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Mancham takes part in World Eco-Safety Assembly in Bali |11 December 2012

Mancham takes part in World Eco-Safety Assembly in Bali

Mr Mancham delivering his keynote speech

The election took place Sunday evening at a special meeting of the council's presidium held in Bali, Indonesia on the eve of the opening of the conference of the council of World Eco-Safety Assembly (Wesa).

The two other new members of the seventeen-strong presidium elected alongside Mr Mancham are Sheila Copps, former deputy Prime Minister of Canada and Anna K.Tabaijuka, Minister for Land Resources and Housing of the United Republic of Tanzania.

The election takes effect from December 12, 2012 and will terminate end of December 2017.
 
The IESCO presidium is jointly chaired by Dr Jiang MingJun, founding president and director-general of IESCO; Jose de Veneciajr, former Speaker of the National Assembly of the Philippines; and Zhang Deguang, President of China Foundation of International Studies.

The first plenary conference opened yesterday morning at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Centre, attended by over 300 international and Indonesian delegates, mostly from global peers like China, USA, Canada, Japan, among other developing nations.

Mr Mancham was one of the keynote speakers at the opening of the Assembly. Before delivering his keynote address, Mr Mancham read a special message from President James Michel, who was not able to take part in the conference due to other engagements.

“We are the barometers for the health of our planet. If we face rising sea levels, or coral bleaching, it is not just our homes and livelihoods that are affected, it is the heritage of humanity which is at risk,” said President Michel in the message, before commending Wesa for mobilising support for action to better structure the world economy and the management of the environment at the global level.

“In the post Rio landscape, we are encouraged by the potential growth of the blue economy and green Eco, which we need to ensure in the interest of economic growth and environmental sustainability,” said President Michel in the message.

Regretting that he was unable to attend the landmark event personally, President Michel conveyed his heartfelt good wishes for the success of the conference and acknowledged the role Mr Mancham in this context.

Thanking the organisers for their support, President Michel stated that implementing eco-safety in Seychelles is both a challenge and an opportunity.

Mr Mancham, in his own address, questioned the attitude of the big powers who were not, in his view, doing enough to resolve the problem of climate change and global warming.

He quoted John Donne’s famous phrase that no man is an island entire of himself and that we are all part of the whole, which means that today we are living in a global village situation.

Unfortunately, Mr Mancham said, "far too much money has been spent on defence budget as opposed to human resource development”, expressing his concern at the state of global politics where there is an upsurge in nationalist pride and fervour.

Mr Mancham called on global leaders to put the interest of the globe first. He said he was speaking from the heart, and without speaking about statistics, he can confirm that in his own experience in his lifetime that certain coastal fishes in Seychelles waters are no more around, and certain beaches have been gravely affected by erosion.

He further stated that the big nations must lead by example and that he himself ascribed to the notion that no country is small if it is surrounded by the sea, and that Seychelles participation at the Wesa conference in Bali reflects the often forgotten fact that we are all part of the same universe and it is certainly a matter of grave concern that the total world defence budget is about 30 times more than what the world is spending on human resource development.

"It also seems that the gods of the world which is represented by nature has over recent times been sending messages that despite all scientific development and achievements, nature remains overriding and supreme."

Also taking part in the conference are two members of the Seychelles diplomatic mission in China - Christian Faure, second secretary, and Li Huanhuan, member of the ambassador’s secretariat.

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