In his speech, The Minister adopted a tone of negotiation, signaling a readiness for dialogue rather than a firm stance of advocacy with regards to Zambia’s position on Regional and International Affairs. In his opening remarks, he commended the United Nations (UN) for being the cornerstone for global peace, security and cooperation. Indicating that, the UN has helped prevent major conflicts, advance decolonization, support key peace keeping missions and play a leading role in advancing global action in public health, education and humanitarian relief which in turn has saved countless lives.

He further stated that, UN initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have mobilized nations to reduce poverty as well as promote Gender Equity. However, the Minister also noted that Zambia recognized that the UN had been slow to react to some of the conflict situations which in some cases have led to humanitarian crisis. Stating that the UN needs key reforms particularly for Africa whose voice remains stifled after 8 decades. Although, the Minister also argued that the parts of the UN that work must be preserved. For instance, the resident coordinator system which has helped coordinate various UN coordinating agencies to ensure they work together effectively efficiently and transparently in supporting the host Governments to achieve SDGs.

Mr Haimbe noted that the current escalation in geopolitical tensions have placed multilateralism under threat and thus condemned all forms of war and conflict stating that all parties involved in conflict should choose diplomacy over violence to avoid erasing decades of development gain-reminding the world through the words of President Hakainde Hichilema that instability anywhere is

instability everywhere.

At regional level, the minister reemphasized that Zambia continues to support the works of the African Union (AU) and other regional organizations in mediation and peace keeping including in the Hone of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Further underscoring that African Nations continue to count on the support of the International Community in silencing the guns.

 The Minister informed the  UN General Assembly  that at home being inspired by Agenda 2030, the UPND government has made bold reforms to improve the lives of Zambian people despite the devastating drought the country experienced in 2024. By strategically investing in the youth through initiatives such as the free primary education and expanded health care infrastructure programs. Despite the changing landscape in development assistance, the minister also called for continued efforts by development partners especially under the HIV prevention Programs. He informed the president of the General Assembly that, in order to protect the most vulnerable and caution the impact of extreme poverty, his government introduced initiatives such as the social cash transfer program, food security packs program and skills training program. Other areas of transformation as indicated by the minister include Women empowerment and youth inclusion, debt sustainability, climate change, macroeconomic stability and renewed investor confidence.

In his concluding remarks, the Minister reechoed the call for equality in the international financial architecture and the UN security Council that has for decades perpetuated inequalities for developing countries.

          From the General Debate Statement, we can conclude that Zambia’s Traditional role greatly characterized by advocacy against colonialism, apartheid and neo-colonialism has significantly changed. Under Hon. Haimbe’s leadership, Zambia’s Foreign Policy approach is more focused on facilitating trade, attracting foreign investment and strengthening multilateralism while ensuring that the lives of the Zambian People continue to improve.  

PARALLEL SESSIONS

From Round Tables to Private dialogues, Zambia Participated and chaired a number of parallel meetings at the 80^th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The message sent across in various settings was that Zambia is ready for investment and strengthened bilateral and multilateral cooperation in strategic areas such as Energy, Women and Girls Empowerment, Health, Mining, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Security, Climate Change, Tourism and Education. Here is a list of a few significant sideline events; The  Bilateral meeting with the America- Jewish Committee, the  side event on the Non Communicable Diseases (NCD),the sideline event  on financing for development , the Inaugural Biennial Summit, the Bilateral meetings with Morrocco, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Lithuania, the  high level meeting on the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the  sideline event on the 25^th Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting (CFAMM), the Summit of the African Union Committee of Ten (C-10) and the sideline event on LandLocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)

JITO DIPLOMACY

Jito Diplomacy is not a standard term in international relations. It is however, a concept that refers to enhancing investor confidence in Zambia as spear headed by Mr. Jito Kayumba Advisor to the President of the Republic of Zambia. In a video published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs facebook page , Mr Jito at the UN sideline event reemphasizes Zambia’s readiness for investment in key strategic sectors and further reassures the Zambian People that he is Spearheading investment that yields economic results, brings jobs and improves lives.