UNITED NATIONS: The annual celebration honouring the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa after apartheid, was conducted at the United Nations on Saturday.
The celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day honours his struggle for liberty and equality at home and abroad. Mandela who passed away in 2013 and whose Xhosa clan name was Madiba, spent nearly three decades in prison for challenging grave injustices and violations of human rights against black South Africans.
In the nation’s first-ever multiracial elections, he was elected President four years after his release from prison in 1990. According to UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi, the incredible journey of Nelson Mandela illustrates how forgiveness can lead to change because he left behind a democratic, multiracial South Africa that is very different from the racist country in which he was born.
“We cannot leave anyone behind; a basic value of this organization is embodied by Madiba’s lifetime dedication to human rights,” he continued. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has praised Mandela as one of humanity’s greatest heroes.
He drew attention to the colonial-era injustice at the core of the global banking system. He claimed that Africa still has no permanent seat on the UN Security Council and remains underrepresented in the global financial system.
He recalled Mandela making an argument against the unequal allocation of resources and decision-making power in a speech to the UN over 30 years prior that touched on similar topics.
According to Guterres, the world is still waiting for change. The international financial system ultimately needs a significant overhaul. But we also need to encourage emerging markets by taking proactive measures now.
He demanded, among other things, that the business models of international development banks be promptly revised, that a stimulus plan for sustainable development be established, and that debt relief that supports payment suspensions be established.
Former US Ambassador to the UN and American politician and activist Andrew Young spoke about Mandela, who was both a friend and a brother.
He reportedly worked diligently to unite South Africa despite its conflicts, asking his jailer to sit with his family at his inauguration. Young, now 91, claimed that some of the same forces that plagued South Africa during the apartheid era still exist in his own country today.
He said, “We appreciate the example that President Madiba set. We’re grateful for this institution for upholding that tradition, preserving the hope of liberty and dignity, and realizing that we can be free despite the cultural chains that bind us.” —APP
