President Mnangagwa addressed the 78th Ordinary session of the United Nations General Assembly debate and touched on a number of domestic and global issues on Thursday. Review & Mail picks some of the most crucial issues he highlighted.
- Domestic politics
“Zimbabwe continues to entrench democracy, constitutionalism, good governance and the rule of law, following the recently held 2023 harmonized general elections.”
- Domestic Economy
“We are recording unprecedented development and economic success milestones. For the last three years, our country has been the fastest growing economy in our Southern African region.”
- Multilateralism
“We have a duty to reignite our commitment to the principles of the 2030 Agenda and rekindle the spirit of multilateralism.”
- Global health
“The high-level meetings on universal health coverage, tuberculosis and pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response are welcome opportunities to reflect on the importance of maintaining essential services during pandemics and health emergencies.” He said affordable and quality health delivery is a key deliverable for his administration.
- Climate change and sustainability
Building resilience and tackling the adverse impact of climate change should be an urgent priority for all, he said. Stressing the need for concrete climate action, as opposed to mere promises, he called for the transition to a low-carbon and resilient global economy by increasing investments in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and green infrastructure. He said: “In the case of Zimbabwe and the Southern African region, floods and droughts have affected the livelihoods of many, while hindering progress on national development.”
- Global financial architecture
He called for reform of global financial institutions and unlock funding for developing countries.
“The current exclusionary architecture, dominated by a few States, is failing to deliver the requisite resources for countries to finance their developmental priorities and other pressing health and environmental challenges,” he said.
- Truth to power
“We strongly condemn tendencies by some powerful countries who preach peace, human rights and democracy and yet clandestinely fund conflicts and the unconstitutional changes of Governments, for their own narrow interests,” President Mnangagwa said.
- Sanctions
He said, condemning sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and countries like Cuba, as such actions hamper trust, global solidarity and multilateralism. Said he: “It is important that we channel our collective efforts towards building peace and driving forward our development agenda, for shared prosperity.”