Statement by the UN Resident Coordinator, MS. Nathalie Ndongo-Seh during the ceremony of presentation of credentials to His Majesty King Mswati III, Head of State of the Kingdom of Eswatini

Your Majesty,

1. It is with utmost humility, pleasure and great honour that I present my credentials as the United Nations Resident Coordinator appointed by His Excellency, the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, to serve in the Kingdom of Eswatini. I am privileged that His Majesty has approved my designation and wish to express my sincere appreciation and profound gratitude.

Your Majesty,

2. The Kingdom of Eswatini became a member of the United Nations in September 1968. Since the early 1970s when the first UN agency set foot in the Kingdom, the country has enjoyed a close collaboration with the United Nations. Through the hard work and the commitment of UN agencies resident in the Kingdom (these include UNDP, UNICEF, FAO, UNAIDS, WHO, UNFPA, WFP, UNESCO and UNDSS), as well as the programmes and activities developed in the country by several UN non- resident agencies such as UNEP, UN Women, UNHCHR, OCHA and ILO, to date, mutual respect, mutual trust, strong solidarity and strategic partnership continue to govern the relationship between the United Nations and the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Your Majesty,

3. The UN family in Eswatini is proud to have worked successfully with the Governments, civil society, the private sector, development partners and the people of Eswatini for the past 50 years to address national priorities ranging from poverty reduction, food security, health, education, social protection, human rights, environmental sustainability, climate change and natural disasters such as El Nino; the UN has also sought to strengthen good governance institutions. While programmes of support are primarily informed and led by the Government, the UN system provides technical, programmatic and advisory services, as well as financial support to national implementing partners. The UN consults regularly on its achievements with the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development.

Your Majesty,

4. Last year, the UN General Assembly adopted a UN reform aimed at repositioning the UN development system to better support countries towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The UN family is proud of the significant strides made by the Kingdom of Eswatini to integrate the SDGs in the country's national planning processes and would like to applaud His Majesty's leadership in this regard. Eswatini is clearly on a good path to accelerate its development and make progress towards attaining both Agenda 2030 and His Majesty's Vision 2022, which will ensure better lives for the people of Eswatini.

Your Majesty,

5. I wish to assure His Majesty and the people of Eswatini that my designation will strengthen even further the collaboration between the Government and the organizations of the United Nations system engaged in operational activities for development in Eswatini.

Your Majesty,

6. The achievement of the nation's aspirations and the prosperity of every Li-swa-ti come with a shared responsibility by the Government, the UN and other development partners to ensure inclusive growth and a sustainable development that leaves no one behind. The Kingdom is well positioned to harness the dividends of the resources available on its soil by prioritising key sectors such as ICT, tourism, agro-processing, manufacturing, energy and mining, and by engaging the private sector, the youth and women in those endeavours. The UN family in Eswatini wishes to applaud His Majesty's newly-elected government for its proactiveness in developing a roadmap around these priority sectors.

Your Majesty,

7. We were very pleased in this regard to see His Majesty attend the UN High-level Conference on South- South Cooperation that reviewed the trends in the South-South triangular cooperation, and the implementation of the Agenda 2030. We also wish to commend His Majesty for launching a bid to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which is clear illustration of Eswatini's commitment to the African Integration Agenda and its tireless efforts to boost the economy, business and trade, and job creation in the Kingdom.

Your Majesty,

8. It is inspiring to see how women can be counted as equal partners and afforded opportunities to overcome limitations imposed by societal norms and stereotypes. We therefore praise His Majesty's efforts in ensuring women representation in the Parliament, in the Judiciary, as well as in the Cabinet where the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs are the first females to assume such high responsibilities.

Your Majesty,

9. We acknowledge the fact that, around the world the youth are faced with numerous challenges. We therefore commend His Majesty's leadership in creating an enabling environment for young people to grow and contribute to the prosperity of the Kingdom. As the UN family, we wish to assure the people of Eswatini of our continued support towards youth programmes and activities.

Your Majesty,

10. The UN family also wishes to congratulate His Majesty not only for accepting to chair the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) that aims at achieving near-zero malaria deaths in Africa by the end of 2030; but also for His Majesty's personal commitment and leadership on the HIV response and the bold decisions made to fast track the end of AIDS in Eswatini by 2022, 8 years earlier than the global target should inspire the world.

Your Majesty,

Finally, Your Majesty,

11.We wish to express our sincere appreciation for His Majesty's kind gesture in granting the UN family the right to use a piece of land on which we have built premises that we call our home. The UN family now looks forward with great anticipation to His Majesty's visit and inauguration of our new premises.

SIYABONGA!

BAYETHE! WENA WAPHAKATHI