Statement by the UN Resident Coordinator in the Kingdom of Eswatini, Mr. George Wachira, during the ceremony of presentation of Letter of Credence to His Majesty King Mswati III, Head of State of the Kingdom of Eswatini

Your Majesty,

1. It is with utmost humility and a sense of great honour and privilege that I present to Your Majesty the Letter of Credence by which His Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, appoints me the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
2. I wish to express my profound gratitude that Your Majesty has approved my designation as UN Resident Coordinator and come to the Kingdom as a humble and faithful servant of the developmental and normative mandate entrusted to the United Nations by its Member States, including this beautiful and proud Kingdom of Eswatini. I am keen to listen, learn and understand how I and the UN can support the Kingdom in achieving its aspirations.
3. I start my tenure with a great appreciation of the excellent work done by my predecessors, including most recently by the former Resident Coordinator Ms. Nathalie Ndongo-Seh, and Ms. Amina Mohammed who acted in the capacity pending my appointment. Those that have come before me have over the years laid a strong foundation of partnership between the UN System and the Kingdom of Eswatini, and I wish to assure Your Majesty and the people of Eswatini that I will spare no effort in ensuring that our partnership grows from strength to strength for the benefit of the people of Eswatini.

Your Majesty,

4. The presence of the United Nations in the Kingdom has been expanding and currently stands at 16 resident and non-resident agencies, funds and programmes. These agencies, funds and programmes are engaged in diverse areas of development partnership with Your Majesty’s Government as articulated in the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for the period 2021-2025 signed in 2020 by the Government of Eswatini and the United Nations under the theme, A Prosperous, Just and Resilient Eswatini where no one is Left Behind. The Cooperation Framework is itself derived from Eswatini’s own national development priorities within the broader framework of the Global Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
5. Following the adoption of the UN Reforms by the UN General Assembly’s Resolution 72/279 in 2019, and the introduction of a new Resident Coordinator System, I reaffirm to Your Majesty that I come with a commitment to continue the improvement of the UN’s value proposition towards achieving the SDGs through improved coordination and united delivery, responsiveness to local needs and transparency.
6. The UN family is particularly proud of the significant strides made by the Kingdom of Eswatini in integrating the SDGs in the country's national planning processes, including the National Development Plan and the National Development Strategy and would like to applaud Your Majesty's leadership in this regard. I also commend Your Majesty’s Government for embarking on a second Voluntary National Review of the SDGs this year which covers all the 17 SDGs, a testament to the indivisibility of the SDGs. During Your Majesty’s Address to Parliament in February, the United Nations was delighted by Your Majesty’s commitment to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Despite the devastating impacts of COVID[1]19 and the civil disturbances in 2021, these instruments remain our guiding compass and yardstick for an equitable and sustainable pathway towards ensuring that we leave no one is left behind. With less than 8 years remaining to 2030, it is truly a race to achieve the ambitious agenda.

Your Majesty,

7. The United Nations is much more than its work and presence at the country level. It is our one and only true and tested vehicle for multilateralism in a world that is buffeted by multiple challenges that require focused and united action by the global community. The current challenges of global peace and security, climate-related disruptions, loss of biodiversity, food security for all, pandemics, and the need to protect human rights, among others, remind us every day why we came together as “We the People,” the United Nations, and why we must make multilateralism and global cooperation work. In this regard, and on behalf of the Secretary General, I want to express deep appreciation for Your Majesty’s continued positive engagement and contribution within the UN.

Your Majesty,

8. I start my tour of duty at a time of great challenges, globally and locally. The climate crisis that faces our world has been well demonstrated in Eswatini, including most recently by the effects of Cyclone Eloise. Everywhere, the vagaries of climate change are leaving trails of destruction and uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe impacts on lives, economies and livelihoods everywhere and, as the world is still struggling to recover, the war in Ukraine has created new crises in the areas of food security, energy and finance. In all these, developing countries are the most negatively affected. Such great challenges demand that we step up to ensure that all our energies and imagination are singularly directed to seeking solutions at our own levels, to navigate the crises we face, globally and locally, for the sake of our people.

Your Majesty,

9. In this regard, Your Majesty, I also come to the Kingdom of Eswatini as a proud son of the continent of Africa who is deeply committed to the vision of our beautiful continent marching forward with confidence to claim its place among the prosperous and peaceful nations of the world. I commend Your Majesty for the ambitious vision of transforming Eswatini into a developed economy by 2022 which, even though disrupted by the COVID pandemic must remain our aspiration.

10. As a son of the continent, I have long admired the Kingdom’s pride in its unique identity, and I commend Their Majesties for remaining the symbol of the pride, peace and unity among Emaswati. It is this sense of togetherness around a common father and our ancestors that has helped the kingdom to withstand past shocks, including the HIV/AIDS, where Your Majesty encouraged a change of behaviour by declaring HIV/AIDS, yindzaba yetfu sonkhe. Because of this leadership and unity of purpose, Eswatini is now counted among the first countries in the world (the first country in Africa) to achieve the UN goal of 95-95-95 in terms if diagnosis, treatment and viral suppression.

Finally, Your Majesty,

11.  Every challenge comes with opportunity, and nothing is impossible if we face it with unity and a sense of purpose. Today, as the Kingdom grapples with multiple challenges, I am greatly encouraged by Your Majesty’s Government’s commitment to engage with all EmaSwati on how best to forge forward, to a united, strong, united and resilient nation able to withstand shocks and afford opportunity for all. Indeed, a nation that talks to itself and listens to divergent voices can only be stronger. I am reminded of the African proverb that, a family bond is like a tree, it can bend, but it cannot – must not – break.

12.  I, on behalf of the UN family, pledge our support to all efforts towards enhancing national stability, cohesion and unity through consultation to create the space for the Kingdom to purse its development vision in unity, undistracted. We stand in solidarity with the Kingdom and people of Eswatini and are committed to accompany a process of engagement based on Eswatini’s context and experiences from other places where the UN has supported such processes in line with the UNSG’s Prevention Agenda

13. Once again, I look forward to listening, learning and understanding more about the Kingdom and to further engaging on how we can support the Kingdom’s aspirations.
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15. SIYABONGA KAKHULU! BAYETHE! WENA WAPHAKATHI!