Kenyan President describes the critical situation in the world as a result of existing conflicts
Speech by William Samoei Ruto, President of Kenya, at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. teleSUR
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 and to invite him to address the Assembly.
00:04 Thank you very much. The world over today, hundreds of millions of people are besieged
00:13 by anxiety about their present and future security, dignity and prospects of well-being.
00:23 Many are victims and witnesses of present assaults and many more are afraid
00:30 of future violations of their most fundamental expectations.
00:37 In his opening address, our Secretary General provided a graphic snapshot of the condition
00:46 of the world and humanity, a situation that calls into question the state of multilateralism
00:55 in terms of its founding aspirations as well as its present agenda. The poverty, fear,
01:05 suffering and humanitarian distress haunting the victims of conflict, drought, famine, flooding,
01:14 wildfires, cyclones, deadly disease outbreaks and other disasters are the outcomes of sustained
01:24 violation of the most essential principles and the systemic neglect of humanity's dearest values,
01:33 which lie at the very foundation of the UN Charter.
01:40 The failure of peace and security systems, inadequate development and limited climate action,
01:46 amidst technological advancement and enormous wealth, has left us in a state of paralysis,
01:55 enduring one of the darkest periods of human existence. We may all agree,
02:02 without any fear of contradiction, that the world is headed in a most undesirable direction.
02:10 It is moments like this that the affirmative spirit of multilateralism, international collective
02:18 action and global solidarity is most needed and should be attained. This is not the occasion for
02:27 any member of the United Nations to escape when they should be rising to the challenge of the
02:33 moment. Resorting to pursuit of narrow insular antisocial agendas within exclusive clubs
02:43 constituted to maintain the status quo that undermines and cannibalizes the United Nations
02:50 systems at the expense of progress in humanity's collective journey to the future over aspirations
02:58 is totally unacceptable. The existence of this inimical clique of geopolitical formations defies
03:08 the fundamental values and principles of the UN system and its operations have led to alienation,
03:15 mistrust, insecurity and exclusion of and among peoples, nations, regions and continents.
03:26 Moments like now place the nature and purpose of multilateralism under sharp scrutiny
03:33 for history's honest examination and judgment. If any confirmation was ever needed
03:41 that the United Nations Security Council is dysfunctional and democratic, non-inclusive,
03:49 unrepresentative and therefore incapable of delivering meaningful progress in our world
03:56 as presently constituted, the rampant impunity of its actors on global scene settles that matter.
04:05 The environment of perversive mistrust between the global north versus the global south,
04:13 developed versus developing, rich versus poor, polluters versus victims and net emitters versus
04:21 net victims which complicate and frustrates multilateralism is the inevitable result of
04:29 promises not kept, commitments not actualized, resolutions not honored and principles not
04:36 observed. Multilateralism has been failed by abuse of trust, negligence and impunity.
04:45 A year ago I stood in this assembly hall to call upon the global community to transform the UN
04:53 system in order to achieve a consensus-driven, rules-based multilateral system which works for
05:02 the people of the world in their diversity. It is time for multilateralism to reflect the voice
05:09 of the farmers, represent the hopes of villagers, champion the aspirations of pastoralists,
05:16 defend the rights of fisher folk, express the dreams of traders, respect the wishes of workers
05:24 and indeed protect the welfare of all peoples of the world. In the face of the most urgent
05:33 crisis of our time, it is now clear that the international community has fallen seriously
05:40 behind in meeting its targets in both climate action and the implementation of the sustainable
05:46 development goals as well as their underlying enabler, peace and security.
05:54 We as Africa have come to the world not to ask for arms, charity or handouts but to work with
06:03 the rest of the global community to give every human being in this world a decent chance of
06:10 security and prosperity by taking necessary actions, mobilizing adequate resources for investment,
06:17 confronting security challenges and resolving conflict as we all make our contribution to global
06:25 prosperity. Kenya is proud of the contribution it continues to make in its tireless endeavour
06:35 to support peacemaking, conflict prevention, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and other interventions
06:44 undertaken across different regions. All across Africa there is progress in efforts to resolve
06:53 conflict and restore peace and stability while at the same time we are witnessing setbacks to
06:59 democratic consolidation in the form of unconstitutional changes to governments.
07:07 Kenya remains committed, determined and indefatigable in its contribution to unity,
07:14 peace, security, stability and prosperity. Often we have made encouraging progress.
07:23 For example, on 5th December 2022, the Juba peace agreement ushering in a two-year transition was
07:32 signed by the parties to the conflict in Sudan. A day after, the inter-Congolese dialogue on
07:39 EAC-led process concluded its third session in Nairobi. The following day, the government of
07:48 Somalia and Somaliland agreed to resume reconciliation. We are also proud of the
07:54 progress made in stabilising eastern DRC as a result of the EAC regional force setting the DRC
08:02 on the path to sustainable peace and stability. In Ethiopia, the guns have gone silent following
08:10 the Pretoria and Nairobi agreements, while in South Sudan the parties have committed to explore
08:16 ways to resume and conclude the stalled peace process and to hold elections.
08:22 Our proactive commitment to peace, which is not limited to our continent, inspired us
08:29 to dispatch the African Peace Delegation consisting of six African heads of state
08:34 to Moscow and Kiev with a 10-point peace plan, beginning with efforts to initiate
08:41 a mediation process to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
08:46 Although the delegation encountered significant challenges in their mission, we remain very proud
08:52 that they showed up. The hunger for peace and security in Africa is evident, and this bodes
08:59 well for the prospects of attaining the Africa Union's Agenda 2063 and global peace.
09:06 Kenya stands in solidarity with all humanity, without regard to region, border or hemisphere.
09:15 This is why and how we see the people of the Republic of Haiti, who are suffering
09:22 immensely from the bitter legacy of slavery, colonialism, sabotage and neglect.
09:28 As a nation which was forced to wage a painful struggle for our own independence and sovereignty,
09:37 Kenya empathises very deeply with the humiliation of our proud people in Haiti.
09:44 And the price they have had to pay for their hunger for liberty and the sorrow they have
09:52 endured for their thirst for freedom. Haiti is the ultimate test of international solidarity
10:00 and collective action. The international community has failed this test so far, and thus
10:07 let down our people very, very badly. Haiti deserves better from the world. The cry of our
10:18 brothers and sisters who were the first people to win their struggle for freedom from colonial tyranny
10:25 has reached our ears and touched our hearts. Doing nothing in the face of the historic isolation,
10:34 neglect and betrayal of the people of Haiti is out of question. Inaction is no longer an option.
10:41 As we mobilise to show up for Ukraine and countries that have experienced the devastating
10:48 impact of climate shocks, including Libya, Morocco and Hawaii, we must not leave Haiti behind.
10:56 We must commit to show up in the spirit of solidarity to support a people regain
11:03 their political and socio-economic footing by reinforcing the underlying enabler that is
11:10 security. Kenya is ready to play its part in full and join with a coalition of other nations of
11:18 goodwill, and there are many, as a great friend and true sibling of Haiti. We urge the United
11:27 Nations to urgently deliver an appropriate framework to facilitate the deployment of
11:33 multinational security support as part of a holistic response to Haiti's challenges.
11:39 We call on the Security Council to contribute positively by approving a resolution under
11:47 Chapter 7 that tailors the security support mission to the specific needs of Haiti and its people.
11:54 We should be part – this should be part of a comprehensive strategy that includes delivering
12:00 humanitarian aid, supporting livelihoods, instituting reforms and fostering a political
12:06 process guided and owned by Haitians, all in the aim of enabling free and fair elections within
12:14 a reasonable timeframe. We are encouraged by many countries which have already stepped forward
12:23 to take part in this solidarity. We must recognize that stability, peace, and security form the
12:32 foundation on which the pursuit and realization of sustainable development and climate action stands.
12:39 This realization must enable us formulate strategies which treat these initiatives as
12:47 interconnected, mutually reinforcing, and complementary dimensions of a single agenda.
12:54 The tragic spectacle of young people from Africa boarding rickety contraptions to gamble their
13:02 lives away on dangerous voyages in pursuit of opportunities abroad, either as conflict,
13:10 climate, or economic refugees, is a statement of the failure of the global economic system.
13:18 At the recently concluded Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, we undertook to begin the journey
13:27 to course-correct and execute a paradigm shift in our pursuit for development and climate action.
13:35 First, we recognize that both climate action and sustainable development goals must be pursued
13:41 simultaneously with greater resolve, urgency, and ambition. No meaningful development can
13:48 take place in countries that are also struggling with climate shocks, and yet,
13:54 at the same time, the frequency of climate emergencies impedes any meaningful development.
14:02 As a defining outcome of the Africa Climate Summit, we committed Africa to consider the
14:07 dual problems through an opportunity lens and deliver effective solutions by pursuing
14:15 a fresh trajectory. Development is a basic necessity for every society.
14:22 It must happen one way or another. There should be no doubt about that.
14:30 Annually, 30 million young people in our continent need jobs, and many more need food.
14:37 Half of our continent is in the dark, without access to electricity in 2023,
14:44 while hundreds of millions can only cook using biomass because they have no electricity.
14:51 This is why the commitment of African nations in the Nairobi Declaration is both radical
15:00 and transformative. Development, in our opinion, is a fundamental imperative,
15:07 and green growth is the only sustainable way to achieve it. From our standpoint,
15:15 there is no need to be trapped in a false choice. Sustainable development is robust climate action,
15:22 and climate action is development. Africa's potential is defined by abundant and diverse
15:31 resources, ranging from a youthful, highly skilled, and motivated young population,
15:38 immense renewable energy potential, and mineral resources, including critical minerals,
15:46 and extensive natural capital endowment, including 60 percent of the world's unutilized arable land.
15:53 Capital and technology can find no better returns anywhere than the tremendous investment opportunity
16:03 in Africa's potential. Such investment would drive green growth, creating jobs and wealth,
16:11 while decarbonizing global production and consumption. Further, the investments would
16:19 also connect over 600 people to clean electricity, provide clean cooking to about a billion people,
16:28 finance green manufacturing, including e-mobility, transform African agriculture and food systems,
16:36 including the manufacture of green fertilizer, process vast tonnage of steel, aluminum,
16:44 and lithium required by new green industries, and enable our young people to find the livelihoods
16:52 they desire at home, and reverse the tide of migration in the opposite direction.
17:01 To unlock financing at scale and create incentives for investment at scale in green opportunities,
17:08 the Nairobi Declaration makes the reform of the international financial system a priority.
17:15 No meaningful climate action or development can take place in conditions of financial distress.
17:24 According to IMF data, as of last month, 10 low-income countries were already in debt distress,
17:33 and 52 are at high or moderate risk of falling into debt distress. The 3.3 billion people
17:44 in these countries are trapped in a vicious circle of emergency responses, reconstruction,
17:52 and recovery from more frequent climate shocks, which diverts resources away from both development
17:58 and climate action, and sucking vulnerable countries into a downward spiral of debt and
18:05 environmental stress. The global community must therefore develop a debt restructuring initiative
18:14 that does not wait for nations to plunge over the cliff into debt distress before providing relief.
18:23 Rather, the new sovereign debt architecture should extend the tenure of sovereign debt and provide
18:33 a 10-year grace period for countries that are in debt distress.
18:41 The second financing intervention relates to concessional financing.
18:45 It is time to work with the international financial institutions to provide more concessional loans
18:54 approximately to the tune, in our estimation, of about $500 billion and to provide increased
19:03 liquidity support through special drawing rights with a minimum target of what was obtained during
19:11 the COVID pandemic of $650 billion. Access should be based on specific needs, not entitlement,
19:22 and this necessitates changes to the allocation mechanism, different from what we saw during SDRs
19:33 for COVID. The third critical reform is that of the financial market reorganization.
19:41 The entire system of risk assessment and the opaque methodologies employed by credit rating
19:52 agencies and risk analysis needs to be overhauled at the minimum. We must all recall the miscalculation
20:03 of subprime mortgage risks by these agencies two decades ago, which precipitated a financial crisis
20:11 whose effects refabricate to date. On what basis should we believe that their methodologies are
20:23 better at assessing risk in faraway frontier markets like ours, that are far much more
20:30 complicated to measure objectively than in assessing the value of financial assets in the
20:38 markets where they actually operate, and which they got so disastrously wrong? If they got it
20:48 wrong then, I bet you they have it wrong now. In any case, any objective rating must also take
20:59 into account principles of responsible sovereign lending and accounting, specifically emphasizing
21:07 the need for international accounting systems that support the proper valuation of mineral wealth,
21:15 natural capital, and ecosystem services in the computation of national GDPs. Until that is done,
21:27 very wealthy countries will be categorized as poor. The fourth limb of the interventions arising
21:37 out of the Nairobi Declaration is the establishment of a global public climate financing mechanism
21:45 funded through a global carbon tax on trade in fossil fuels, as well as an emissions levy
21:53 on aviation and maritime transport, including the option of a global financial transaction tax
22:00 in order to make available dedicated, affordable, and accessible capital for green investments
22:09 at scale. The roadmap to this new and urgently needed institutional infrastructure involves
22:18 sustained engagement at various multilateral processes, and the instruments to actualize it
22:26 by 2025 shall be a new global climate finance charter to be negotiated through the United
22:34 Nations General Assembly, COP 28, and associated processes. We understand the facts about our
22:44 collective situation as a global community and as a member of the United Nations family.
22:50 We know the magnitude of our shared challenges and common threats. We appreciate that multilateralism
23:01 is on trial, and our task is to defend it. We also recognize that multilateralism is broken,
23:09 and it is our responsibility to fix it. From this moment to 2030, and from our problems
23:17 to their solutions, we are connected by a coherent agenda of robust collective action.
23:25 We must therefore master the courage and will to stand together in solidarity and act,
23:35 to right past wrongs, solve present problems, and secure our collective future,
23:42 to protect and empower all people, and support our friends in need, to restore broken trust,
23:53 raise hopes high, and keep faith strong, and finally, to pursue, achieve, and sustain
24:04 positive change in order to make billions of cherished dreams come true. We must start
24:13 right away, for we have no time to lose. And I thank you.