have until now been left behind,” he said.
Several leaders also highlighted inequalities in the global financial architecture that disproportionately benefits wealthier nations and leaves developing countries struggling to access financial resources.
The representative of Sri Lanka said that many developing countries face a debt crisis that prevents sustainable development. “It is a fact that financing challenges remain at the heart of the sustainable development crisis,” he added, calling for reform of the global financial architecture and a more equitable way to address debt.
Adding to that, the representative of Rwanda stressed that African countries and other marginalized regions have for too long borne “the brunt of global economic shocks without sufficient support from the international community”. “Security is not only achieved by silencing the guns — it is also achieved by building a fit-for-purpose global governance system,” he said, adding that reform of multilateral financial institutions is complementary to the reform of the Security Council, as both are crucial for creating a more equitable and effective global governance system.
Statements
BASSAM SABBAGH, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria, noting that tensions internationally have reached a boiling point, pointed out the “disgraceful use of modern technologies as deadly tools to sow death and destruction”. He accused some countries of draining resources, stealing and imposing unilateral coercive measures that “impoverish and destroy”, instead of investing in achieving sustainable development for all. Painting a grim picture of Syria’s suffering over the past decade — terrorism, economic blockades and media incitement — he said the country continued its war on terrorism while providing for its people. Pointing out the failure of the Security Council to end the ongoing Israeli occupation of the Arab territories since 1967, including the Syrian Golan, he said that it has “revealed the true intentions of the collective West”. “It is a damning proof that the United States has prevented the Council from fulfilling its responsibility,” he said.
He condemned the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and attempts to liquidate United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), adding: “We stress the need to hold Israel accountable for the war crimes it is committing”. Sounding alarm over the unpredictable consequences of the “unfettered by any restrictions” Israeli aggression — with attacks on Syria and Lebanon — he committed to recovering the occupied Syrian Golan, which “is an occupied Syrian territory”. Accusing “certain Western countries” of their interference in Syria, particularly the United States’ illegal military presence and support for separatist groups, as well as the looting of Syria’s natural resources, he demanded “the immediate, full and unconditional lifting of unilateral coercive measures as they amount to a collective punishment of people and a form of economic terrorism”.
Outlining Syria’s reconstruction efforts, he highlighted the fight against terrorism, pursuit of national reconciliation, facilitation of humanitarian access and support for the return of refugees, while putting a special emphasis on the country’s engagement with the relevant political initiatives as well as on the path of dialogue, diplomacy and international cooperation. As Syria “heals the wounds”, he stated that the success of these efforts requires “the collective West to stop politicizing humanitarian work and linking it to political conditionality”. Calling for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, he urged Israel to disarm its nuclear arsenal.
VALDRACK LUDWING JAENTSCHKE WHITAKER, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, warned that the world is not on a journey to peace. “Every day, we lose heart, we lose our soul,” he added. “We will not be silent ever. We denounce and condemn the genocide that the Government of Israel and its ‘First World’ allies have committed, commit and continue to commit against the glorious people of Palestine, against the courageous people of Lebanon and against so many other brave, valiant, dignified people,” he went on to say. Nicaragua will not yield to brutality. “We will never be silent,” he stressed, also reiterating: “We denounce and condemn the aggressions against Syria, Iran and against all other great peoples in their struggles.”
Nicaragua would defend the principles of sovereignty and independence, the legitimate models of institutions and “our models of self-governance”, he went on to say. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with all countries and peoples affected by barbarism and the brutality which was unleashed and is being unleashed against our Mother Earth and our resources that is causing what we know today as climate change,” he said. Climate change is none other than selfishness and the pillaging of our earthly resources. That pillaging has created myriad disasters, “disasters which are not natural”, disasters which require climate justice, “disasters that have been imposed upon us by selfish slave masters”.
To the invaders and interventionists “that are dressed in sheepskin, that have the faces of wolves … we say we are people rich in culture, resources and community models”, he said. “We will not allow ourselves to be converted into needy beggars because we’re not beggars and will not allow you to pretend that we are just because you want to be falsely kind and generous,” he continued. ALBA, or the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, is a triumphant alliance. Nicaragua stands together with Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Honduras, among others, he said, also expressing his support for the Russian Federation “in its major struggles against the beast of fascism”, and China, “a country that teaches us so much”.
OSMAN SALEH MOHAMMED, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Eritrea, recalled that maintenance of global peace was the main objective of the League of Nations following the First World War. Twenty-five years later, the United Nations was established for the same goal. However, as the world was plunged into the era of the cold war, culminating in the collapse of the former Soviet bloc, a “precarious unipolar order” was born, which represented the revival of policies of colonialism, slavery and resource theft. Such policies of “containment”, created by the unipolar order can be seen in Ukraine, he said, noting that they are also used against China for similar gains, while those that wield the strategy “portend to global peace”.
In his region, the same policies stifle the Palestinian cause and may trigger a wider regional war. Other conflicts on the African continent under similar pretexts only serve to maintain colonial slavery. Meanwhile, burgeoning protests movements are stifled in Europe and the United States and traditional coalitions fragment, revealing the dysfunctionality of the “new unipolar order”. The maintenance of global peace through a just global order has not been achieved. The response must not be “despondency”, he said, rather a redoubling of efforts to obtain those cherished goals. Addressing the “predicament of the Eritrean people which epitomizes in all respects the typical ordeal of other peoples” he recalled that three generations were doomed to pay preciously mainly because the Dulles brothers found that Eritrea did not serve the United States’ strategic interest. Even following their independence in 1991, nation-building was sabotaged by those same Powers by instigating border conflicts to destabilize his country.
The economic damage and loss incurred was enormous. Worse, in 2009, Eritrea was subjected to unjustified sanctions. Unilateral measures and statecraft still plague the region, he added. Eritrea’s situation “is only the tip of the iceberg” he said, noting that problems imposed upon other peoples in African countries, Latin America, Asia and Europe are also severe, he said, calling for the lifting of unilateral coercive measures on countries including Cuba, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. The Charter of the United Nations must reckon with the actions of the hegemonic Powers imposing a “law of the jungle” on the world, preventing its people from thriving, through the installation of a new global order guaranteeing peace and stability. The current global situation shows that this cannot be left to chance, he urged, adding that “the forces of hegemony must also be made accountable for their crimes for the dispensation of justice”......
https://press.un.org/en/2024/ga12640.doc.htm
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