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The Herald
Enjoy the senior national reporter
The 75th session of the UN General Assembly began yesterday with the President of the African Union (AU) and the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, reiterating the call for the removal of illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The meeting is held virtually in light of the global Covid-19 pandemic under the theme; “The future we want; the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism, confronting Covid-19 through effective multilateral action “
President Ramaphosa made the call to the General Assembly in his capacity as President of the AU.
His call comes ahead of President Mnangagwa’s speech to the General Assembly tomorrow, where he is also expected to deliver the same message of removing sanctions.
President Ramaphosa called on the international community to support the launch of a comprehensive stimulus package for African countries.
“This will allow African countries to not only mitigate the health impacts of Covid-19, but also help us in the immense task of rebuilding our shattered economies.
“To ensure that no country is left behind, we reiterate our position as the African Union that economic sanctions against Zimbabwe and Sudan must be lifted to allow their governments to adequately respond to the pandemic,” he said.
Sanctions against Zimbabwe have been in place for the past two decades after the historic land reform process that began at the turn of the millennium.
The US sanctions were imposed through the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) of 2001, while the EU introduced its own measures in 2002, although most embargoes have been lifted since 2004.
President Ramaphosa also told the General Assembly that Africa responded quickly to the pandemic, but said that resources diverted to fight the pandemic had set back the continent’s ability to provide clean water, health, shelter and education.
Yesterday, several leaders addressed the General Assembly. These include the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, the American Donald Trump, the Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Chinese Xi Jinping, the Chilean Sebastián Piñera, among others.
Meanwhile, in his speech, President Xi said that defeating the Covid-19 pandemic required global cooperation and said that “any attempt to politicize the issue and stigmatization must be rejected.”
He said China will take advantage of the world, especially African and developing countries, the vaccines and other drugs that it is currently developing to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
It pledged US $ 50 million for the UN Covid-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, another US $ 50 million for the China-FAO South-South Cooperation Trust Fund (Phase III) and extended the Trust Fund for Peace and Development between the UN and China for five years after it expires in 2025.
President Xi said China will also establish a UN Global Geospatial Knowledge and Innovation Center and an International Big Data Research Center for the Sustainable Development Goals to facilitate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The general debate of the 75th session began yesterday and will end on Saturday with the Heads of State and Government addressing the UN General Assembly.
