UN reforms now overdue: President

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has said reforming the United Nations system is now overdue to ensure it becomes wholly representative.

He said this in his address to the 74th Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly here.

President Mnangagwa said there was need to reform the UN system, consistent with the Ezulwini Consensus that was agreed upon by the AU in 2005.

The Ezulwini Consensus’ major thrust was to ensure equal representation in all structures of the world body.

“The reform of the United Nations system making it more representative, empowered and responsive to fulfil its mandate is long overdue.

“Zimbabwe remains firm on the African position as enunciated by the Ezulwini Consensus,” said President Mnangagwa.

Earlier on, African Union (AU) chairperson and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had made the same call, saying the United Nations Security Council ought to be reformed to make it more representative as decision making is a preserve of a few powerful nations in the UN Security Council.

“Speaking of the Security Council, we must seriously address the imbalances in the composition and the shortcomings in the decision making process of the Council.

“We must guarantee a balance in representation in the Security Council. We must work to rectify the historical injustices our continent has been subjected to.

“I reiterate our commitment to the Common Africa position based on the Ezulwini Consensus,” said President El-Sisi.

Turning to reforms in Harare, President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was implementing comprehensive and far reaching reforms for the benefit, protection and economic prosperity of citizens people.

“The impact of change and reforms on the generality of our people takes time, but we are in the right direction. We shall continue to put in place social safety nets to cushion the lower strata and most vulnerable members of our society and appeal for further multilateral support in this regard,” he said.

“Zimbabwe is also reforming laws and regulations governing trade, investment, the ease and cost of doing business.

“Restrictions on shareholding across all sectors of the economy have been removed and some public entities are being privatised.

“Notable progress has also been achieved in the area of political and legislative reforms. To date, the alignment of most of our laws to the Constitution is almost complete,” he said.

He commended the support Zimbabwe continues to get from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other stakeholders.