REMARKS BY
H.E. JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA AT
AN OFFICIAL DINNER IN HONOUR OF MR. BAN
KI-MOON, THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS, STATE HOUSE,
DAR ES
SALAAM, 26 FEBRUARY 2009
Your Excellency, Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of
the United Nations;
Madam Yoo Soon-taek;
Honourable Ministers;
Dean of the Diplomatic Corps;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is
a great honour and joy for me to once again welcome you, Mr. Secretary-General,
your beloved wife Madam Yoo Soon-taek, and your entire delegation to Tanzania. It is
my privilege to welcome you to the State House. Please feel at home.
I
thank you, Mr. Secretary-General, for accepting my invitation to visit with us.
You have been to Tanzania
a few times before but this is the first time you are visiting us since your
election to high office of Secretary
General of the United Nations. Allow me,
on behalf of the Government and the people of the United Republic of Tanzania
to congratulate you once more on your well deserved election. We also thank you most sincerely for the
great honour you bestowed upon us when you appointed a Tanzanian daughter, Dr. Asha-Rose
Migiro to be your Deputy. Thank you so
much for making us proud.
Your Excellency,
I
commend and congratulate you for doing your work with great passion,
determination and high level of excellence.
You have made those of us who believe in your leadership proud and
satisfied. We applaud you for placing Africa’s development challenges at the centre of your
agenda and that of the United Nations. For this, we in Africa
will always remain grateful.
During these two years of your tenure of office you
have treated Africa and the cause of its
development, peace and stability with utmost importance. You established the MDG Africa Steering Group
to put proper focus on the realisation of MDGs in Africa. A number of important initiatives and forums,
focusing on Africa’s development, were held
under the auspices of the United Nations.
Your great concern and actions when food crisis hit Africa
touched us tremendously. The many
meetings and initiatives you have organized on behalf of Africa have been very
reassuring indeed to the leaders and peoples of Africa. It gives hope that our distress call has
reached receptive ears and that there is every reason to believe something good
will come out of them.
We in Africa know and believe that in you and the United
Nations we have good friends. I would
also like you to know that you and the UN have good friends and supporters both
in Tanzania
and on the African continent.
Mr.
Secretary General;
You
have given due to attention to Africa’s
conflict situations as well. Your
leadership and more proactive involvement of the UN are noticeable achievements
in the processes of resolving conflicts on the continent. Todate, there is relative peace in eastern
DRC, calmness in Burundi and
political accommodation in Zimbabwe. Deployment of the UN-AU hybrid force in Darfur is now possible and on course. Only Somalia remains a big headache for
all of us. We again look to your
leadership and robust involvement of the UN for containment of the situation
and ultimate resolution of the unnecessary and incomprehensible violent conflict.
Mr.
Secretary General,
I
would also like to commend you for according sufficient attention to the common
challenges facing humanity today, including climate change, pervasive poverty
and hunger, chronic diseases, intra and inter -state conflicts, international
terrorism and the current global financial crisis.
Let us
take the case of climate change for example, you have worked hard to ensure
that this important matter receives adequate and continued attention of the
United Nations, its Members and the entire international community. The High-Level event on climate change which
you organised in September, 2007 in New York and
which I was honoured to participate as co-chair in the thematic discussions on
financing, contributed immensely to the success of UN Climate Change Conference
held on December, 2007 in Bali,
Indonesia. The Bali Summit came up with the Bali Roadmap (Bali
Plan of Action).
We have
every reason to believe that the Copenhagen Conference of Parties to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in December,
2009 will be crowned with even greater success.
Mr. Secretary General;
We are
now again looking forward to your leadership and that of the UN on resolving
the current global financial crisis and economic recession. If these twin crises are not resolved their
impact is going to be devastating particularly to the weak economies in Africa. Non of us has the capacity to muster bailout
packages like what the developed countries are doing today.
Mr. Secretary General,
As you have articulated it yourself on previous occasions,
for the United Nations to deliver on its mandate, it has to be transformed, in
form and shape, and in structure and business practices, into an organisation
that is more inclusive and capable of responding to the needs of its members.
We are
happy with your leadership on the UN reform agenda. We support your vision and efforts. We sincerely hope that under your leadership,
we will attain our objectives in this regard.
Your Excellency,
As you
know, Tanzania
is one of the eight pilot countries on the “UN Delivering as One”. It is
two years now of implementation; all that I can say is that, “so far so good”. The UN Delivering as One pilot has proved to
be a success. It is delivering the
intended results for Tanzania
for which we are highly appreciative.
There is greater efficiency and greater effectiveness. We have sufficient reason to commend it and
wish it maintained and sustained. Allow
me to use this opportunity to thank the UN System and all our partners who
contributed to its success.
Your Excellency,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Before
concluding my remarks, I would like to mention one thing about the ongoing
peace process in Darfur. As you are well
aware, Mr. Secretary-General, very soon Tanzania
will deploy an infantry battalion including engineers to join the UNAMID in Darfur. This would be the first time that Tanzania is
deploying a contingent of this size to any peacekeeping operation. Our
deployment speaks volumes about our commitment to peace on the continent and
our unreserved support to UN’s peacekeeping efforts. And, promise to do more in future. This is just the beginning.
Mr. Secretary-General,
Let me
end as I started. We are deeply delighted to have you here with us. I hope that during the two days of your stay
in Tanzania,
you will be able to see part of our country and enjoy the traditional
hospitality of our people.
With
these many words, may I now request all of you to please rise and join me in a
toast:
·
To the continued good health of UN’s Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon
and Mrs Ban;
·
To the continued excellent partnership between the UN system in Tanzania and Government and people of Tanzania; and
·
To partnership.
I thank you for your attention.