Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, said that, now more than ever, Member States are called upon to uphold the values of the UN Charter, enhance solidarity between nations and safeguard the institutions that enable multilateralism.  He welcomed the strong partnership between the African Union and the United Nations, adding that South Africa’s presidency of the Group of 20 marks the first time that entity will convene a summit on the African continent — “the cradle of humanity” — with a focus on disaster resilience, debt sustainability for low-income countries, energy transition financing and harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Africa is a continent “irreversibly on the rise,” yet many of the Sustainable Development Goals remain elusive due to a lack of financial resources, he said, emphasizing that many developing countries spend more on debt servicing than on health or education.  Trade is one of the most important instruments for mobilizing domestic resources for development, yet it now is being used as a weapon against several countries, he said, insisting that the economic embargo against Cuba must be lifted “and we want it lifted sooner rather than later”.

With global military expenditure at historic highs, “we must act decisively to silence all the guns everywhere to realize the goals of sustainable development and global peace — and I do believe that this is an objective that is possible to reach,” he said.  Yet the UN’s relevance is being wilfully undermined by a growing reliance on unilateral military action, he said, citing the situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and elsewhere.  Turning to the Middle East, he said Member States have a responsibility to ensure and protect the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. “There is a growing consensus that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza,” he said, adding that South Africa is insisting that the International Court of Justice make a ruling that genocide is indeed being committed in Gaza “and that it must stop”.

On other issues, he said that insufficient progress is being made on nuclear disarmament, despite the adoption of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  That instrument’s first review conference, chaired by South Africa, will take place next year.  He added that South Africa would support the nomination of a female Secretary-General, stressing also that there is an immediate need for Security Council reform through text-based negotiations, as it is unacceptable that Africa, with 1.4 billion people, and South America are not represented in that organ.  “This is unjust, this is unacceptable and this must end.”  Citing the UN80 initiative, he said that structural changes must be implemented across the UN system in the face of reduced funding to build an Organization that can effectively fulfil its mandates and uphold international law. He went on to say:  “We must reaffirm that freedom is indivisible and that the denial of the rights of one person diminishes the freedom of all of us.”