Makamu wa Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania Mhe.Dkt.Philip Isdor Mpango Ahutubia UN

 

Makamu wa Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania Mheshimiwa  Dkt. Philip Mpango akihutubia Mkutano wa Baraza Kuu la 77 la Umoja wa Mataifa (UNGA) unaondelea Jijini New York nchini Marekani.

STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR. PHILIP ISDOR MPANGO, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA TO THE 77^TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 

 

Theme:      “A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges”.

22 SEPTEMBER, 2022 NEW YORK

Your Excellency, Csaba Kőrösis, President of the United Nations General Assembly,

 

Your Excellency, António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations,

 

Excellencies Heads of State and Government,

Distinguished Delegates,

Salutations

 

I wish to begin by conveying, to this August body, fraternal greetings from Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania who could not attend this year’s session due to pressing national commitments. It is therefore my distinct honour and privilege to address the 77^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the Government and People of the United Republic of Tanzania.

 

Let me join those who have spoken before me in congratulating you, Mr. President, on your election to preside over the 77^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. I assure you of Tanzania’s support and cooperation as you discharge your responsibilities.

 

Let me also extend our appreciation to the United Nations Secretary General, H.E. António Guterres and the entire UN Secretariat for their dedicated service as guardians of the common interest of all peoples and all states, particularly during this time of unprecedented global challenges.

Interlocking Challenges

Mr. President;

This Assembly is convening at a critical point when the world is engulfed in dangerous flames, ranging from conflicts and mounting geopolitical tensions; devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; food and energy insecurity; environmental carnage and extreme climate change related events; to barriers to education, technology and opportunity for shared prosperity.  These challenges are in turn inextricably linked with and propelling stubborn global poverty. Furthermore, with only 8 years remaining before 2030, the world is still way off the mark in meeting many of the targets set in 2015.

The root cause of all these challenges is human greed, selfish desire and unilateralism. Yet, we know for sure that unilateralism, driven by greed is leading us, rich and poor, strong and weak, to a catastrophe.  For, it is now evident that these challenges have and continue to inflict enormous disruptive impacts on economies, ecosystems and social lives worldwide, with Sub Saharan African countries and other developing countries being hit disproportionately.

We have a famous proverb in Kiswahili which says “Where there are problems, ingenuity increases”. In this spirit, we in Tanzania are convinced that transformative solutions to the global challenges we face, are already at our disposal but subject to two conditions being met: First, there must be a passionate belief in the need to uphold a caring spirit about needs and happiness of other peoples and nations; and Second, there must be solemn adherence to the credo of multilateralism and collaborative effort.  Fortunately, both conditions are a restatement of the ideals, values and principles of the United Nations Charter.

COVID-19

Mr. President;

Specifically, on the COVID-19 pandemic, it had devastating effects on Tanzania’s socio-economic systems and performance. Just like most other developing countries the pandemic robbed us of precious lives, over stretched health infrastructure and healthcare workers to the limit, led to severe budget constraints, as well as economic deceleration. Real GDP growth declined from 6.7 percent decadal growth attained in the pre-pandemic period, to 4.8 percent in 2020.

The key lesson we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that, the world needs to be better prepared in terms of national and global health systems to be able to handle future pandemics. This entails investing more in building health infrastructure and beefing up the health workforce, as well as enhancing national and regional capacity to manufacture drugs, supplies, vaccines and medical equipment.

In addition, Africa’s marginalization in the provision of vaccines underscored the need for African Countries to work together in the development and nurturing of indigenous solutions through joint medical and scientific research. The pandemic also brought to the fore, the need to invest more in public health education especially preventive medicine to build individual resilience including body fitness, healthy diet and habits.

However, I wish to acknowledge that although international support to Africa in taming the spread of the global pandemic, through provision of diagnostic equipment, medicines, vaccine support programs, and financing came late, it was critical in winning the war against the pandemic. Therefore, Tanzania would like to thank all our development partners who have been working with us to deal with the pandemic and put the country on a bright post COVID-19 recovery path. Currently, the Government continues with the vaccination campaign whereby, as of 11^th September, we had already vaccinated 60.56 percent of the targeted population.

Climate Change

Mr. President;

With respect to climate change, we are indeed at a tipping point. The United Republic of Tanzania appreciates all individual efforts and other collective measures taken thus far, in implementing interventions geared at upscaling mitigation and adaptation as stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 and the Paris Agreement of 2015. However, despite the efforts, we are observing unprecedented changes across the whole climate system in every region.

The facts remain that, the most vulnerable countries including Tanzania, have been disproportionately affected and nor do we possess the capacity to effectively respond. Tanzania has put forward ambitious targets on both adaptation and mitigation through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The Government spends an average of USD 500 million per annum on adaptation measures and up to 3 percent of its GDP on mitigation and building community resilience. With the help of the international community, we are committed to continually update our NDCs and making important progress to tackle climate change.

Yet, unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to at least 2°C will be elusive. As much as we remain committed, most of the developing countries have insufficient fiscal space and weak debt sustainability status to address increasing demand for climate resilient interventions. Hence, addressing the climate crisis requires reliable access to climate finance. It is on this note, that Tanzania calls on the international community to live up to its commitments made under the Paris Agreement. Enhanced capacity building, technology transfer, support for adaptation and mitigation measures, as well as the creation of independent loss and damage financial facility must be implemented in order to scale up the fight against climate change. We need to take actions and walk the talk as a matter of urgency.

I must, at this point, emphasize that Tanzania and the rest of Africa need a just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.  Africa must be given time to adjust since the majority of Africans have no access to energy. The well-established principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities must be observed.  In this regard, we call upon the lifting of opposition to global financing and implementation of transformative projects in our countries that aim to harness our hydrocarbon deposits for energy and other equally important uses to address our critical developmental needs. As long as robust Environmental Social and Impact Assessments (ESIAs) have been done and concrete measures taken to effectively address environmental and democratic governance concerns of our citizens, our Sovereign rights to pursue transformative projects should be respected.

We also call upon transparency in the conduct of carbon credit markets so that Africa benefits fairly from our earnest effort in taking care of the carbon sinks that we are holding for the world. For example, Tanzania has preserved over 30 percent of the total land area almost equivalent to the size of Germany which includes forests and wildlife parks.

International Peace and Security

Mr. President;

In maintenance of peace and security, Tanzania has always believed in diplomacy as the best instrument of resolving conflicts. Experience has taught us that, in war, everyone loses, including the non-warring parties. It is therefore our plea that, in the wake of the global conflicts our focus should remain to be that of safeguarding human lives especially children and women and well-being of the people.  More so, just recently, we have witnessed disruptive effects on global supply chains, dramatic increase in food and fuel prices as well as food shortages and decline in agricultural and industrial production around the world. All the more reasons that, we all must have a stake in pursuit of peaceful resolution of conflicts. As we do so, we must also leverage our abundant resources and human capabilities to address some of the impacts.

Mr. President;

In the same spirit, Peacekeeping operations remain one of the most dependable instruments for promoting world peace and security. Tanzania is proud to have contributed men and women in 5 out of the existing 16 peacekeeping missions across the world. Despite this state of affairs, Tanzania stands ready to contribute more, if requested to do so. We also continue to actively participate in regional peace initiatives and more so now in our capacity as a member of the African Union Peace and Security Council as well as EAC and SADC. Hence, we call upon the United Nations to enhance its support to the regional efforts in peace building and peace keeping.

Security Council Reforms

Mr. President,

The credibility of the United Nations rests on a well-represented and responsive Security Council. We, therefore wish to reiterate, the common African position, as elaborated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration with respect to the long-awaited reforms of the Security Council. It is well past time the United Nations Security Council reflected the present-day realities of the United Nations Membership and not that of the 1940s.

Conclusion

Mr. President;

It would be remiss of me to end my statement without acknowledging that, the world celebrated Kiswahili Language for the first time this year on 7^th July, following the historic declaration of the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) designating “7 July” as the World Kiswahili Language Day. As the birthplace of the Kiswahili language, Tanzania commends the efforts of the United Nations in promoting multilingualism as a core value, essential in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union Agenda 2063.

To conclude, let me, once again, reaffirm the resolve of the United Republic of Tanzania to uphold the three pillars of the United Nations namely; peace and security, development and human rights. I also call upon all of us to renew our commitment and prioritization of actions especially on those SDGS where we lag far behind. We remain committed to working closely with the United Nations and its Member States, in the spirit of multilateralism and global solidarity towards a sustainable future.

I thank you.