Statement by H.E. Dr. Hage Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia at the official opening of the International Relations and Cooperation Policy Review Conference
photo left: H.E. Dr. Hage Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Inernational Relations and Cooperation, Hon. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah (Please click on the photos to enlarge the picture)
(...),
Welcome to this “foreign policy” review conference. As you might be aware one of the first changes made when I became President, was to rename our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation. This was done to reflect the dynamics of the changing world order and modern day diplomacy.
We live in a globalized world where we need to hold hands across countries and continents to ensure the ecological survival of our planet and of human kind. We may speak different languages, have different religions, and different colors, but at the end of the day, we are all human beings. We, therefore, no longer speak of foreign affairs, but of international relationships, cooperation and partnerships in charting common developmental paths. Consistent with that change I will, henceforth, refer to the exercise to be undertaken this week as a review of Namibia’s Policy on International Relations and Cooperation and not foreign policy review.
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