Your Excellences, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Heads of Delegation,
G20 Sherpas and Sous Sherpas,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me, once again, to reiterate the words of His Excellency, President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa in welcoming you to NASREC, Johannesburg, for the first G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting under South Africa’s presidency.
Excellences, Ministers and Heads of Delegation,
South Africa has recently emerged from national elections where the governing ANC could not reach the 50 plus one majority to form a government on its own, as a result a government of national unity was formed in our country.
It required compromises from all parties to work together in the people’s interest. This compromise was in the interest of our people and for the stability of our country.
Our democracy was founded on the basis of the inherent dignity and equality of all people. To this we end embarked on a path that uses transformative constitutionalism as a tool to redress the imbalance of the past in our country.
Consistent with our chosen theme, Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability our G20 Presidency comes at a time when the world is confronted by an array of interconnected global challenges.
There are only five years remaining before the deadline set for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda. The G20 has a significant role to play in fostering global cooperation, collaboration and partnership to achieve these Goals.
It goes without saying that the next five Presidencies of the G20 before 2030 would have to put accelerating progress on the attainment of SDGs at the top of the agenda.
The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Antonio Guterres succinctly captured the gravity of the crisis when he noted with concern during the launch the Special Edition of the SDG Progress Report on 25 April 2023 that,
“Halfway to the deadline for the 2030 Agenda, we are leaving more than half the world behind. The SDG Progress Report shows that just 12 percent of the Sustainable Development Goal targets are on track. Progress on 50 percent is weak and insufficient. Worst of all, we have stalled or gone into reverse on more than 30 percent of the SDGs. Unless we act now, the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been.”
The sombre picture of the global situation painted by the UN Secretary-General suggests that if the ambitious 2030 deadline is to be met, a paradigm shift is required by the international community in the form of changing the mindset, as well as putting on the table practical solutions.
Excellences, Ministers and Heads of Delegation,
We currently find ourselves at a pivotal moment in terms of global trade. geo-economic pressures—whether in supply chain disruptions, trade restrictions and unilateral sanctions or economic coercion—are reshaping the international marketplace. The question is whether we allow these tensions to drive a “lose-lose” spiral, or work toward mutual resilience, strategic partnerships, and adaptive trade policies that build global well-being and safeguard prosperity.
At the centre of the crisis are widening geo-political divisions which have contributed to fostering a climate of distrust, thus threatening to unravel progress we have worked hard to address pressing global challenges like deepening poverty, resolving armed conflict, climate change, pandemics, and nuclear proliferation, amongst others.
Signs of these divisions can be seen in the proliferation of trade wars between major economies, ideological differences, deepening political intolerance, reversal of progress on gender equality and persistent conflicts in no less than three continents.
Indeed, the G20 is primarily preoccupied with matters related to international economic cooperation.
However, few would argue that these geo-political schisms do not negatively impact the global economy’s performance.
It is instructive that we, as the G20, support the restoration of global stability and common purpose. To do so, we must recommit to the principles of solidarity, equality, and sustainability by emphasising the need for dialogue, multilateralism, and finding common ground to address global challenges. By so doing, we would be staying true to our commitment of Leaving No One Behind.
Changing the mindset requires the community of nations to do justice to the notion of international community by identifying with each other through exercising solidarity and harmony. This dictum is rooted in the African philosophy of Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is an ancient African word rooted in humanist African philosophy and can be roughly translated as “humanity to others”, or “I am because we are”. It comes from the Zulu proverb “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”, meaning “a person is a person through other people”.
It thus follows that nation states wanting to prosper as islands in an ocean of poverty could be deemed to be acting contrary to the spirit of Ubuntu and the central, transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
South Africa has adopted the theme, Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability.
With this theme, South Africa’s G20 Presidency seeks to harness our collective energy to confront these challenges. This Presidency will endeavour to take steps to resolve global challenges while strengthening international relations and cooperation based on the respect of international law and international humanitarian law, to protect the rights of people in all states.
Your Excellencies,
Financing for development is very important. We look forward to the 4th international conference on financing for development, which should complement our efforts in the G20.
Despite contributing the least to climate change, Africa bears the brunt of its devastating effects, which cost the continent up to 5% of its GDP.
This stark reality, highlighted by Mr. Claver Gatete, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA, underscores a glaring injustice: of the staggering US$10 trillion invested globally in clean energy from 2015 to 2022, Africa received a mere 2%.
This disparity is not just an oversight; it’s a profound inequality that demands urgent redress.
Amidst these challenges, the world is experiencing an unprecedented technological revolution in the form of Artificial intelligence (AI) which is likely to be one of the most transformative technologies of the century. This means that AI is rapidly becoming an important factor in international politics.
As we meet as the G20 Ministers of Foreign Affairs, it is instructive that this meeting provide guidance on how the world should navigate these exigent issues of the present, in particular the vexing geo-political issues.
Excellences, Ministers and Heads of Delegation,
As we convene here today, the world continues to find itself engulfed in multiple crises which pose a danger to global peace, justice, the elimination of inequality and the existence of the planet we share.
At the centre of the crisis are widening geo-political divisions which have contributed to fostering a climate of distrust, thus threatening to unravel progress we have worked hard to address pressing global challenges like deepening poverty, resolving armed conflict, climate change, pandemics, and nuclear proliferation, amongst others.
Signs of these divisions can be seen in proliferation of trade wars between major economies, ideological differences, deepening political intolerance, reversal of progress on gender equality and proliferation of active wars in no less than three continents.
Indeed, the G20 is primarily preoccupied with matters related to international economic cooperation. However, few would argue that these geo-political schisms don’t have a negative impact on the performance of the global economy.
As the G20, it is instructive that we support the restoration of global stability and common purpose. To do so, we must recommit to the principles of solidarity, equality and sustainability through emphasising the need for dialogue, multilateralism, and finding common ground to address global challenges. By so doing we would be staying true to our commitment of Leaving No One Behind.
The UN remains the primary global organisation that works to maintain international peace and security, protect human rights, and promote sustainable development. It is also an important forum for countries to address issues that affect the entire world.
It is therefore important that in our discussion, we reflect in a frank manner, how this great organisation should be reformed to make it truly representative, democratic and fit for purpose to address contemporary global challenges.
This process should include the reform of the UN Security Council, the revitalisation on the UN General Assembly, establishing equitable geographical representation and distribution in the composition of the UN Secretariat as per Article 101 (3) of the UN Charter as well as the reform of the International Financial Architecture, including the multilateral trading system and MDBs.
The UN Charter’s Chapter VI (Six) implores the international community to seek to settle disputes through pacific means. For example Article 33 (1) of the UN Charter’s Article Six states that, “The parties to any dispute, the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, shall, first of all, seek a solution by negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice”.
Your Excellences, conflicts can never be solved through military means. We should thus continue advocating for the peaceful resolution of disputes and conflict through negotiation and dialogue.
We are concerned by the worsening conflict situation in parts of Africa, in particular in the Sudan and eastern DRC. South Africa recently lost 14 brave soldiers who were part of the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and the SADC Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMIDRC) brigade, dedicated to their mission and committed to peace. We call on the support of the G20 in our quest to silence the guns in Africa for the attainment of inclusive development and prosperity.
We also note with satisfaction the current efforts being made on various fronts to end the devasting conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. It goes without saying that we should all play our part in ensuring the success of these ongoing initiatives.
We should also recommit to advancing the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.
The G20 must renew its efforts to tackle the critical issue of debt sustainability. weaknesses in the international debt architecture need to be addressed, including high financing costs and the primacy of debt service payments over essential development needs with the aim to reduce the negative human impacts of debt distress.
Building on G20 initiatives undertaken in recent years, we should advance sustainable solutions to tackle high structural deficits and liquidity challenges and extend debt relief to developing economies.
Excellences, Ministers and Heads of Delegation,
South Africa therefore calls on all of you to support our proposed working method to dealing with the geo-political issues – namely that these issues should only be discussed at the level of Sherpas, Foreign Ministers and Leaders, with a view to proposing consensus-based strategies to build the peace we need for human development to thrive.
As such, geo-political issues will not be discussed in the Working Groups, thus allowing these meetings to focus solely on technical discussions.
We also like to caution against focusing exclusively on one conflict situation, to the exclusion of others, especially on the African continent, as has been the practice in the recent past.
As we have stated, South Africa holds the view that the UN remains the appropriate forum for maintaining peace and security, supported by other institutions of global governance.
It is our hope that this Group continues to play a constructive role in supporting relevant regional and international bodies, such as the AU, which are central to achieving sustainable development and that the core mandate of the G20 should remain that of promoting economic growth and development.
Excellences, Ministers and Heads of Delegation,
In conclusion, South Africa is committed to working with all members of the G20 to advance the work of this very important forum and remains committed to its responsibility to play a bridge building role and preserving the unity of the Group during its G20 Presidency. It is our firm view that the unity of the Group will be key to reaching consensus on this Presidency’s priorities and deliverables.
I thank you.
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