UGANDA assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council today with a focus on promoting peace, conflict resolution and peace building.
Uganda’s permanent representative to the UN, Ruhakana Rugunda, said the country takes up the leadership of the UN’s top body with determination to address the challenges that face humanity.
“We see Uganda’s presidency of the council as a continuation of the recognition of the positive contribution the country is making in the region, and as a consolidation of that recognition,” Rugunda said from the Uganda Mission in New York.
“We see it as a challenge to make a contribution to make the world a more peaceful place. And we are ready to play that role.”
Uganda takes over from Turkey. The theme during Uganda’s one-month chairmanship is ‘post-conflict peace building for durable peace and development’.
The Secretary-General of the UN published a report on peace building, which will be discussed by the security council.
“This is particularly relevant to Africa. When conflicts break out on the continent, they take too long to resolve,” Rugunda commented.
“We would also like to emphasise the importance of conflict prevention, because in most cases, conflicts are the result of failure to manage differences effectively.”
Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the Ugandan experience could help in the debate on how to resolve conflicts in Africa.
“We hope that this will be the legacy of our tenure in the UN Security Council long after our term has ended,” international affairs minister Henry Okello Oryem said.
Ugandan won a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council earlier this year and will serve a two-year term, in which it will represent the African region.
Rugunda said among issues to be addressed will be the situation in Somalia, DRC, the Great Lakes region, Chad, Cote Devoir and Sudan, where the UN has peacekeeping forces. Other issues, Rugunda said, will be on drug trafficking, especially in West Africa and the situation in the Middle East and Lebanon.
“We will be calling for more support and cooperation from the UN to regional organisations such as the Africa Union, so that they (regional organisations) are strengthened to respond and resolve conflicts in the regions,” he said.
He pointed out UNISOM, the UN mission in Somalia, which he said they would like to see given more support for it to carry out its mandate more effectively.
As president of the council, Uganda will preside over all security council meetings, and act as its spokesperson, as well as liaise with the UN Secretariat and the Secretary-General.
He said Uganda will chair a major debate on Post Conflict Peace Building in New York to be attended by ministers of foreign affairs, including Uganda’s Sam Kutesa, on July 22.
