“For the UN to remain relevant and true to its noble mission, it must embrace change,” said Philip Isdor Mpango, Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, emphasizing that: “The challenges of today are not the same as those of yesterday, nor will they be the same tomorrow.”  In this context, he welcomed the UN80 reform initiative and reiterated his country’s position on redressing the continent’s underrepresentation in the Security Council, in line with the Ezulwini consensus.  As well, he called for an urgent and comprehensive reform of the global financial system, underscoring the need to scale up long-term concessional financing, revise sovereign credit rating frameworks, and rethink debt sustainability assessments.  Reiterating his demand for increased representation of Africa in the governance structures of the IMF and the World Bank, he said, “These noble demands have gone unheeded for a very long time and must be addressed now.”

Turning to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – “our common plan for a better world”, he pointed out that more than 80 per cent of the targets remain off-track, with only five years left before 2030.  “The big elephant in the room suffocating progress, is an estimated financing gap of $4 trillion per annum,” he said, nonetheless highlighting progress made by his country, with overall performance estimated at 60 per cent.  Citing examples of such progress, such as on SDG 3 (good health and well-being) with maternal mortality declining from 750 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000) to 104 deaths in 2022, and on SDG 7 (affordable clean energy), with the number of villages connected to electricity increasing from 8,587 in 2000 to 12,318 in 2024.  “However, significant challenges remain, especially on environmental sustainability (SDGs 13, 14 and 15),” he added.

He went on to condemn the imposition of unilateral coercive measures, stating that such measures, often applied without the mandate of the Security Council, “represent a form of economic aggression that disproportionately harms innocent civilians, by depriving them of essential needs”.  “We stress that these embargoes and sanctions contravene international law,” he said.  Similarly, the United Republic of Tanzania stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Sahrawi who continue to be denied the fundamental rights of freedom, sovereignty and self-determination, he added.  As well, he condemned “the resurging use of the law of the jungle as a means of resolving conflicts” and “imperial attitudes” that regarded the African continent as a “free mine to be exploited”.  In this context, he called for “win-win partnerships in the exploitation of our natural wealth”.