HUTBA YA JK

STATEMENT BY H.E. JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE, PRESIDENTOF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA, DURING THEGENERAL DEBATE OF THE 61ST SESSION OF THEUNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY,NEW YORK, 20 SEPTEMBER, 2006

Your Excellency Shaikha Haya Rushed Al Khalifa ,President of the General Assembly;

Your Excellency Kofi Annan, Secretary General of theUnited Nations;

Excellencies;Distinguished Representatives;Ladies and Gentlemen,

Permit me to begin by congratulating you,Madam President, on your well deserved election tothe Presidency of the 61 st Session of the GeneralAssembly. This is an important milestone on thegender agenda at the United Nations. I wish you2great success and assure you of Tanzania's s fullsupport and cooperation as you discharge yourduties.I should also like to commend your predecessor,H.E. Mr. Jan Eliasson, for his able stewardship of the60th session of the General Assembly. Under hisleadership, Tanzania was privileged to Co-chair withDenmark negotiations leading to theoperationalization of the Peacebuilding Commission.The Case for ContinuityMadam President;Excellencies.I stand before you as the fourth President of mydear country, Tanzania, following another successfulmultiparty democratic election last December. This isthe third smooth transition of power in Tanzania. I3took over from my eminent predecessor in office, H.E.Benjamin William Mkapa who has remained activeboth at home and abroad. He remains my useful andwise counsel as does his predecessor His ExcellencyAli Hassan Mwinyi. Among the many good thingsthat former President Mkapa continues to dischargefor our country and the human family is hismembership of the Secretary-General's High LevelPanel on System-Wide Coherence which is animportant task in our agenda for the reform of theUnited Nations.Such was the success of the previousadministration that I can only come before you withone central message—a message of policy continuitynationally, regionally and internationally.4We will continue with the efforts of the previousadministration to promote peace, stability andnational unity. In addition we shall redouble ourefforts to uphold and strengthen good democraticgovernance, respect for human rights and rule of lawas well as intensify the fight against corruption. Wefeel greatly honoured in this regard that, the GlobalOrganization of Parliamentarians Against Corruptiondecided to hold their second global conference inArusha, Tanzania in two days time in recognition andin support of our efforts.Madam President,Tanzania also made impressive economic stridesmaking it one of the fastest growing economies inAfrica. My intention is to sustain and enhance thatrecord with greater zeal, vigour and speed.sSimilarly, Tanzania has emerged as one of thebest practice cases in terms of ownership of thedevelopment agenda and the harmonization andcoordination of development assistance. This is apolicy and practice I will advance during my tenurein the hope that it will add to the realization of thetheme of this General Assembly — Implementing aGlobal Partnership for Development.Madam President;In view of this record, and given our political andmacro-economic stability and political will, Tanzaniais now well poised to accelerate the pace towards theattainment of Millennium Development Goals.For this to happen however, we needinternational support to scale-up on ourinfrastructure, capacity for value addition processesand human capital development. Fortunately, the6framework for such international support alreadyexists, for example through the Monterrey Consensusand the Helsinki Process. I believe Tanzania has livedup to her commitment under the global compact fordevelopment. I now call upon our developmentpartners to do likewise.Cognizant of the role of the private sector as theengine of growth, Tanzania has implemented farreachingpolicy and institutional reforms geared tocreating a conducive environment for business.The World Bank's "2007 Doing Business Report"recognizes Tanzania as one of the ten best reformingcountries in the world. Therefore Tanzania has againfulfilled her commitments under the Global Compact.We, therefore, call upon our development partners toaugment our efforts, and the private sector to respondpositively.7The Great Lakes Region of AfricaMadam President,The success of whatever we try to do nationallydepends critically on a peaceful neighbourhood. Fortoo long Tanzania has suffered the consequences ofconflict and instability in the region, includinghosting hundreds of thousands of refugees,destruction of infrastructure and environment and thetime and resources deployed in facilitating conflictresolution.For this reason, Tanzania will continue to play itspart In the quest for peace, security, stability anddevelopment in the Great Lakes Region.Significant progress has been achieved in thepolitical and security situation in the Great LakesRegion of Africa. We appreciate the support of the8United Nations and other partners in the regionalpeace process. Tanzania welcomes and commends thegovernment of Burundi and the FNL for finallysigning the ceasefire agreement. We are humbledthat we were able to play a role.Likewise, I commend the Government, the majorpolitical actors, as well as the people of DemocraticRepublic of Congo for holding the long-awaitedelections. We urge that the forthcoming second roundof elections be conducted in a free, fair and peacefulmanner. Tanzania as Chair of the SADC Organ onPolitics, Defense and Security will play its role insupport of this process. As a friendly neighbour wewill endeavour to be as useful as is necessaryMoreover, Tanzania as current chair of theinitiative for peace and security in the Great Lakes9Region will work closely with other membercountries to ensure a successful Second InternationalConference on the Great Lakes region later this yearin Nairobi.I wish to put on record our sincere gratitude tothe Group of Friends of the Great Lakes for theirsupport. I appeal to them and the internationalcommunity to remain engaged with this process.Peace and Security Trends Elsewhere in AfricaMadam President,Peace seems to have eluded the world. Reportsof wars and violent conflicts are head line news ininternational media. Unfortunately Africa, thepoorest of the continents has had an unfair shame ofconflict. Like other delegates, we express our concernfor the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur,loand call for continued regional and internationalcommunity's engagement. Likewise, we are deeplyconcerned about the situation in Somalia andelsewhere, Cote d' Ivore and in the continent.The continuing impasse on Western Sahara, isunfortunate. After 31 long years it is high time thatthe UN redoubled its efforts towards resolving thisissue. The UN resolved the question of East Timor,which was similar to that of Saharawi. The people ofWestern Sahara deserve no less from us. I believe itcab be done if all parties played their partappropriately.1 1The Middle EastMadam President,Ladies and Gentlemen:Turning to the situation in the Middle East, I ampleased to see the ceasefire between Israel andLebanon holding and troop contributing countriesresponding positively in reinforcing the UnitedNations Interim Force in Lebanon.The 34-day war in Lebanon took internationalattention away from the plight of the Palestinianpeople. The lack of progress towards a negotiatedtwo-state solution and the decline in confidence in thepeace process are worrying developments. We callupon the Quartet, and encourage bilateral and othermultilateral initiatives, to revive the peace processlaid down in the Road Map. A just, viable,, lasting1 2and comprehensive peace in the Middle East can onlycome through negotiations.TerrorismMadam President,Tanzania welcomes and applauds the adoptionby the General Assembly of a Comprehensive GlobalStrategy to Counter Terrorism.It is our expectation that the differences whicharose during the negotiations will not stand in theway of the strategy's s implementation.After experiencing a major terrorist attack on oursoil in 1998, Tanzania has always repeated our resolveto cooperate with others to combat terrorism in all itsmanifestations. The threat of terrorism is global andcomplex; it demands a collective and adaptivestrategy to contain it.1 3Multilateralism and UN ReformMadam President,Excellencies:Tanzania has always stood for the sovereignequality of nations and for the primacy ofmultilateralism in global governance and inaddressing global issues. We have always cherishedand stood for the central role of the United Nations inglobal affairs. We promise to continue to be faithfuland responsible members of the UN. It is ourintention to participate more actively in UN peacekeeping missions new and operations.We have always believed that the United Nationsof today has to reflect, in its structure, policies,programmes and activities, the realities of the worldof today. The UN has to move with the changing1 4times and aspirations of its membership. I want toreaffirm Tanzania s continued commitment to theseurgent and legitimate demands. We are very muchcommitted to the reform agenda especially the reformof the UN Security Council to make it morerepresentative and more responsive to the changingrealities.Madam President,Ladies and Gentlemen:Tanzania's s term as a non permanent member ofthe the United Nations Security Council will end Inthe next three months. Let me thank you all for thehonour accorded to my country to serve on theCouncil. In this important organ of the UnitedNations.1 5We thank our fellow members of the Council fortheir cooperation and support during our term. Aswe leave, we are gratified that we were able toorganize a special session of the council to discuss thesituation in the Great Lakes region where usefulconclusions were made.Again as we leave I would like to pay tribute toour outgoing illustrious Secretary General, Mr. KofiAnnan, a great internationalist and statesman. Wecongratulate him for a job well done and for his ableleadership during a particularly difficult period forthe world and the United Nations.He will be remembered as one who challengedthe Organization to live up to the true promise ofmultilateralism, in delivering collective security,pursuit of fundamental human rights and promotinghuman development.1 6Madam President;Excellencies.I thank you for your kind attention..