Your Excellency Philemon Yang
President of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly;
Your Excellency Antonio Guterres
Secretary General of the UN;
Honorable Heads of Delegation;
Distinguished Delegates;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Mr. President,
Allow me to join previous speakers to congratulate Your Excellency for your election to the Presidency of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly.
The current session is taking place at a crucial juncture of transition in the architecture of global governance.
Before delving into the main subject, allow me to digress a bit and dwell on some historical perspectives.
As it will be recalled, “Maintenance of Global Peace” was indeed the overarching mantra and proclaimed objective when the League of Nations was established one century ago in January 1920 in the immediate aftermath of the First World War.
But, in spite of the lofty pronounced objectives, the League of Nations could not fully measure up to the noble task and deter the eruption of the Second World War.
Twenty-five years later in October 1945, the United Nations was solemnly established to prevent another World War and guarantee durable global peace. But yet again, our global community was plunged into the era of the “Cold War” whose hallmark was a confrontational, bi-polar, international world order.
With all its dynamics and deleterious consequences to global peace and stability, the Cold-War era culminated, after 45 years in 1991, in the collapse of the “former Soviet Bloc”.
As it happened, this later phase ushered in a new, precarious, epoch of a “uni-polar” world order, which was, in essence, bereft of any new ideology. As a matter of fact, the new dispensation represented a retrograde relapse to, and revival of, centuries-old colonialism and slavery. Indeed, the resources and wealth of others were usurped to mollify the insatiable greed of the few through force and other tools of repression.
The manifestations of this policy are myriad and include:
pronounced policies of “containment” by the architects and proponents of a uni-polar world order in the European theatre and especially reckless acts in Ukraine;
provocative “containment” policies against China pursued in Asia for analogous objectives and considerations;
trends that these policies portend to global peace.
In our neighborhood, the ramifications of this policy include:
The perilous war unleashed to stifle the Palestinian cause and evict them from their land; the commotion that it continues to engender and the wider regional conflagration that it may trigger;
Acts of subversion conducted and multiple crises fomented in several parts in Africa under various pretexts to preserve and maintain colonial slavery;
Overt interventions carried out in the same manner in Latin America to install surrogate regimes;
Various subterfuges conducted to stifle and roll-back burgeoning public protests in Europe and the US against the backdrop of fragmentation of traditional coalitions;
All these distressing developments and trends amplify the innate flaws and dysfunctionality of the reckless policies of the Uni-polar world order.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Efforts exerted during the various epochs to imbue institutional structure and mandate to the “Global Architecture” were not ultimate aims and objectives in themselves.
As it is indeed palpable, institutional formats are mere mechanisms and modalities for achieving the desired goals and objectives. Peace and stability constitute indispensable pre-requisites for the promotion of prosperity and growth and the attainment of the ultimate human aspirations of justice and the prevalence of a just political order.
In other words, the assertion and guaranteeing of a just global order where domination, deceit, coercion and intimidation, plunder and monopolization are not countenanced or tolerated. The unequivocal aspirations of the peoples of the world in the past one hundred years were, precisely, the crystallization – through the “League of Nations” and later the “United Nations”’ – of a “just global order”.
The perplexing question remains whether these lofty aspirations and profound wishes were achieved? The poignant answer is: “No; these have not been realized!”
On the other hand, the logical corollary to failure is not despondency but redoubled and more vigorous commitment and resilience in order to achieve the cherished objectives and goals.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me now to revert to the predicament of the Eritrean people which epitomizes, in all respects, the typical ordeal of numerous other peoples.
Three generations of Eritreans were doomed to pay precious and inordinately huge sacrifices for almost 80 years since the end of the Second World War merely because the Dulles Brothers determined that “Eritrea does not serve US strategic interests”.
As it happened, the people of Eritrea were compelled to wage political and armed struggle of liberation for 50 long years.
And even when they achieved their hard-won independence in 1991, they were denied respite and the opportunity to funnel their energies for nation-building. Indeed, the same “hegemonic” policy consideration and defunct ploys were ramped up to foment unremitting crises and instability by instigating “border conflicts” and other ruses. The suffering and economic damage that was inculcated, the opportunity loss incurred, have been enormous by any standards.
Still, and in the face of unwarranted onslaught, the resilience of the Eritrean people was not dampened.
And yet, the spiral of mindless hostility continued to intensify without let up.
In 2009, Eritrea was subjected to “sanctions” on the basis of unsubstantiated and trumped-up charges. As it happened, the forces of hegemony plotted to “further punish” the people of Eritrea and invoked a preposterous pretext for a people and country that have waged a relentless struggle against terrorism and domination for decades.
The “sanctions” were ultimately lifted in 2018. But the question remains: why was it imposed in the first place? Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that illicit unilateral sanctions; futile demonization campaigns; as well as subversive acts to instigate conflicts in the region still continue unabated.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The ordeals meted out to the people of Eritrea is only the tip of the iceberg. The tribulations imposed on other peoples in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Americas are severe indeed. In the event, we urge for the categorical lifting of the unilateral coercive measures and sanctions imposed on countries like Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Cuba, including the 60-years-long embargo against Cuba and its unjust placement on the dubious list of ‘state sponsors of terrorism.’ Meanwhile, we need to pause and ask what is the relevance and impact of the fundamental principles enshrined in the UN Charter against the backdrop of the law of the jungle that the hegemonic powers are bent on imposing?
This precarious reality amplifies the imperative and urgency for the peoples of the world to strive – with higher vigor, fortitude and enhanced solidarity than what has transpired for one hundred years – to install a global order that guarantees peace and stability. This is not an option that can be left to circumstances. The forces of hegemony must also be made accountable for their crimes for the dispensation of justice.
Let me conclude my brief address by reiterating our best wishes for success in our current endeavors.
I Thank You.
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