Remarks by H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly

18 July 2022

 

Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

I thank you for joining the annual celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day, honoring the life and legacy of His Excellency Nelson Mandela.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to the Government of South Africa, particularly His Excellency Mondli Gungubele, Minister in the Presidency of South Africa, as well as the Nelson Mandela Foundation, for their support organizing today’s event.

 

I would also like to thank New York City Mayor Eric Adams and his Office for organizing this afternoon’s community service event. Giving back to our communities aligns with everything that Mandela stood for, and we appreciate this opportunity.

 

In the same spirit, I welcome to the General Assembly Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and thank them for their consistent advocacy around public service.

 

Finally, allow me to recognize the incredible contributions of the 2020 Mandela Prize Laureates, Mrs. Marianna Vardinoyannis of Greece, and His Excellency Dr. Morissanda Kouyaté of Guinea.

 

These esteemed individuals have chosen to live their lives in service to humanity, as Madiba would have wanted, and that is to be celebrated.

 

Friends,

 

We are gathered here not only to celebrate the memory of a man who devoted his life to the pursuit of equality and freedom for all, but to follow in his footsteps and honor his legacy by emulating his lifelong service to humanity.

 

Today, we pay tribute to Madiba’s legacy by recognizing how far our world has come since he began his life 104 years ago – remembering the innumerable battles fought and won in the name of justice and peace.

 

Madiba’s fight against apartheid, was in fact a fight for a better world, in which the freedom, justice and dignity of all were respected.

 

He called for peace, social justice, equality and human understanding throughout his life.

 

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion,” Madiba said in his book Long Walk to Freedom.

 

He fought for the rightful dignity and equality of every person. And he advocated for engagement and solidarity across borders.

 

In times of turmoil, Madiba’s life teaches us to choose dignity over humiliation, to speak up during injustice, and to forgive rather than hate.

 

He once said, “To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

 

Madiba’s life is a testament that sustainable conflict resolution requires more than an end to violence; it depends on justice and compassion.

 

This was amply reflected in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was formed in South Africa to promote reconciliation and forgiveness among both the perpetrators and the victims of apartheid.

 

The Commission worked on the basis that in this human encounter of good and evil, the perpetrator’s evil would be laid bare before the community and the dignity of the victim would prevail.

 

Dear Friends,

 

Madiba’s legacy as an outspoken and untiring advocate for democracy, freedom and equality has been and continues to be an inspiration.

 

He saw democracy as a system based on equality and respect for human dignity, a leadership based on humility and a citizenry based on active participation.

 

Madiba recognized, early on in his Presidency, that no major achievement is possible without gender equality.

 

In 1994, at the opening of the first parliament, Madiba declared, “Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression.”

 

Madiba was of the view that as long as women are bound by poverty and as long as they are looked down upon, human rights will lack substance.

 

Overseeing the drafting of the South African constitution, Madiba called for imprinting firm principles upholding the rights of women in the supreme law of the land, firm principles.

 

It’s indeed an ode to Madiba that today 46.5% of South African parliamentarians are women. 

 

Dear Friends,

 

Mandela believed that youth are the rock on which the future is built.

 

He believed that children have a right to be whatever they want to be, and that they can achieve this only if they are given the space to dream and live out their dreams.

 

He also believed that the youth can use the power of education to change the world.

 

He called upon the youth of the world to be “script writers of their own destinies and feature themselves as stars that showed the way towards a brighter future”.

 

He founded the “Nelson Mandela Institute for Rural Development and Education” in Eastern Cape to improve access to quality education in rural areas through teacher and leadership development, community mobilization and through building strong and lasting public institutions.

 

Dear Friends,

 

Madiba was also an environmentalist.

 

His vision of the world was one where all people were able to live a fully dignified life, with clean air to breathe and clean water to drink.

 

At a personal level, he was also deeply connected to the earth.

 

Commenting on the small patch of vegetable garden that he was allowed to grow in prison, Madiba said that the sense of being the custodian of this small patch of earth offered a small taste of freedom.

 

The Elders, a cross-cultural group of leaders that he had years later founded to forge human rights-based solutions to worldwide problems had identified climate justice as one of its top priorities.

 

At a time when we are still fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, it is useful to recollect the fight against AIDS that Madiba had launched through his Foundation’s 4664 initiative and the series of AIDS benefit concerts.

 

Dear Friends,

 

From conflict to climate change, humanity is confronted with great challenges, which, if left unanswered, could threaten the very planet we wish to leave to our children, and to their own.

 

At this very moment we are witnessing a war and conflict unseen in generations; a continued global pandemic; global food security crisis; rising costs of living and rampant inequality; and the ever-present danger of a climate crisis.

 

Any one of these challenges is disconcerting; taken together, it is like a critical mass, spreading anxiety, frustration, and despair.

 

But, my friends, this is not the time for despair.

 

No matter the challenges and obstacles, we must persevere with conviction, with determination, and with hope. This is what Madiba would have wanted, what he himself fought for.

 

Madiba once remarked, even if the task seems impossible, do not give into fatalism or despair; otherwise, you’ll do nothing, and there will be no chance of positive social change.

 

To fully honor him today, we must channel his perseverance.

 

We must turn to each other for comfort; we must find solace in our peers, in our sisters and brothers across the globe; we must have faith in science, in innovation, in human solidarity; and we must believe that together, we can overcome these challenges.

 

Madiba once said, “Peace is not just the absence of conflict; peace is the creation of an environment where all can flourish, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, class, caste, or any other social markers of difference.”

 

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

As we prepare for this afternoon’s community service event, let us recall the wise words of Madiba: “It is in your hands, to make a better world for all who live in it.”

 

Today, and every day, let us come together today to honor Madiba’s memory in the spirit of his legacy: through service, for all of humanity.

 

I thank you all.