President shares feedback on Unga, sustainability conference and summit of the future

I am pleased to join you this morning on this occasion that strengthens our commitment to transparency in governance and freedom of the press under the Harambee Prosperity Plan I and II.

Over the past nine months, I have been to many parts of our country. I have visited many regions, interacted widely with political leaders, traditional leaders, church leaders, business leaders, the sport fraternity and broader civil society. 

My engagements have been publicly accounted for in the press, in press releases, and on the Presidency’s social media pages. Not less important, I also visited countries near and far to assure partner countries of Namibia’s stability, peace and security and to strengthen economic cooperation for the benefit of each and every Namibian.

Hence, I saw it fit to call this briefing to share and to provide, with my team, feedback to my fellow citizens about two, if not three important missions I undertook over the past 30 days:

A) My participation in the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly of the United Nations, which convened under the theme: ‘Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for the present and future generations.’

And B) My participation in the Hamburg Sustainability Conference in Hamburg, Germany, last week.

A) The Summit of the Future.

Namibia and Germany were requested in 2023 to co-facilitate the Summit of the Future and to also co-facilitate the drafting process of the Pact for the Future. That in itself is no mean feat and projected attention to Namibia. For that reason, my participation together with the Namibian delegation in the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (Unga), was essential. 

I am pleased to report that alongside chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Federal Republic of Germany, we co-facilitated the Summit of the Future from 20 to 23 September 2024. The summit was convened under the theme ‘Summit of the Future: Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow’ and consequently, adopted the Pact for the Future in the General Assembly.

Since I received letters from different quarters questioning why Namibia co-chaired the summit and co-facilitated the drafting of the pact, I need to make it very clear here that Namibia did not negotiate any legally binding agreement. The Pact for the Future is an intergovernmental negotiated action-oriented document and adopted by consensus with chapters on:

I) sustainable development and financing for development;

II) international peace and security;

III) science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation;

IV) the youth and future generations; and

V) transforming global governance.

The Summit of the Future also produced and adopted a global digital compact and a declaration on future generations as annexes to the pact. 

None of these documents impose any legal obligations on the Namibian government. The Pact for the Future provides a guideline and proposals on how governments and humanity can work together to urgently address global challenges such as climate change, conflicts and, importantly, how we can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

I have tasked the prime minister to see how best we can align and fit our policies to respond better to the call in the Pact for the Future.

As part of my activities as co-chair of the Summit of the Future, I delivered several statements at various platforms, including at the closing session of the Summit of the Future – Action Days; the official opening of the Summit of the Future, and the Private Sector Forum of the Summit of the Future, organised by the UN Global Compact Office. 

I also held consultations with the chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Olaf Scholz, the secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, and Philemon Yang, the president of the 79th Session of the General Assembly. 

Other activities and meetings have been covered in detail in the press release by the Presidency on 26 September.

B) Hamburg Sustainability Conference in Hamburg, Germany, 7 to 8 October 2024.

Namibia is emerging as one of the leading voices in Africa in the fight against climate change. Through our commitment to green hydrogen and renewable energy, our country is called to participate in summits and conferences that seek to promote solutions to dealing with a warming climate and the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

It is in that vein that I was invited to the October 2024 Hamburg Sustainability Conference, which is a joint initiative of the German Federal Government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Michael Otto Foundation and the City of Hamburg. The conference was held under three themes: ‘Reshaping the International Financial Architecture’, ‘Unleashing Investment for SDGs’, and ‘Leveraging Transformation’.

I participated in the opening panel, alongside the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the president of the World Bank, and chancellor Scholz. 

I made the case for reforming the international financial system to better respond to the needs of developing countries.

On the margins of the conference, I held bilateral talks with chancellor Scholz, focusing on a number of issues in Namibia-Germany relations, including the joint declaration on genocide, apology and reparations, and Namibia’s ambition to develop green industries and green hydrogen.

I am pleased to inform the Namibian people that chancellor Scholz and I share the same commitment to ensure that we advance our bilateral relations in a manner that respond to shared prosperity and that we resolve the genocide issue in the interests of the affected communities and Namibians at large.

At the invitation of the president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, I travelled to Berlin where I held bilateral talks with president Steinmeier. We both agreed on the need to deal with our shared, difficult past with a sense of urgency, for the benefit of stronger and mutually beneficial bilateral relations.

In Berlin, I also addressed a high-level business breakfast organised by the Namibian embassy and the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), where I encouraged them to invest in Namibia.

En route to Namibia, I paid a courtesy visit to his majesty Felipe VI, the King of Spain. Namibia and Spain have strong commercial ties in the marine sector and I discussed this and other opportunities for the mutual prosperity of our two nations.

My missions to the United States, Germany and Spain underscore the basic truth that development cannot be effective without stronger multilateral and bilateral partnerships. Our country cannot develop if we don’t nurture partnerships by responding to opportunities in the external environment. Therefore, missions of this nature are essential to spur national development.

I would like to thank our development cooperation partners, including the United Nations system, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of Spain.

Our efforts in economic transformation and the acceleration of the Sustainable Development Goals have been enhanced as a result of the working visits I undertook to New York for the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Summit of the Future and the Hamburg Sustainability Summit.

I will now ask members of the Cabinet who were part of my delegation to the 79th United Nations General Assembly (Unga) and the Hamburg Sustainability Conference to share with you their sectoral engagements as delegated by me. – President Nangolo Mbumba at a press briefing following participation in the 79th Unga and the Hamburg sustainability conference, State House, Windhoek, 17 October 2024.