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Legalbrief   |   your legal news hub Saturday 21 December 2024

AU’s Agenda 2060 addressed in New York

With the AU and SA forming part of the G20, there's hope of more voices speaking for the continent. This was the substance of AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat's address at the Summit of the Future in New York. Legalbrief reports that African leaders also used last week’s 79th session of the UN General Assembly to promote the continent. Mahamat noted that the summit addressed global governance, sustainable development, climate change mitigation, digital co-operation, human rights and gender parity. News24 reports that the resolutions directly spoke to the AU's Agenda 2060, said Mahamat – but funding has been a problem. ‘For each of these areas, the AU has developed strategies that have subsequently been translated into action plans, although their implementation is seriously hampered by the scarcity of funding and governance deficiencies, which there is no point in hiding,’ he said. Mahamat said he hoped that ‘this time, the wealthy will keep their commitments and that Africa and other parts of the world will draw from within themselves the resources of intelligence, motivation, will and solidarity necessary for its salvific emergence’. He challenged the AU and SA, which hold the two Africa-focused G20 seats, to promote resolutions arrived at the Summit of the Future that are favourable to the continent.

Speaking at the same platform, Kenya's President William Ruto called for the reform of the UN Security Council as part of re-organising multilateralism. News24 notes that he argued that, under the current set-up, Africa was getting a raw deal in addressing issues, such as climate change, inequality and debt. ‘Today, we have no choice, but to reject outdated systems and re-imagine a framework of international co-operation that works for all 8bn people,’ he said. Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio spoke on behalf of the G7+ countries faced with active conflict, or have recent experience of conflict and fragility – from Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and the Caribbeans.

President Cyril Ramaphosa used the platform to promote South Africa’s new era ‘of great promise’, to defend its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and to call for solidarity and international co-operation. He struck a deliberately inclusive and unifying chord, making the case for solidarity and international co-operation in an increasingly polarised world. ‘Through dialogue, through respect for the rule of law, through the advancement of human rights, through co-operation and solidarity, we can and we will be able to achieve a better world for all the peoples of the world,’ he said. The Daily Maverick reports that Ramaphosa’s message of unity in diversity and solidarity was one which played a central role in the formation of SA’s new political reality. Ramaphosa called on the global community to,  ‘through the UN and the instruments it wields… end the suffering that Palestinians are subjected to’, reiterating the need to uphold the principles of the UN Charter ‘consistently and in their entirety’, and the tenets of international law. ‘International law cannot be applied selectively; no one state is more equal than any other,’ he declared. ‘The violence that Palestinian people are being subjected to is a grim continuation of more than half a century of apartheid that has been perpetrated against Palestinians by Israel. We South Africans know what apartheid looks like. We lived through apartheid. We suffered and died under apartheid. We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others,’ Ramaphosa said.

News24 reports that Ramaphosa acknowledged the organisation's commitment to realise ‘a world free of barbarous acts that outrage the conscience of mankind’. ‘Genocide was declared to be a stain on the conscience of the world. And the world community took a stand against it. These were crimes against humanity then, and they are crimes against humanity now.’ In order to achieve peace, he said, there was a need for the UN Security Council to be representative and inclusive. ‘Seventy-eight years since its formation, the structure of the UN Security Council (UNSC) remains largely unchanged,’ Ramaphosa said. He added that 1.4bn Africans were excluded from the UNSC's decision-making and that the council had failed in its mandate to maintain international peace and security. He called for the council to be reformed and for a greater collaboration with the AU. 

International Relations & Co-operation Minister Ronald Lamola said SA’s priorities during its G20 presidency would include reform of the global financial architecture and global trading system, combating climate change, and issues of predatory mining by some countries and corporations, especially in the quest for Africa’s raw materials and critical minerals. ‘Many countries in the Global South are forced to forgo their developmental programmes to service exorbitant debts. Poverty, inequality and underdevelopment are common triggers for conflict and instability. The world should finance more development than wars,’ Lamola said. SA will take over the G20 chair from Brazil. Business Day previously reported that the government would spend an estimated R700m on hosting the G20 summit, scheduled to take place in November next year.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the assembly, ahead of US President Joe Biden’s 13 to 15 October visit. The two ‘spoke about the importance of the Lobito Corridor to the development of the region and Angola's critical leadership in the peace process for the eastern DRC. News24 reports that the DRC, with its rich natural resources at the end of the Lobito Corridor, is critical to US interests in Africa. China is attempting to link the DRC to the Indian Ocean, while the US is also expanding its interests in that direction. ‘Tanzania is also joining conversations about the Lobito Corridor for the first time – something we very much welcome,’ said Blinken.

Meanwhile, Somalian Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre held talks with US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Both leaders highlighted the importance of sustainable development projects. They explored avenues for increasing US assistance in Somalia's infrastructure development, education and healthcare, aiming to foster economic growth and stability. A report on the allAfrica site notes that the talks also touched upon the potential US investment in Somalia, which could lead to job creation and economic revitalisation, vital for a nation recovering from prolonged conflict. Thomas-Greenfield praised Somalia's recent advancements in governance and its active participation in international forums, which she described as steps towards global partnership and responsibility. Barre, in turn, acknowledged Washington's longstanding support and looked forward to a future where this partnership could play a pivotal role in Somalia's journey toward stability and prosperity.