UN celebrates 70th birthday as Africa readies for poll fest

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 26, 2015 at the United Nations in New York. The UN summit that opened on Friday in New York was a landmark one with the momentous agenda of deliberating on how to end extreme poverty by the year 2030. PHOTO | DON EMMERT | AFP  

In Summary

• The major summit, which ends on Sunday, was held as the UN celebrated its 70th anniversary and touted 2015 as “the time for global action for people and planet”.
• Sadly, most African countries have not met a number of the MDGs. The continent has been struggling to resolve serious crises, especially with regard to democracy and good governance.
• Among the UN objectives is a concerted drive to  reduce inequality “within and among countries”, while also promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

By CIUGU MWAGIRU
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The United Nations summit that opened on Friday in New York was a landmark one with the momentous agenda of deliberating on how to end extreme poverty by the year 2030.

The three-day summit was the pinnacle of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, which opened on Tuesday, September 15.

The major summit, which ends on Sunday, was held as the UN celebrated its 70th anniversary and touted 2015 as “the time for global action for people and planet”.

Accordingly, the summit’s main objective was to formally adopt 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which were adopted in 2000, and whose attainment deadline was this year.

Sadly, most African countries have not met a number of the MDGs. The continent has been struggling to resolve serious crises, especially with regard to democracy and good governance.

EXCLUDED STATES
A case in point is the perennially chaotic west African state of Burkina Faso, which has just emerged from the peril of a convoluted coup d’état.

Like that country, many African states have been unable to attain acceptable levels of peace and security for all and, as in the case of Sudan, their leaders have acquired pariah status.

Not surprisingly, discredited leaders such as Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir have found themselves excluded from major global events, while a few other African leaders have in the past been affected by sanctions.

At the same time,  some African leaders have, like Bashir, been sidelined after being tainted by decisions made by the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), whose controversial conduct is incidentally expected to come up for discussion at the UN meeting.

Gratefully, though, as Africa gains more clout in the international political arena such  exclusion is becoming rare, and it  instructive that Bashir’s ICC issues notwithstanding, his country was to be represented at the General Assembly by his Foreign Affairs minister Prof Ibrahim Ghandour.

REDUCING INEQUALITY
Despite the continent’s many woes, the UN meet is taking place as Africa prepares for a poll fest, with a slew of crucial elections expected to be held in October, among them Guinea and Burkina Faso.

Whereas the polls in the latter are now in doubt following recent events, presidential elections in Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire slated for October 25 are on course, with frenzied campaigns already taking place even as the rest of Africa pushes for permanent membership at the UN Security Council.

As for the SDGs, they are divided into economic, social and environmental goals that constitute the  global agenda.

The goals included in the momentous new agenda — the first one to be negotiated and agreed upon by the 193 countries that have so far adopted it — are expected to serve as the launch pad “to promote shared prosperity and well-being for all over the next 15 years.”

Among the UN objectives is a concerted drive to  reduce inequality “within and among countries”, while also promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

This, it is hoped, will be attained through the provision of employment and decent work for all, and also through the building  of resilient infrastructure, the promotion of sustainable industrialisation and the fostering  of innovation around the globe.