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Lesotho rep touts ''otherness'' in farewell remarks to UNCTAD Board

17 September 2012

In his farewell remarks to the Trade and Development Board of UNCTAD as outgoing President today, Ambassador Anthony Mothae Maruping of Lesotho called for a spirit of "otherness" in the work of delegations at UNCTAD.

"The spirit of otherness helps us to see past our own biases and limitations, and widens our horizons and helps us to better see a more global good," he said.

He elaborated that "Too often in our daily lives, including in our multilateral work, we focus on ourselves: our interests, our objectives, even our prejudices. Sometimes we forget to think of others: their needs, their perceptions, and their priorities."

"It is only when we can embrace each other - when we can actively and consciously strive for good for others as for ourselves - that we can truly say that we are working for true consensus building," the Ambassador of Lesotho said.

2012-09-17_TDB01.jpg 
Outgoing President, Ambassador Anthony Mothae Maruping of Lesotho, welcomes the new President of the TDB,
H.E. Mr. Juri Seilenthal, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Estonia

 

2012-09-17_TDB02.jpgThis for him, the Ambassador said, "is perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from the UNCTAD XIII process."

The UNCTAD XIII conference was held in Doha, Qatar in April of this year under the theme of "Development Centred Globalization: Towards Inclusive and Sustainable Growth."

The conference adopted the Doha Mandate as the negotiated outcome document outlining the mandates of UNCTAD in trade, finance, investment, science and technology, Africa, least developed countries, Palestine, capacity-building and other areas, as well as a political declaration -- the Doha Manar.

The UNCTAD Trade and Development Board in its plenary session today elected as its new President H.E. Mr. Juri Seilenthal, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Estonia.

Also elected as one of the Vice Presidents was H.E. Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan.