Radio Miraya
2750: NORWEGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: "We Expect More From the Talks"
All protocol observed. It is really something special for me to be with you this evening here to my initiative and the talks that you are having. Because South Sudan and its people have a very special place in my heart personally, in the hearts of Norwegians. In my own movement, a labour movement which has been particularly close to the development for so many years. And there are so many people in Norway who care and have care and will continue to care for the situation in your country. Actually, our history, as was just mentioned, goes back many decades, more than half a century of direct engagement. First, we struggled for liberation and for the road towards an independent state. Norwegian church aid, as you know, was the first actor on the ground, soon to be followed by Norwegian people's aid. Both our organizations that are close to me and the Norwegian people's aid is also part of the Norwegian labour movement. In so many of our congresses of the youth party and of the labour party, we had representatives, high representatives of South Sudan, long before it became an independent country. We were with you at the CPA in 2005, and we were with you all the way to 2011. We were with you on the ground internationally in the UN, and I very much remember when the United Nations General Assembly welcomed the 193rd member of the UN. And I remember what was said, I think it was July, half a year after your successful referendum. The representative, it happened to be Riek Machiar, but he spoke on behalf of the country that was just established and just recognized and just become a member. He promised to contribute to peace and security in the region, but also to build a strong and viable nation at home. Well, friends, I'm not exaggerating by saying that is seriously still work in progress. Having had that very long commitment until 2011 and every day since 2011, I have to say that we have been quite disappointed with what happened. All the promises that were made, all the hopes that was created there to my knee of hope that was created then, that was not fulfilled, and by the inability to agree on the key principles of a good governance of your country. We had expected better. We are not underestimating that these things are difficult, because building a new state is no small feat. It's about building institutions. It is also building the culture of a new state. I mean the political culture of accepting the limits of power, of remembering that leaders, I am, for the moment, a leader and a former member of my country. I have never doubted that I am a servant of the people. The people, it's not my servant, it's the other way around. I'm elected and my mandate stays as long as I have it, but it's enshrined in rule of law, which limits power. You should have power, but you should use it in the proper manner. This is the essence of leadership in our type of societies, and the leadership has to be carried out by the leaders, but also that provides for the acceptance of the people. Not only people in parliament, people in government, people in the formal opposition, but also civil society. I want to particularly salute the women in the room. There should have been more of you. You probably compensate by quality over quantity, but if I am counted correctly, your population consists of at least 50% women, and always the country that become better and richer and more prosperous and more equal when we included women. I also wanted to make that point as a man that I think living in countries where women have power is actually better than living in countries where they don't, so I just wanted to make that point as well. More than half a century of direct engagement, we are not going to fail you. We are not going to fail the people of South Sudan, because you are here for the people. You are here because the people need the work that you are doing. I am proud to be working together with Kenya, and the President, William Ruto, who began to himself take a personal interest. The principal secretary, the Foreign Minister, the government really engages in this. Let me use this opportunity to say Kenya and Norway, we might be far apart. This is practically at Equator, we are between 60 and 70 degrees north, right up here, slightly different climate. There is also raining in Norway, by the way, but we see eye to eye on key issues, and we believe that countries like ours should not only look after the security and prosperity and economic world of our own countries, we should not only be looking inwards. We should also look outwards, because we are better off when our neighborhood works. I live in Europe, we have a big war in Europe. My neighbor, Russia, that we used to have a decent relationship with, are now at war on the wrong side of history, fighting in Ukraine, occupying Ukraine. Here, in this neighborhood, we have Sudan, an absolute disaster right now. The challenges in your own country that you are dealing with, we have the Horn of Africa, to go the other way. The lingering, seemingly eternal chances of the DRC, just to name a few. We need to engage in all these conflicts, not only because of the people who live there, which of course is a reason in itself, because we are all better off. As you said, on the day that you became an independent nation and a member of the UN, where you, on behalf of South Sudan, said that you would contribute to peace in the region, and that that would be fostered by building a strong and viable nation at home. So this is really, really the key task at hand. We strongly support the chief mediator and the general, the ambassador. Thank you for your work and your team. We are very appreciative. We are totally behind you. We believe this is the right path. And I want to underline that very essential part of what I understand is a common understanding. I hope I'm correctly informed that this is not a meeting to make a new agreement. You add an agreement. The 2018 agreement. This is about how you implement it to identify what went wrong. What can you do better? How do you actually implement what you already agreed? This is the task at hand. And that narrows down the scope, but it also makes it clearer what you are here to do. So I really believe in this. I believe what was just said, and I like those words. Thank you very much for the words that were mentioned about us. But also what was said that this should actually be the last time you need to fly out of the country to come to a different country. You need to solve your problems at home. We will support you. We will be with you. But the key is governance. The key is respect of the rule of law. The key is human rights, which would be universally applied to all people. And the issues of economic growth and prosperity and how to share the resources of oil. We have a lot of experience in that in Norway, how to manage the economy. That comes once you get your house in order, once you get governance. You have so many friends already to help you, but we cannot enforce. It's you who have to get your house in order. You have to get together and actually find the key solutions which the people have also done. The women and the men, the young, the elderly, everybody expects from you. So you are here as leaders representing in your different ways the people of your own country. And you have duty to them. And I feel that I, as a Norwegian Foreign Minister, we as Norway, if I may speak on behalf of Kenya for a second, we have a duty to help you, but will help you to do your job. That's why you are here. And I wish you all the best and I have a lot of hope, a lot of humanity. (audience clapping)