24 Sep 2024

Poverty in all its forms and dimensions should be at the top of the United Nations’ agenda, says President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Delivering a speech at the Summit of the Future on Monday, ahead of the opening of the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Masisi said reforms in the international financial architecture were imperative.

“We need to pay attention to the most pressing of our needs, and as such, we should fully commit to reform the international financial architecture under the auspices of the United Nations, close digital gaps between developed and developing countries, address issues of youth and future generations by ensuring what we do will not deny anybody the benefits and opportunities and ensure generation equity,” he said to the packed UN General Assembly hall.

Dr Masisi also used the moment to reiterate his remarks during his address to the general assembly about having a female assume the reigns of the secretary general of the United Nations.

During last year’s 78th session of the General Assembly, President Masisi challenged the UN to consider having a female secretary general, something he underscored would be in line with the 193-member states organisation Sustainable Development Goal 5, which promotes gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.

“Would you not agree with me that the time is now to have a female secretary general?” he asked the general assembly last year.

The audience learned that President Masisi’s government had gone ahead of the United Nations and ensured that women were given key national appointments. He assured the assembly of Botswana’s unrivalled commitment to attaining the SDGs as set out in the 15-year framework adopted in 2015 by the UN to balance the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable development.

Also, Dr Masisi relayed that Botswana was in tandem with the theme of the 2024 Summit of the Future: Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow, which reaffirms the need to address global challenges collectively. ENDS