18 December 2020

New York, London, Paris, 12 December — Global climate leaders took a major stride towards a resilient, net zero emissions future today, presenting ambitious new commitments, urgent actions and concrete plans to confront the climate crisis.

Co-convened by the United Nations, the UK and France, in partnership with Italy and Chile, on the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, today’s Climate Ambition Summit marked a major milestone on the road to the crucial UN climate conference COP26 in Glasgow next November.

75 leaders from all continents outlined new commitments at the Summit. This is a clear signal that the Paris Agreement - more than ever before the compass of international action - is working to steeply increase climate action and ambition.

20th IORA Council of Ministers Meeting

18 December 2020

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted the 20th IORA Council of Ministers (COM) Meeting on 17 December 2020, virtually.

This year, IORA held its first Council of Ministers virtually, welcoming its 22 Member States and 10 Dialogue Partners, to discuss ways in coordinating efforts to achieve IORA’s vision for a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indian Ocean region as outlined in the Jakarta Concord and IORA Action Plan.

Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples 1960: A Milestone in Decolonization Process

17 December 2020

This year marks two most remarkable anniversaries: 75th anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations and the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by the General Assembly of the United Nations. These two events, the way we see it, are tightly intertwined. The creation of the UN – the true embodiment of mankind’s intention to build a better world and prevent the horrors of World War II from happening ever again – laid the foundation for the adoption of the Declaration, 15 years later. We find natural – what kind of a better world would that be, if such abominable thing as colonialism would have still been in place? Since 24 October 1945, when the United Nations was established, over 80 countries which were earlier under colonial rule became the rightful UN members. The UN played a pivotal role in the decolonization process by defining the goals and norms which, in their turn, helped the colonized countries and their peoples to gain independence. The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples of 1960 became one of the UN’s most efficient instruments in this endeavour. It is no exaggeration to say that the Declaration has changed the world’s legal order forever. It gave a powerful impulse to the colonial territories’ movement for independence and stated the necessity of putting a speedy end to colonialism, thus becoming a true milestone in the decolonization process and one of the finest achievements of the UN’s work.

17 December 2020

Mr Sirisena Amarasekara High Commissioner designate of Sri Lanka arrived in South Africa in December. South Africa and Sri Lanka relations were established in September 1994 soon after the 1st democratic elections in South Africa in April of the same year. Sri Lanka has also gone through a fundamental change after a 30 year civil war.

There have been several exchanges and high level visits between the two countries as cooperation between the countries deepen. Last year President Ramaphosa of South Africa made an official visit to the island nation that is strategically located in the waters of the Indian Ocean between Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

15 December 2020

South Africa has over the years experienced the migration of unaccompanied and undocumented children, especially, from SADC countries such as Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Mozambique who for many reasons crossed the borders to live in the country. South Africa is a signatory to different international Conventions including the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child and the African Charter on the Rights and welfare of the Child which obligates South Africa to accord every child who lives within the borders of the country to receive all basic services including healthcare, education, food and shelter.

Poppie Nongena wins BRICS Film Festival

14 December 2020

As Russia’s presidency of BRICS draws to a close, the Embassy of Russia in South Africa hosted the screening of the movie ‘Poppie Nongena’ in Pretoria on Friday, 11 December. This South African movie won the main prize at the 5th BRICS Film Festival in October 2020 in Moscow.