BRANCH: MULTILATERAL

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

Presentation to Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation

30 July 2014

Ambassador NJ Mxakato-Diseko

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INDEX• Vision and Mission

• Branch APP 2014 – 15

• Branch Organogram

• Achievements

• Main focus area for 2014 /15

• Challenges

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BRANCH MULTILATERAL

Vision

• A rules-based global governance system that is supportive of South Africa’s national interests and priorities, regional and continental aspirations and the needs of developing countries and a peaceful world

Mission• Lead South Africa’s participation in global processes in

shaping the outcomes to advance national priorities, regional interests and the developmental agenda

PROGRAMME 3: INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Sub-programme 3.1: Global System of Governance

Strategic objective: To promote an equitable and just Global

System of Governance

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BRANCH MULTILATERAL

ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN (APP) 2014 – 15

APP 2014 – 15 Description: South Africa is committed to multilateralism and a rules-based

international order and to this end participates and plays an active role in all fora of the United Nations (UN) system and its specialised agencies, funds and programmes promoting the pillars of multilateral activity namely global security, sustainable development, human rights and international law. South Africa thus supports an equitable, just and representative UN system and its centrality in multilateralism and is also supportive of ongoing efforts to improve the effectiveness and accountability of the Secretariats of these organisations. South Africa regards the UN as the foremost vehicle to advance the global development agenda and to address underdevelopment and the eradication of poverty. To this end South Africa upholds the belief that the resolution of international conflicts should be peaceful and in accordance with the centrality of the UN Charter and the principles of international law. South Africa’s international relations policy therefore recognises that in order to achieve a better life for all, development and security are best addressed through adequate attention to all global threats facing humanity

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APP 2014 – 15 Sub-programme 3.1:

Global System of Governance

• Number of multilateral structures and processes engaged in to enhance the responsiveness of the multilateral system to South Africa’s needs and the needs of developing countries

• Percentage of approved requests for humanitarian assistance disbursed

• Number of multi-state meetings and processes, influential in the Global system of Governance, engaged in to advance South Africa’s foreign policy objectives

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APP 2014 – 15 Sub-programme 3.1:

Global System of Governance

• South Africa’s candidatures for membership in identified strategic intergovernmental organisations identified and promoted

• Percentage requests responded to for legal and policy advice, services and assistance relating to international law, treaties and treaty obligations, contributions to the formulation/development of international law and compliance with domestic law and policy

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APP 2014 – 15Sub-programme 3.3: South-South Cooperation

Strategic objective: To pursue strong South-South Cooperation to the advantage of developing States

Description: Strong cooperation among countries and groupings of the South and the development of common positions on political, economic, social and human rights issues are essential for an effective response in addressing the historic marginalisation of countries in the South. In addition, to harness emerging collective political and economic influence of countries of the South in pursuit of the Development Agenda

• Number of meetings of organisations of the South engaged to contribute to and advance common positions of the South, aligned to South Africa’s foreign policy positions

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Austria, ViennaUN,UNIDO,

UNOV, UNODC, IAEA, CTBTO

The Netherlands, The Hague

OPCW, ICC, ICJ

Ethiopia, Addis Ababa

AU, UNECA

France, ParisUNESCO,

OECD

USA, New YorkUN

USA, WashingtonIMF, World Bank,

GEF

Geneva, Switzerland

UN, ICRC, IOM

United Kingdom, London

IMO, Commonwealth

Italy, RomeFAO, WFP,

FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission,

IFAD, ICCROM

Kenya, NairobiUNEP, UN-

Habitat

Botswana, Gaborone

SADC

Belgium, BrusselsEU

Chief Directorate : Economic and Social

Affairs

Chief Directorate: United Nations

(Political)

Directorate : Humanitarian Affairs

Directorate Human Rights

Directorate : Vulnerable Groups and International

Crime

Directorate: Disarmament &

Non-Proliferation

Directorate : UN Political

Directorate : Science &

Technology

Directorate : Social Development

Directorate : Economic Development

Directorate : Economic Relations &

Trade

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PSLA

PSLA

Directorate : Decentralised

Corporate Services

PSLA

Directorate : International Co-operation

Chief Directorate: Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs

• Championing human rights

• Maintain a balanced approach to all human rights

• South Africa continues to view the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council as the principal body to deal with the promotion and protection of human rights, including the elaboration of international human rights norms and standards

• Concern regarding the bilateralisation of the Council

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Chief Directorate: Economic and Social Affairs

Involved in all negotiations on sustainable development across all three

dimensions thereof, namely: Social development; Economic

development and Management of the environment

Based on our national developmental imperatives and in

particular the National Development Plan in support of our foreign

policy objectives, as well as regional and continental development

priorities through pro-active participation in intergovernmental and

multilateral institutions and processes that are influential in the global

governance system.  

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Chief Directorate: UN Political• Deals with the UN including the UN Security Council (UNSC), the UN

General Assembly (GA), the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) the Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the Conference on Disarmament (CD)

• UN is central to the global governance system and South Africa remains deeply committed to the principles and purposes of the UN Charter

• UN, specifically the GA with its universal membership, remains the chief deliberative, policy and decision-making of body in the international system and South Africa will remain an active participant in UN processes, including in pushing for the reform of UN where necessary 

• Promote coherence between the UNSC and the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC)

 

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Chief Directorate: UN Political

• Promote the three pillar concept; disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy

• Champion the need for equal attention to be given to the control of the proliferation of conventional weapons, as is given to weapons of mass destruction

• Act as a bridge builder to assist in solving intractable disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control problems in international fora

• Active in the IAEA, CD, CTBTO and OPCW

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Office Of The Chief State Law Adviser (Il)

• Legal defender of territorial integrity and sovereignty

• Principal legal adviser of Government as a whole on all matters pertaining to international law and to the Department on domestic law matters. It is the custodian of all international agreements that South Africa is a party to

• Provide legal and policy advice on international law matters across the spectrum of the work of Government and DIRCO and participate in international negotiations

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ACHIEVEMENTS

• PEACE AND SECURITY

Rejoined the UN Peacebuilding Commission (2013 – 14) Critical leadership role played by South Africa in the Syrian conflict

within the framework of the OPCW Participated in the Nuclear Security Summit (March 2014) Preparations for Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference (2015) Initiative on humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons Although South Africa left the UNSC as non-permanent member at

the end of 2012, remained influential with Member States continuing to refer back to South Africa

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ACHIEVEMENTS

• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

G20 - responsible for managing the global economy. South Africa an influential player and Co-chair of the Development

Working Group.

TEAMSherpa – Amb Mxakato-Diseko, DIRCOSous Sherpa – Dr Mfeka, Presidency Finance Deputy – Mr Fuzile, National Treasury

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ACHIEVEMENTS• SOCIO- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Returned to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) (2013 – 15) Reshaped the negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda

and played a critical role in the finalisation of the report of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals. We suceeded in having key matters of national interest refelected in the text, including a reference to removing the obstacles to the full realization of the right to self determination of people living under colonial rule and foreign occupation....

Continued to provide a leadership role in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on the basis of the Durban Plan for Enhanced Action (ADP) to advance national and continental interests having helped raise the negotiations from the brink of collapse in Copenhagen

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ACHIEVEMENTS

• HUMAN RIGHTSReturned to the Human Rights Council (2014 – 16)

• CLAIMS TO THE CONTINENTAL SHELFSouth Africa submitted two claims for extended

continental shelves in 2009

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PEACE AND SECURITY

• South Africa rejoined the UN Peacebuilding Commission membership to enable it to continue to promote conflict prevention and peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa including a structured interaction between the UNSC and the AUPSC so as to allow integrated efforts towards conflict resolution, peacebuilding and peacemaking in Africa

• Managed three resolutions on the structured coordination between the UNSC and the UNGA

• South Africa facilitated the destruction of the chemical weapons in Syria through our leadership role in the OPCW

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PEACE AND SECURITY• South Africa successfully participated in the Nuclear Security

Summit (NSS) (22 – 24 March) where we ensured that our position on maintaining a balance between nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation while promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and on the importance of multilateralism in dealing with nuclear security issues was maintained in the outcome document. South Africa will continue to pursue these in the context of the 2016 NSS while arguing for the folding of this process into the multilateral body responsible for nuclear matters

• TEAM NSS Sherpa, Amb Mxakato-Diseko, DIRCO Sous Sherpa, Mr Kellerman, DIRCO

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PEACE AND SECURITY

• In context of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) South Africa is concerned about the humanitarian impact of the detonation of a nuclear device either accidently or deliberately. South Africa is highly active in this area to ensure that globally there is an effective response

• Following South Africa signing the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in September 2013, awaiting the ratification process to be completed by Parliament

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POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

• As the target year for the MDGs approaches, development as a whole has become a highly contested issue

• Developed countries want to use this to get the things they need for their economic recovery

• Developing countries want reaffirmation of the right to development as understood and agreed upon thus far

• A flurry of activities ensued to prepare for what will replace the MDGs

• South Africa felt it necessary to get into the space to redirect this and co-facilitated with Ireland the UN High Level Event on the MDGs in September 2013 in New York

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POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA• The outcome of the High Level Event was the adoption of resolution

A/RES/68/6 that stated:

The Member States will decide on the Development Agenda beyond 2015 in an intergovernmental negotiations process that will commence at the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly in September 2014

The Development Agenda will build on the MDGs –”unfinished business”

The principles will be the Rio Principles, central to which is Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR + RC)

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POST 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

• Means of Implementation are critically important for delivery on the Post 2015 Development Agenda

• An intra-Departmental Task Team and an Interdepartmental Task Team were established to drive South Africa’s engagement on the Post 2015 Development Agenda process.

• Other processes include the Expert Group on Financing and the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals which will present reports to the General Assembly in September 2104.

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ECOSOC• ECOSOC is the Charter mandated body responsible for economic and

social matters

• South Africa is a member of ECOSOC until 2015

• It deals with a variety of issues including the Post 2015 Development Agenda

• The Council was strengthened by the Rio +20 outcome

• The High-level Political Forum (HLPF), which replaced the former Commission on Sustainable Development, launched under the auspices of ECOSOC on 7 – 8 July 2014

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UNFCCC NEGOTIATIONS

• When South Africa hosted the COP17/CMP7 in Durban, the climate change negotiations were literally on the verge of collapse

• At issue here is what needs to be done to respond adequately and effectively to the impact of climate change while respecting the right to development

• After the collapse of the UNFCCC negotiations in Copenhagen that were just barely lifted in Mexico, South Africa raised and reconciled these negotiations on the basis of the ADP - an historic outcome – on the basis of which a new legally binding instrument under the UNFCCC that is applicable to all must be negotiated and concluded by 2015 to come into effect by 2020

• South Africa will continue to provide a leadership role

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THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

• South Africa returned in November 2013 to the Human Rights Council for the period 2014 – 2016 after we served from 2006 – 2010

• South Africa needed to return as we noted:

The erosion of the legacy of World Conference on Racism (WCAR)

The bilateralisation of the work of the Council Bias of the Council in favour of the interests of developed

countries

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CONTINENTAL SHELF

• Submitted an extended Continental Shelf claim to the United Nations, enabling South Africa to have exclusive jurisdiction over resources under the seabed as well as to acquire greater territory. In August 2014 the process of consideration of the submission on South Africa’s mainland and its joint submission together with France on the Islands of Marion and Prince Edward and French archipelago of Crozet will be embarked on by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf

• Successful claims could result in the addition of more than 1.9 million square kilometres to the marine territory of South Africa. This will make South Africa the biggest country on the African continent

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OCSLA

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• Provide legal advice on the UN system, including on sanctions, terrorism

• Advise on BRICS, including the establishment on the New Development Bank

• Draft the Foreign Service Bill and UN Sanctions Bill• Bilateral negotiations on a large number of political significant issues

including the Grand Inga Project, Lesotho Highlands Water Project, etc.• Provide legal advice on all contracts enter into by the Department and its

Missions abroad and manage all litigation against the Department• Act as custodian of all international agreements entered into and provide

status reports to Cabinet on South Africa’s adherence to its reporting obligations

MAIN FOCUS AREAS FOR 2014/15

• Two key processes will culminate in 2015, namely the UNFCCC negotiations on a new climate change agreement and the UN MDGs process

• South Africa will participate fully in all intergovernmental negotiations as well as the thematic debates hosted by the President of the UN General Assembly (Uganda in 2014).

• While not taking our eye off Africa, we ensure that the 3 key priorities of job creation, income inequality and poverty eradication as embedded in the National Development Plan are the “bottom line” in negotiations

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MAIN FOCUS AREAS FOR 2014/15

• Reform of the structures of global governance will remain a key focus, including on how to manage the Ezulwini Consensus

• Participate in the UNGA General Debate under the theme “Delivering on and implementing a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda” 24 September –7 October 2014, New York

• South Africa will attend the 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Venezuela in August 2015 and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2015) in Malta in November 2015 in order to highlight the development agenda of Africa and developing countries in general

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MAIN FOCUS AREAS FOR 2014/15

• Work with like-minded countries to ensure that the outcomes of the NPT Review Conference in 2015 are supportive of a balanced approach

• Promote the Durban Legacy (WCAR) and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

• Promote the integrity of the Human Rights Council to avoid the bilateralisation by developed countries

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MAIN FOCUS AREAS FOR 2014/15

• In the G20, South Africa - also a Co-chair of the G20 Development Working Group (DWG) – will continue to address development bottlenecks and help low income countries achieve growth

• Will actively participate in meetings and processes of the G20 Sherpas’ Track, including the DWG

• Will participate in the Leaders Summit, 13 – 15 November 2014 in Brisbane, Australia

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MAIN FOCUS AREAS FOR 2014/15

• With less than two years left for Parties to conclude a new legal instrument under the UNFCCC, South Africa regards 2014 as a critical year in the shaping of the content of the new agreement

• Calendar of important meetings: UNSG Climate Summit, 23 September 2014, New York Pre-COP20/CMP10 , 4 – 7 November 2014, Caracas COP20/CMP10, 2 – 9 December 2014, Lima

• South Africa will continue to provide leadership to the negotiations and will actively participate in the intersessionals leading to the COP21/CMP11 in Paris

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CHALLENGES

• Inadequate budgetary resources

• Non-adherence by the three spheres of government to the “Measures and Guidelines for the Enhanced Coordination of South Africa’s International Engagements” when engaging in multilateral fora

• Growing tendency by developed countries to undermine and fray multilateralism

THANK YOU

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