Zambia: Sata, Ban Confer

PRESIDENT Michael Sata yesterday held a closed-door meeting with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Mr Sata and Mr Ban discussed, among other issues, the preparations for the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly to be co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe in August 2013 and the Constitution making process in Zambia.

The event will be an opportunity for Zambia to showcase and promote its tourism sector.

The duo also discussed Zambia’s desire to establish an institute for international studies in honour of the late Dag Hammarskjold, the UN Secretary General who died in a plane crash in Ndola.

Dag Hammarskjöld, born on July 29, 1905, was a Swedish diplomat, economist and author, who died on September 18, 1961 on his way to Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) to negotiate a cease fire there.

Mr Hammarskjold, the second Secretary-General of the UN, served from April 1953 until his death.

Mr Sata and Mr Ban also discussed the Cluster Munitions.

This is according to a statement issued here by First Secretary for Press and Public Relations at the Permanent Mission of Zambia to the United Nations Chibaula Silwamba

Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Given Lubinda, MP, was recently elected as in-coming president of the state parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Zambia would host the Cluster Munition Convention, which is a UN convention, in 2013.

Mr Ban pledged to support Zambia’s preparation for the Cluster Munitions Convention and the country’s presidency.

A cluster munitions is a form of ground-launched explosive weapon that ejects smaller but highly destructive sub munitions.

The convention on Cluster Munitions prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of munitions.

President Sata was accompanied by Mr Lubinda, Zambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mwaba Kasese-Bota and Attorney General Mr Mumba Malila.

Mr Ban was accompanied by UN Chef de Cabinet, Susana Malcorra, among other UN senior officials.

Meanwhile, Mr Sata said harnessing collective resources of the different agencies within the United Nations (UN) family was a critical requirement for consolidating peace as well as creating coherence within the systems.

Mr Sata said it was therefore imperative that strong partnership between official Governmental actors and the civil society were fostered to enhance long term peace and security for sustainable development of countries.

He said it was through such collaboration that peace and development could be spread worldwide.

He said this at a high level event on ‘Peace-building: way towards sustainable peace and security’.