PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has reaffirmed Zambia’s commitment to the fundamental principles on which the United Nations was founded, which safeguard the countries shared future of peace and prosperity for all nations.
During the General Debate of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York, President Hichilema stressed that global ambitions towards peace and security largely depend on the effectiveness of the UN Security Council.
“The inadequacies of the current structure of the security council, however, have become increasingly pronounced with ceding of decision making on matters of global peace and security to the General Assembly that otherwise would have been its preserve,” President Hichilema said. “This brings to the fore the need for the long overdue reforms of the UN Security Council.”
And the President called on the international community to work together to address the growing threat to the environment, human, and animal health resulting from antimicrobial resistance, commonly referred to as a drug resistance.
President Hichilema also called for an attainment of a Pact for the future that underwrites a new form of multilateralism.
“One where major challenges are faced together, in solidarity, within a context of a revitalized international order that is rules-based, fair and inclusive, with the United Nations at the centre of it,” he said.
President Hichilema said government supports the establishment of the UN Youth Office, saying this should encourage meaningful youth engagement in diverse ways such as political representation, access to long life skills training and education, among others.
Meanwhile, President Hichilema said as the world continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it was necessary to find lasting solutions, including investment in resilient health systems that will respond to future pandemics.
“This entails the establishment of a versatile international public health regime that will be devoid of hoarding vaccines and related technologies to guarantee rapid deployment of supplies from the global reserve to tackle future pandemics,” he said.
President Hichilema said Zambia’s economic recovery was on track as evidenced by the positive growth indicators and stabilization of key macroeconomic variables such as interest rates, exchange rate stability and inflation, which has reduced from 25 per cent to 9.8 per cent in one year.
He called for enhanced global efforts in addressing climate change, which should include increased financial support for countries with limited resources to mitigate and adapt to the effects and impact of climate change.
President Hichilema has welcomed the challenge on building “our common agenda” and endorse the call to convene the “Summit of the Future”.
“This is truly a defining moment of our time, where collective efforts must be channeled to address the numerous challenges we face,” said President Hichilema.
This is according to a press statement issued by Namatama Njekwa (Ms), First Secretary for Press and Public Relations at Permanent Mission of Zambia to the United Nations.
