KK bemoans tension, conflict in the world

KK bemoans tension, conflict in the world
Written by George Chellah
Tuesday, May 05, 2009 10:59:34 PM

DR Kenneth Kaunda has said tension and conflicts among communities have resulted in stagnation in the indices of human development. Delivering his speech at Tehran University in the Islamic Republic of Iran last Saturday, Dr Kaunda said peace and development were indivisible.

"Indeed, there can be no development without peace and no peace without development Dr Kaunda said. "Since ancient times, the world has experienced varying eras of tension and conflicts among communities, which have resulted in stagnation in the indices of human development."

He said conflicts lead to misery with devastating consequences.

"The killing of hundreds of innocent women and children in Gaza recently by Israel is an example. This action by Israel is unacceptable to say the least and must be condemned in the strongest language," Dr Kaunda said. "The wanton destruction of property in Gaza should never be repeated. All efforts must be made by the International community to help the people of Gaza in the rebuilding of their country."

Dr Kaunda explained that the United Nations (UN) was founded to promote peace, international understanding and cooperation.

"At that time, memories of the horrors of the first and second world wars were still fresh in minds of the crafters of the UN Charter, who in their wisdom, provided the following inscription in the preamble and I quote 'to serve succeeding generations from the scourge of war,'" Dr Kaunda said. "Sadly, some signatories to this charter have taken unilateral action in Iraq and Afghanistan with devastating consequences including the destruction of property and loss of life."

He said there could be no doubt therefore that the terrifying horrors of all wars were too gustily to contemplate.

"I sincerely believe that as a result humanity has been shocked beyond comprehension and belief due to recent wars just as was the case in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1945," Dr Kaunda said. "I wish to convey my sincere gratitude to my dear brother His Excellency President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the important role he is playing towards the resolution of the question of Palestine and his role in fighting for world peace. I would like to emphasize that under his leadership Iran continues to be an important and key member of the international community. The efforts of Iran are not in isolation."

He said the UN remains the embodiment of the international community with the mandate for maintenance of international peace and security.

Dr Kaunda said UN member states have a duty and obligation to work for peaceful resolution of conflicts.

"If allowed to work independently the UN serves as a forum for harmonisation of actions by all member states and thereby preventing adventurism by the powerful and rich nations. Adventurism circumvents the principle of collective security as provided under the UN charter," said Dr Kaunda. "I wish in this regard to reiterate that all member states of the UN need to avoid unilateral action in their conduct of international relations. In this day and age we are all agreed that unilateralism must be replaced by multilateralism."