25 Oct 2017

No country, big or small, can single handedly address global challenges such as conflicts, terrorism, poverty, unemployment, diseases, natural disasters and climate change.

Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Eric Molale said this on behalf of the Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi at a breakfast meeting organised by the United Nations (UN) in collaboration with the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation to commemorate UN Day on Tuesday.

Mr Molale said the many complex and multi-faceted challenges that confronted humanity required a collective resolve.  

“It is through such partnership that we will be able to achieve our goal of transforming our world into a better and safer world of shared prosperity and inclusive development. My hope is that this cooperation and collaboration, which affirms the hallmark of our enduring partnership, will continue to be strengthened in other areas of our work and partnership,” he said.

Mr Molale encouraged member states to take pride in the achievements that had been made such as in the maintenance of international peace and security, provision of infrastructure, education and health services.

He noted that other achievements include reduction of poverty, the protection of vulnerable groups, including the empowerment of women and children as well as the advancement of freedom and justice and the rule of law.

Despite the achievements, Mr Molale said a lot remained to be done, adding that it was on such account that in September 2015, UN member states leaders adopted the Global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development together with its SDGs.

Mr Molale also added that the principles and ideals on which the UN was founded remained as relevant today as they were 72 years ago.

He noted that they are the promotion of international peace and security, fundamental human rights, poverty eradication, improving the well-being of humanity, economic and social progress, justice, tolerance, gender equality, friendship and cooperation.

The government, Mr Molale said, had set itself a scorecard with three deliverables of quality life, safety and security and equal opportunity. The deliverables, he said, contained what was in the 17 SDGs.

“We also believe that our new vision, Vision 2036 has encapsulated what is being portrayed by the UN through these 17 SDGs. We have also taken the first chunk of our Vision 2036, through our NDP 11, to ensure that all these sustainable goals are included in our NDP,” said Mr Molale.

That, he said was the first NDP that would be used to implement Vision 2036.

For that reason, he said he believed that the consolidation of all these ideas and efforts would be in consonance with what the UN wished, “and with what our leadership at the UN wish to find this world improving for the better.”

On behalf of government, Mr Molale expressed appreciation for the commitment and dedication of the UN country teams in fulfilling the values and ideals of the UN in the countries they served.

Botswana, he said, fully appreciated the support that the UN provided to the country’s development agenda.

He added that the United Nations had played and continued to play an important role in supporting Botswana’s pursuit of key national goals and objectives of respective NDPs, including the current NDP 11 as well as Vision 2036.

He urged all UN member states to ensure they maintained their resolve to live up to the values and principles of the UN Charter with the view of building a better world for the benefit of both present and future generations of humanity.

On October 24, 1945, when the UN Charter came into force, only 51 countries ratified it.

However, there has since been a phenomenal growth in its membership which today stood at 193.

On UN Day, member states are expected to put aside their differences and resolve to combine efforts to tackle common challenges for the greater good of humanity. ENDS