Watch: “Isolationism is a recipe for failure” – Nyusi addresses UN general debate | Mozambique

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Watch: “Isolationism is a recipe for failure” – Nyusi addresses UN general debate | Mozambique

12:22 CAT | 24 Sep 2020

President Filipe Nyusi (on the screens) addresses the General Debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 23, 2020. [Photo: Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua]

In his address to the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi defended multilateralism in international relations.

“Multilateral cooperation remains the best approach to face the challenges and alleviate the suffering of the people who are the main reason for the creation of the United Nations,” President Nyusi said in a pre-recorded speech.

The Mozambican president considered multilateralism at the UN level especially important given that “the world economy, especially that of developing countries, has been severely torn apart by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and its restoration requires global interventions, integrated and concerted”.

“Nationalism and isolationism in the face of a pandemic are a recipe for failure to respond to this and other contagious diseases of an unpredictable nature,” he added.

United Nations reform

Regarding the UN, President Nyusi expressed concern about “the lack of progress in intergovernmental negotiations on the reform of the Security Council to obtain results in line with the 21st century”.

“The reform has the merit of placing international peace, security and stability as catalysts for the global development agenda, as well as making the UN more representative, efficient and transparent, in the light of the contemporary geopolitical situation, which may confer greater effectiveness and legitimacy on the decisions of this body,” he stressed.

Subsequently, Nyusi called on the international community to use “the historic moment of the organization’s 75 years to combine efforts for a sustainable solution to outstanding security issues”.

The address served for the Mozambican president to reaffirm commitments and development indexes of Mozambique, within the scope of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the UN.

Fight against terrorism

President Nyusi also spoke about the armed violence affecting Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, for the last three years.

The head of state noted that, in addition to having security forces and other actions on the ground and mobilising humanitarian support, the Northern Integrated Development Agency (ADIN) was created in August with the goal of “promoting actions of multi-sectoral character with a view to the integrated socio-economic development of the provinces of Niassa, Cabo Delgado and Nampula” in response to the problem.

“Aware that the country’s terrorist actions are linked to international groups that are also involved in transnational organised crime, we have sought to address this phenomenon in cooperation with other countries and regional and international organisations,” he added.

On September 16th, the Mozambican government asked the European Union (EU) for support in logistics and specialised training of its forces, to help stop the armed incursions in Cabo Delgado of groups classified as terrorists.

The request was made by means of a ministerial letter sent to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, by the Minister of Foreigan Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique, Verónica Macamo.

Cabo Delgado is the locus of natural gas megaprojects and faces a humanitarian crisis with more than 1,000 dead and 300,000 internally displaced – the result of three years of armed conflict between Mozambican and rebel forces, some of whose attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, but whose origin remains unclear.