23 September 2017 – Tanzania has integrated ‘sustainability’ into its development plan 2016-2021, with an eye towards becoming a middle-income country by 2025, its top foreign affairs official told the United Nations General Assembly today.

“Tanzania has set a target growth from an average of 7 per cent in 2015 to 10 per cent by 2020 in order to reach a middle-income status by 2025,” said Augustine Phillip Mahiga, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, during the Assembly’s annual high-level debate.

He said this growth will ensure equity in the society by reducing the unemployment rate from the current 10.3 per cent to 8 per cent and reduce proportion of population below poverty line from the current 28.2 per cent to 16.7 per cent by 2020.

Collaborating with development partners and other stakeholders, the Government has developed frameworks for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include communication and dissemination strategies to make the goals understood to everyone, he said.

Dissemination is in both English and Kiswahili, a national language spoken by all Tanzanians, he added.

Tanzania has been a country of refuge to many for decades, actively participating in regional and international peace initiatives including the ongoing Burundi peace process. The peace talks are still on track, and it is encouraging to note that in some parts of Burundi, the security situation has significantly improved to permit the voluntary return of some 12,000 refugees out of almost 250,000 refugees who have been in Tanzania since 2015, he said.

Tanzania has also intermittently for decades been receiving and hosting refugees from pockets of troubled areas in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he said, expressing hope that the 31 December 2016 Peace Agreement, with its promise of timely elections, is fully implemented.

Full statement available here

23 September 2017 – Addressing the United Nations General Assembly’s annual general debate, Ibrahim Ahmed Abd al-Aziz Ghandour, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sudan said his country has “turned the page” on conflicts and has embarked on an era of peace and stability, including through the establishment of a unity Government that includes members of former armed groups.

Expressing the hope that the international community, including the UN Peacebuilding Fund and the World Bank would support the Government’s ongoing efforts carry out the national dialogue, he said, and also encouraged the remaining armed groups to join this quest for peace.

Recalling that the Government had extended its unilateral ceasefire until October, he expressed Sudan’s deep concern at the lack of strict action by relevant UN entities and the international community vis-à-vis rebel groups operating from Libya and South Sudan.

He went on to say that Sudan opposed the politicization of international justice and considered the International Criminal Court to be an organization that manipulated the law for political objectives.

The Sudanese Foreign Minister emphasized the Government’s efforts to fight terrorism, human trafficking, drug trafficking and cybercrime, as well as its assistance to three million refugees from neighbouring countries and beyond. On a recent visit, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees commended Sudan for opening its borders when others were closing theirs.

Sudan was committed to working with IGAD and the African Union towards peace and security in South Sudan and to help address the humanitarian crisis there. Having met all technical conditions, Sudan looked forward to having its outstanding foreign debt forgiven, in line with the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, he said.

Full statement (in Arabic) available here

23 September 2017 – Citing the continuing deterioration of the security situation in the sub-Saharan Sahel, regional leaders at the General Assembly’s annual general debate today called on the United Nations to provide sufficient resources to the regional G5 Sahel joint force to combat the scourge.

“Multifaceted support from the international community and our Organization is indispensable,” Chadian Foreign Minister Hissein Brahim Taha, Minister for Foreign Affairs said.

In June the UN Security Council endorsed the formation the G5 Sahel joint force, comprising Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, to combat terrorism and transnational organized crime in the restive region.

Beyond attacks perpetrated by the Nigerian Boko Haram movement, Mr. Taha also highlighted a host of other regional concerns including climate change and the drying up of Lake Chad upon which 50 million people depend for their livelihoods, all of which contribute to the massive migration crisis.

Full statement (in French) available here

Ibrahim Yacoubou, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, African Integration and Nigeriens Abroad of the Republic of Niger, addresses the general debate of the General Assembly’s seventy-second session. UN Photo/Cia Pak

Niger voiced its concern at the lack of international support for the G5 Sahel force. “What is at stake in the Sahel is a battle not only for regional peace and security but also for international peace and security,” Foreign Minister Ibrahim Yacoubou told the Assembly.

“Not to aid the G5 Sahel and to allow the situation in Mali to degenerate further into implosion would be a mistake that Member States should not commit,” he said.

As the three major threats facing Niger, he cited the situation in Libya where terrorists and arms traffickers have free rein, the battle against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad area, and the fight against terrorists and arms traffickers in northern Mali.

Full statement (in French) available here

23 September 2017 – Iraq is an independent sovereign federal State following democratic processes which have enabled all its people to participate in society, said the country’s top foreign affairs official at the United Nations General Assembly, expressing opposition to a referendum planned by the regional government of Kurdistan.

“The Government always encourages the cohesive status of all components (of society),” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Abdulkarim Al-Jafari during the Assembly’s annual high-level debate, noting that Iraq must preserve its unity and territory.

Therefore, he said, the Government has appealed to the Supreme Court to reject the referendum planned for late this month.

His country will hold its legislative and parliamentary elections in the first three months of 2018 aimed at consolidating political stability and economic progress.

He thanked countries that supported his Government forces in liberating Mosul and other cities from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) terrorists. However, he said that “history teaches us that conflict goes beyond the challenges of war,” meaning that there remains a hard road ahead for post-ISIL reconstruction and reconciliation.

Da’esh’s so-called environmental terrorism destroyed the country’s heritage sites and its natural resources.

Iraq’s comprehensive vision for the future centred on restoring peace, providing basic services, allowing people to return to their homes and facilitating post-conflict reconstruction.

Among other national priorities, Iraq was re-establishing its national security forces and rule of law, as well as continuing to combat corruption, which provided fertile ground for terrorists and crime.

In addition, the UN Security Council recently mandated a joint investigative mechanism to collect and preserve evidence about ISIL actions in Iraq, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, he said, calling for necessary support and financial resources to fund that mechanism.

Full statement (in Arabic) available here