Dr Aziz stresses development of Africa top on UNGA 76

Dr. Hany Abdel Aziz, Former UN Assistant Secretary General underlined the importance of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76)

Dr. Hany Abdel Aziz, Former UN Assistant Secretary General underlined the importance of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76), regretting that it is not a decision making body but a sort of forum where participants change opinion about world issues. The major issue, he believed, is the attempt to revitalize the question of environment and the protection of earth. Abdel Aziz shed light on a pivotal issue tackled by President Abdel Fattah e-Sisi at the session, the question of the overall development of Africa.

In that respect, he declared in a phone call with (To the Point) that the continent has suffered tremendously from the pandemic situation and accumulated larger debts, stating his belief that it has been a policy of Egypt to attempt alleviating the burden of this additional debt. He asserted, for his part, that relieving the debt will happen to a certain extent but it is the role of the African countries to cooperate among themselves. He reiterated President Sisi's call for debt relief for the developing countries, especially the African and middle-income ones, in light of the economic repercussions of the COVID-19, as addressed in a recorded speech to the UNGA 76th session on September 21.

Dr. Abdel Aziz underscored the problem that is faced at the General Assembly; tremendous declarations and pledges to provide to countries but without a real mechanism to follow up on the implementation of declarations made either on General Assembly or on bilateral meetings.

However, he said, the General Assembly is still important as it allows the heads of states to meet on a private or bilateral or collective basis to try to find solutions to the world problems including mainly means of alleviating debts and sustainable development. It is high time now, he stressed, to put an end to multinational and transnational cooperation in the world and to make use of the wealth and the natural resources of our African continent.

As an expert in corporate resolution as it is his main work at the United Nations, Dr. Abdel Aziz conveyed that the organization is the result of World War II where four or five major winners of the war are controlling the world politics and organizations. However, he added, there has been in between until now the emergence of the losing countries of WWII as Japan and Germany who have no permanent seats to project their ideas and push for it.

He believed that when U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke about the “divided world”, it was a sort of philosophical approach because the division is of different parts. The division in facing the pandemic, he stated, 80 percent of the population in the developed countries has been vaccinated whereas in Africa one digit percent of its population has taken the vaccine. The divide also resulted in the increased tension in the Indo-Pacific region, he mentioned, believing that it is a priority for the foreign policy of the United States and the major powers, not the Middle East issue.

The return of Afghanistan as a member of the United Nations is another essential topic and the question of peace and security is also discussed at the session, he added. The situation in the Middle East was also among the main subjects on the agenda, Dr. Aziz declared, doubting any serious projects or advancement of the subject. Although U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned in his speech that he supports the two states’ solution, the existence of an independent Israeli state in Palestine is something of essential strategy to the United States, he concluded.

(To The Point) is aired on Nile TV International and it is conducted by Dina Othman.