The Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda
Honourable Ministers and all Government Representatives
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and Heads of Missions
Civil Society and Private Sector representatives
All our distinguished guests
And of course all my own dear UN colleagues,
And standing on all already established protocols
I am grateful to be here with everyone present in person and online as we hold this symbolic occasion here in Uganda to mark the birth of the United Nations. Sadly of course this commemoration is happening during very trying times. Even as we are able to thankfully gather in limited numbers, and there is more than a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel with increasing availability of vaccines, the COVID-19 pandemic - and all the havoc it has wrecked on communities and countries and our development statistics - is still being acutely felt.
This commemoration marks the 76th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter, the founding document of the UN. The Day offers us the opportunity to amplify our common agenda and reaffirm the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. These principles and the timeless values of the United Nations are the indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. As relevant today as they were then in 1945 in terms of the quality of coming together the world needs. And also of course the principles are still relevant even as we have all – collectively and repeatedly experienced - how difficult it is to live up to our cherished values and behave in a way that is coherent with our values at all times.
In his address to the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, the UN Secretary-General – Antonio Guteres - sounded the alarm for the world to wake up. The picture he painted is grim. In the way he characterised it, our world is moving towards the wrong direction. At the same time, as I assume we would all agree, it is clear that if the community of nations – all 193 Member States - focused on what are obviously common immediate and long-term strategic interests, we can solve all our problems.
There are many global challenges facing us today. The three I choose to highlight are: the Covid 19 pandemic, the climate crisis, the impact of inequalities and its links to violent extremism.
In Uganda, as everywhere, we have lost families, friends, colleagues due to the pandemic. We have seen increased violence in our homes – especially against women and children, we have seen loss of incomes and livelihoods in our families and communities. Our children have been out of school. And overall we have seen an erosion of some of the hard won gains made against our development goals and aspirations. With the development of vaccines, there is now some light at the end of the tunnel. Encouragingly in Uganda – and due to the Government’s own committed efforts and support of her development partners- we are seeing the availability of more vaccines. So even as we still don’t have all the vaccines needed, the priority now now now is to make sure that the available vaccines are wisely used and that all priority persons in Uganda get vaccinated and that we successfully tackle issues around vaccine hesitancy.
And as we have now all learned, we cannot only focus on the covid situation within our borders but must necessarily also be concerned about all priority persons elsewhere getting their vaccines, as none of us are safe until all are safe.
It is now clear that we were not prepared for this pandemic. We were warned by the experts and institutions we have in place to help us think about the possibilities of such events, but did not hear them. I hope now we can ensure we learn the lessons that need to be learnt – and there might be differences for different regions and countries - better prepared for future pandemics.
Equally urgent in the Climate crisis. Every week -more or less- since my arrival in Kampala 4 months ago, when I open the newspapers I read about floods and disasters and the devastating impacts they are having on people’s lives. In my previous duty station in Eritrea, we had issues of rains no showing up when they were expected. And these experiences are very common everywhere now. The earth is heating up due to our human activities and we urgently have to slow this rate down.
Inequalities in its various forms is an issue that will define our time. The pandemic has shone a light on inequality between countries. Income inequality within countries is also rising and frankly this is the form of inequality people tend to feel most. And of course inequalities are not only driven and measured by income but are determined by other factors – such as gender, age, disability, geographic origin etc. These & similar factors determine inequalities of opportunity between and within countries. And where there is excessive inequality of opportunity, when people feel prospects for the future are dismal, it becomes fertile breeding ground for conflict and extremism. Confronting inequalities is the rallying cry of Agenda 2030: Leave no one behind. And considering all the challenges we see in this regard, I hope we all really more effectively behind this call.
These three issues I have highlighted are all as relevant globally as they are in Uganda. We urgently need to address them to get back on track towards our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Uganda’s case, addressing these issues is what will spur the country to a more prosperous middle income country status.
Tackling these issues globally and nationally is of course not going to be easy, especially in the current context of severely shrunk fiscal spaces, disrupted supply chains and fragmented political unity. Effectively tackling these issues nationally may require better focus & prioritization in some cases, bolder policy choices in others. And in Uganda and elsewhere perhaps we should also invest in improved dialogue and coordination both within Government and between Government and her development partners (including private sector, civil society organizations, multilateral and bilateral partners, and more broadly the people). We need to better harmonise the interests and pull in the same direction.
As the UN system – all 29 agencies signatory to the Cooperation framework and their close to 3000 staff many online today from Entebbe, Moroto, Gulu, Mbarara and other parts of the country - we remain steadfast in our partnership with the Government in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and operational support around vaccinations, including supporting communication efforts that address issues like vaccine hesitancy. I also reiterate our commitment to continue our partnership with the Government of Uganda through implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Uganda (2021-2025) in support of the third National Development Plan (NDP III) towards the achievement of Uganda Vision 2040 which does include action aimed at tackling both the climate crisis and inequalities. And of course there is plenty of room to be even more ambitious in those areas. And I look forward to joining all stake holders as we tackle this work.
And a final last point -- as I see some of those who have entertained us, I forgot to applaud and recognize Uganda, for her generosity in hosting refugees. Uganda is the largest refugee hosting country in Africa. And extraordinarily in the ongoing pandemic, did not turned away displaced people who sought refuge within its borders. This is an instance of living up to her value that should be loudly applauded.
And on that note,
Happy commemoration to us all.
Thank you