Notes from Media Briefing on UNGA 62 and UNSC

UNGA62

• President Mbeki will lead the South African delegation to the 62 nd session of the UN General Assembly to be held in New York of which the high-level segment will begin on 25 September
• The annual participation by South Africa in the UN General Assembly is within the context of our commitment to strengthening multilateralism with the United Nations occupying a pre-eminent role
• The session affords Heads of State and Government to meet and deliberate on national, regional and global issues of concern

Theme

• The theme of this year’s session will be “Responding to Climate Change”
• Accordingly a one day High-level Meeting on Climate Change will be convened on 24 September
• It is expected that this will be an opportunity for the international community at the highest political level to debate the challenge of climate change and to articulate ideas on what needs to be done to address it
• The impacts of climate change are expected, as it has been widely reported, to affect all societies. It also goes without saying that developing countries and African countries in particular might face even bigger challenges in responding to climate change
• South Africa therefore has been at the forefront of the debates on climate change because we believe that a global problem of this nature requires a global approach if it is to be addressed properly

Millennium Development Goals

• The Millennium Summit was convened at the United Nations in September 2000
• From the Millennium Summit emerged the Millennium Development Goals – a set of development targets that became embraced by the whole world
• The most prominent was the idea of halving the proportion of people who live in poverty by the year 2015
• 2007 is therefore almost a halfway mark in this journey for the achievement of the MDGs
• Recent reports by the United Nations show that while progress is being made with regard to the achievement of the MDGs, there are still many societies and countries that will still struggle to meet these goals
• South Africa therefore attaches great importance to this discussion
• It is important that the international community should double its efforts in this regard
• Importantly it is important that global agreements on resource flows should be implemented. In this respect we pay particular attention to the follow-up to the major conferences and summits of the UN such as the Financing for Development and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. We also work to strengthen South-South cooperation.

Peace and Security in Africa

• Discussions during the General Assembly also focus on some of the peace and security challenges in Africa
• In 2007 we note progress in many of these areas. Elections were held in the DRC. A Peace Agreement was signed between the Parties in Cote d' Ivoire. In Sudan’s Darfur region the UN AU Hybrid Force will be deployed.
• All these and others are positive developments
• Through our engagement in the UN therefore we wish to see the UN continue to be a partner with the African Continent in addressing these peace and security challenges
• Another important objective for South Africa is also to see that the UN continues to support NEPAD  

United Nations Reform

• There is still ongoing work related to the reform of the United Nations
• Arising out of the 2005 World Summit progress has been made in certain important areas. The Human Rights Council was established. The Peacebuilding Commission was created. Different sets of management reforms have been instituted.
• There is still little progress, however, with the reform of the Security Council
• South Africa has always believed that no reform of the United Nations can ever be complete without a reform of the Security Council
• Therefore we continue to carry this message. We also support the ongoing efforts in this regard. Some initiatives were started by the outgoing President of the General Assembly. We hope the incoming President will do the same.

Counterterrorism

• The 2005 World Summit agreed to the adoption of a UN Global Strategy for Counterterrorism
• This year will see the first review of this strategy
• South Africa supports efforts aimed at countering terrorism in all its aspects
• We have now signed all the 13 UN conventions on terrorism
• We stress that all counterterrorism efforts be conducted with respect for human rights and the rule of law

Disarmament

• South Africa continues to insist on the need for the strengthening of the global disarmament system anchored in the various treaties, technical bodies and organisations of the UN system
• Multilateral efforts in our view offer the best hope of ensuring progress in this area
• We call for a balanced approach on disarmament and non-proliferation. These two pillars are equally important. In particular we continue to be concerned at the lack of progress on nuclear disarmament.

United Nations Security Council

• We continue to discharge our responsibilities as a member of the UN Security Council in 2007 and 2008.
• This session of the General Assembly is therefore the first one that coincides with our membership of the Security Council
• This month the UNSC has so far focused its work on the following countries: Sudan, Liberia, DRC, Timor-Leste; and Haiti.
• I will highlight just a few issues

Sudan

• On Sudan the focus has been on the positive developments regarding the deployment of the hybrid force in Darfur. Some aspects of this will begin by October at the insistence of South Africa and other delegations. As you know it can sometimes take anything between 6 to 12 months for a UN peacekeeping force to be deployed
• Only yesterday the Council was discussing this matter and we are happy that there is already progress with the preparations for the deployment
• In certain areas the troop offers already exceed the requirements
• South Africa is currently considering its own contributions to UNAMID
• We also continue to call for more progress in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to consolidate the peace between the North and the South

Liberia

• Liberia is on a path to consolidating its transition from conflict to democracy. In a measure of this the Council was discussing the drawdown of the UN Mission there, UNMIL
• South Africa ’s point of view has been that the drawdown has to follow certain benchmarks, such as the reform of the security sector, so that the UN does not leave Liberia too early

Security Council Summit

• France , as the President of the Security Council for September, will convene a Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Security Council on 25 September to address “Peace and Security in Africa”
• We foresee that President Mbeki will participate in this Summit
• It will be an important opportunity for the members of the Council at the highest political level to make an assessment of the peace and security challenges facing the continent

 QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

Q: Ambassador you mentioned that when it comes to the deployment of troops to the UN Hybrid Force to Darfur in certain areas offers to deploy troops has exceeded the demand. What are those areas where troops exceeded demand?

A: I think if you go back and remember that the AU asked troop-contributing countries to contribute troops to Somalia, up till today you have not heard an enthusiastic response. Now the opposite is being experienced after the AU, Sudan and the UN accepted the whole concept of the Hybrid Force for Darfur. The enthusiasm of the donor community has also exceeded the expectations, because as history would have it, you either have problems with resources or problems with manpower. I think the pledges of the men and women in uniform have exceeded the expectations of the AU and the UN.

Q: I would like to ask that you provide us with an update on Kosovo and Western Sahara?

A: It is not in the Security Council agenda this month. It remains an important issue, which will always be on the agenda of the bilateral meetings which we will have with most European countries. Because it is not on the agenda this month we did not include it in the notes for this Briefing. South Africa’s policy on Kosovo remains unchanged and we hope that necessary patience will be exercised for political solutions to be successful and sustainable.

There are a lot of developments, after the adoption of the Resolution that was brought after the Moroccans brought in their paper on the way forward, there has been a lot of development with the people of Western Sahara and those who back them including us and there are preparations for the next stage of negotiations. I do not know the exact nature of the preparations or how far the preparations for the negotiations are but all we know is that our friends in the Polisario are preparing for negotiations so that if and when the negotiations start those that support Western Sahara would be requested to continue the political support which they have always given. I can say that the Polisario expects South Africa as one of those countries which supports the process to continue to do so. We can only hope and wish that both the Polisario and Moroccan government who have just gone through their elections will sooner than later find one another and solve this issue for the betterment of the international community.

Q: Ambassador on the Hybrid Force, you mentioned that South Africa is one of the countries that insisted that its start being operational in October as planned. At the same time you also say that “we are still considering our troop contribution”. Is that not a contradiction?

A: South Africa has a positive attitude towards the hybrid force, as you know we have men and women on the ground in different formations whether it be police or the army. Obviously the new appeal was to increase the number of people and the resources we have there so that it would improve the situation. Much as the others are ready or have pledged I think processes to conclude this does not only rest on Foreign Affairs, there are many other Departments participating and they all need to conclude their internal processes to finalise our contribution. South Africa is well disposed to increasing its contribution and ensuring that the Hybrid force is deployed as quickly as possible. Therefore there is no contradiction it is just that the process takes longer than the wishes we have.

Q: Who is going to be the President of the 62 nd Session of the UNGA, has that been determined already?

A: Macedonia. We have had a few of interactions with delegations of Macedonia in New York and we will have interactions with them to hear what is it that the new president of the UNGA will put as part of his programme for his term.

Q: According a UN issued report none of the sub-Saharan countries will succeed in meeting the MGDs and yet as a country we seem very sure that we will. Why is it that the report was never challenged and what is it that we will be doing to ensure that the challenges are met?

A: I do not think that our government can boldly go out and say that we will meet all the targets but I think we are on good path based on the information we have received from other departments and the section dealing this information in government.

Q: What is South Africa’s position on the issue of Polisario front and Moroccan government?

A: South Africa’s position on Polisario is simple. As you know that according to the legal opinion from The Hague and the Resolutions of the Security Council the issue of Polisario is the issue of Self Determination. Therefore until such time that Self Determination as understood by the Polisario and the international community and outlined in the legal opinion is achieved, South Africa will always support the Polisario towards its achievement of self-determination. I do not think that we have a choice to look otherwise.

Q: What is the basis of the negotiations which will take place between the Polisario and the Moroccan government? I am aware that both parties have tabled proposals in front of the UNSC a few months ago and that there was a strong push amongst some members of the UNSC to use the Moroccan plan used as the basis, so can you please clarify to us that which of the two proposals will be used as the basis?

A: Before the UNSC adopted the Moroccan plan there was consultation with Morocco, Polisario, Members of the Council, countries that support both Morocco and the Polisario which led up to the drawing up of a resolution arising out of the Moroccan plan. Now our understanding is that there are a lot of things happening now and the basis of negotiations is the resolution. I am not sure but my sense is that the Moroccan plan would be used as the basis and that is why the Moroccans are going to negotiate. The Polisario have seen some positive proposals in the plan but they also have their own position that is why they are going to negotiate.But we do not know the details of what in essence the basis of the negotiations would take place on.

Q: There seem to be ambiguity in South Africa’s positions on both Kosovo and Western Sahara is this the case?

A: What is holding Kosovo as far as I know is that, there is not yet unanimity in the Council including members of the P5, there is no meetings of the minds of the two parties involved in this issues which for me is very fundamental. South Africa’s view was that rather than thrusting prematurely and come up with a resolution that may not be accepted by one of the parties and cause divisions amongst members of the Council, while risking a political settlement that will have some endurance. So it is our view that rather than rushing there should be continued talking between both the parties on the basis of the Ahtisaary plan because some proposal in the Ahtisaary plan have been agreed upon by both parties and can start being implemented. Then the sticky point is the final settlement. I think there is progress but more work still needs to be done. Our view is that implement what is agreeable now and continue to explore way and means where the two parties can find common ground. I do not think that this is a vague position by South Africa.

Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa at 082-990-4853

Department of Foreign Affairs
P/Bag X152
Pretoria
0001

13 September 2007