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President Mbeki expected to arrive in New York Havana
- South African President Thabo Mbeki, supported by Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana
Dlamini Zuma, is expected to arrive today Sunday 17 September 2006 in New York
from Havana, Cuba ahead of the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly
(UNGA) scheduled from Tuesday – Wednesday 19-20 September 2006. President
Mbeki was in Havana, Cuba where he led a senior South African government delegation
consisting of among others Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Deputy
Minister Aziz Pahad and Director-General Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba to the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM) Summit. President Thabo Mbeki’s participation in the
61st session of the UNGA comes within the context of South Africa's conviction
that the multilateral system of global governance remains the only solution to
current challenges facing humanity including the need to push back the frontiers
of poverty and under-development. Accordingly, the government views the
forthcoming UNGA as an excellent opportunity to:
Continue consultations
with other UN Member-states on the process of the reform of United Nations;
Promoting multilateralism and respect for international law as the most
appropriate means of achieving global political and economic stability, and security;
and
Promoting the African Agenda and NEPAD as well as the developmental
agenda of the South in the context of the work of the United Nations. During
UNGA 61 South Africa expects to be elected into the non-permanent seat in the
United Nations Security Council for 2007-2008. South Africa’s candidature
for the non-permanent seat on the UNSC has been endorsed by the African Union
Summit held in Banjul in The Gambia in July this year. The 61st session
of the UNGA will afford the international community an opportunity to review progress
made with the implementation of the reforms to the United Nations as agreed during
the 2005 session and bid the Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan farewell as he completes
his tenure as Secretary-General of the World Body at the end of 2006. The
South African delegation to the 61st UNGA will be seized, amongst others, with
the following issues:
The promotion of the reform of the United Nations;
The follow up of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals
and the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits;
The support of the United Nations for the promotion of the African agenda and
NEPAD;
Advancing South-South co-operation within the context of the
Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77 + China;
Support of the international
community for the Middle East peace process; and
Support of the international
community for the global campaign against terrorism. President Mbeki is
expected to address the General Assembly on Tuesday 19 September 2006 and also
attend a special Summit convened by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Côte
d'Ivoire on Wednesday 20 September 2006. In addition, a number of bilateral
requests for consultations with President Mbeki have been received including the
European Union Foreign Policy Advisor Dr Javier Solana. President Mbeki
is expected to return to South Africa on Thursday 21 September 2006. Issued
by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853. Department of Foreign Affairs
Private
Bag X152
Pretoria
0001 17 September 2006
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