23 Sep 2024

On Sunday, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi joined other heads of state and government as well as thought leaders at the opening of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.
The session marks an important milestone in the global effort to accelerate progress towards attaining the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Summit of the Future emphasises the urgent need for enhanced international cooperation to address pressing challenges such as climate change, poverty, and inequality while also dealing with the impact of conflicts and universal health besieging the global community.

Botswana, a bonafide member of the UN, created in 1945 to maintain international peace and security, has, over the years, joined fellow members in waging war against hostilities afflicting the world.

The UN Sustainable Report (SDR), which laser-focused on progress made each year, ranks Botswana 114th out of the organisation’s total membership of 193.

This is an encouraging position and development path for a country that aspires to a high-income status by 2036.

Last year, Dr Masisi made a clarion call for a just global system, stating that the world needed a just multilateral system to reach the goals of the UN SDGs. President Masisi had numerous bilateral engagements on the fringes of this year’s session’s opening ceremony.

In his talks with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director General, Mr Daren Tang, Dr Masisi expressed interest in having Botswana forge synergies with the organisation to train and capacitate Batswana in intellectual property and trademarks.

He said the government was contemplating setting up a special fund with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), an intergovernmental organisation that facilitates cooperation among member states in intellectual property matters.

The move resonates well with Dr Masisi’s Reset and Reclaim Agenda, which aims to move Botswana from a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy that could help propel the country to a high-income status. Also on President Masisi’s itinerary was the European Union (EU) Commissioner for International Partnerships, Ms Jutta Urpilainen, with whom he discussed issues of mutual interest.

He also met with the United Nations secretary general, Mr Antonio Gutterres, to give him an update on the preparations for the Landlocked Developing Countries conference slated for December 10-13 in Gaborone.
In his opening remarks for the Summit of the Future, the UN Chief called on member states to consider reforms to make global institutions more legitimate, fair and effective based on the values of the organisation’s charters.

“Twenty first century challenges require the 21st century solutions frameworks that are networked and inclusive and draw on the expertise of all humanity,” he said, adding that as the world went off the rails, it was the responsibility of the UN to bring back order.

He was dismayed that resources that could help restore humanity’s hope were now channeled towards weaponry that could only spell doom.
The issue of climate change and the development of Artificial Intelligence without regulations, he said, continued to spiral without solutions at hand to deal with them. ENDS