Monrovia – President George Manneh Weah has urged the United Nations to review, refocus and readjust its priorities as the world changes considerably.
“There is, therefore, an urgent need to review, re-focus and re-adjust the priorities of the United Nations so that it can become more relevant and more effective in meeting the challenges that are today presented by new global alliances and realities. In this regard, more attention has to be paid to inclusiveness of the most vulnerable in our societies, whose special needs require a new and different mindset,” President Weah said while addressing the 75th Session of the United Nations on an online platform, Wednesday, September 23.
President Weah said the world has changed considerably since the UN came into existence after World War II, and the configuration of powers which obtained, when its Charter was first written and upon which its decision-making structures were based, has witnessed many significant transformations over these past seventy-five years.
However, he said the UN remains the most important forum for peace, conflict resolution, the prevention of war, and the settlement of disputes between nations of the world, as well as the premier international organization for serving the needs of all mankind through its various humanitarian agencies, which must be done with changing dynamics.
As part of this process of re-evaluation, he emphasized the need that the UN redouble its efforts in meeting up with objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals which the United Nations adopted in 2015 as a set of seventeen (17) Global Goals to be met by 2030.
These Sustainable Development Goals, as they are commonly called, are intended to serve as a roadmap for our collective efforts to bring peace and prosperity to all mankind.
Already, into five years of the 15 years agenda and with just 10 years left, Weah is concerned that if more is not done, the world might not attain any of the goals.
“We are already five years into the 15-year Agenda, and with only 10 years left, it is already clear that we will have to re-double our efforts and accelerate our actions in many areas if we are to attain any or all of these lofty goals by the end of this decade,” President Weah stressed.
“There is therefore an urgent need to review, re-focus and re-adjust the priorities of the United Nations so that it can become more relevant and more effective in meeting the challenges that are today presented by new global alliances and realities. In this regard, more attention has to be paid to inclusiveness of the most vulnerable in our societies, whose special needs require a new and different mindset.”
– President George M. Weah
Addressing the theme “The Future we Want, the UN We Need: Reaffirming our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism – Confronting Covid-19 through Effective Multilateral Action”, President Weah sees the topic more important because the world is now ravished of a global pandemic that has infected nearly Thirty Million of the citizens of most of its member states, and killed almost One Million persons globally in just over six (6) months.
However, he lauded efforts by the world to stand together in to eradicate the scourge.
According to the Liberian Leader, COVID-19 has taught him, that as countries, whether rich or poor, developed or undeveloped, everyone is united by a common humanity and the need to rise above normal divisions to work for a better, fairer and more united world is essential.
“Your Excellencies, Africa has been hit hard by the pandemic, although the continent has not seen the number of deaths and affected persons as has been the case in many advanced countries. We can only attribute this to the MERCY OF OUR ALMIGHTY GOD, who has made sure that predictions of massive numbers of deaths on the continent of Africa did not materialize,” he told the assembly.
“In Liberia, we were able to build on our previous experience six (6) years ago with the Ebola Viral Epidemic, and I am proud to say that the Government and its development partners have mounted a robust National Covid Response that seems to have contained COVID-19 for the time being.”
As a result, he said only about One Thousand Three Hundred and Twenty-one (1,320) Liberians have been affected by COVID-19 to date, of which approximately One Thousand Two Hundred and Thirteen (1,213) of these have fully recovered, with some 82 Liberians falling to the epidemic.
President Weah therefore lauded Liberia’s bilateral and multilateral partners for the strong support Liberia received to deal with the COVID-19 emergency and help sustain the Liberian economy.
He said government has now developed a Post-COVID Economic Recovery Plan that prioritizes short term actions and investments in key sectors such as agriculture and tourism, as a means of reducing the impact of COVID-19 but also providing the basis for economic recovery.
At the same time, the Liberian Leader added that his government has taken several measures since the 74th General Assembly, in dealing with persistent socio-economic problems that continue to beset our country.
He said: “For example, our closure of schools in order to contain the COVID pandemic have seen an unprecedented recent increase in rape and Sexual and Gender-based Violence perpetrated upon young women and girls who have had to stay at home.”
“In response to this epidemic within the pandemic, we recently convened a National Conference which involved all Sexual and Gender-based Violence stakeholders.
This resulted in the validation of a comprehensive roadmap intended to mitigate the incidence of this menace in our society. Based on the recommendations that emanated from the roadmap, my Government has declared rape as a National Emergency, appointed a Special Prosecutor for rape, set up a Sex Offenders Registry, and established a National Security Task Force on Sexual and Gender Based Violence.”
On the issue of ending Female Genital Mutilation, Weah informed the world that for the first time, traditional leaders in Liberia have agreed to take ownership of ending harmful traditional practice.
This, he furthered maintained, has resulted into a first-of-its-kind suspension of the activities of all traditional bush schools in Liberia, where this harmful practice is carried out.
In addition, he explained that his leadership recently passed into law the Domestic Violence Act; a legal instrument that seeks to abolish all forms of violence meted out against women, children and men.
“Also, to call attention to the persistence and prevalence of corruption in our society, a National Anti-Corruption Conference was recently held, which was attended by all stakeholders, in an attempt to find practical and lasting solutions to this age-old problem,’ he said.
President Weah believes the maintenance of world peace and security is paramount for global growth and development, as such, every nation without peace is fragile, and has an uncertain future.
Therefore, as the UN chart a new course for shared prosperity, Weah wants the body to reaffirm its collective commitment to multilateralism.
“As we confront these new challenges, multilateralism, international cooperation, and global solidarity will become increasingly important in addressing the complex problems that we now have to solve,” he averred.
Meanwhile, President Weah want member of the word body to work together as a global community to confront disease and epidemics, fight poverty and prevent wars.
He committed Liberia, as a Founding Member of the United Nations, to availing itself as a strong partner in meeting these global challenges.
Meanwhile, President Weah has congratulate His Excellency Mr. Volkan Bozkır, on his election as President of the Seventy-fifth (75th) Session of the United Nations General Assembly and assure him of Liberia’s fullest support in the discharge of his duty.
He added: “I also say a special thank you” to all the public health institutions and organizations throughout the world that are working tirelessly to bring an end to this dangerous virus that has taken the lives of so many millions in such a short time.”