President Nangolo Mbumba has tasked the Prime Minister to see how best Namibia can align and fit domestic policies to respond better to the call in the Pact for the Future.
He underscored that the Pact and its annexes provide guidelines for how governments can collectively work to urgently address global challenges.
Mbumba, who co-chaired the summit alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, provided feedback on the Pact during a press briefing at State House.
The Pact of the Future was adopted by consensus during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly last month, following the Summit of the Future.
The Namibian leader responded to queries over the public documents, saying none of these impose any legal obligations on the country's government.
"Since I received letters from different quarters questioning why Namibia co-chaired the summit and co-facilitated the drafting of the Pact, I need to make it very clear here that Namibia did not negotiate any legally binding agreement. The Pact for the Future is an intergovernmentally negotiated action-orientated document adopted by consensus. The Pact for the Future provides a guideline and proposals on how governments and humanity can work together to urgently address global challenges such as climate change and conflicts, and importantly, how we can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. I have tasked the Prime Minister to see how best we can align and fit our policies to respond better to the call in the Pact for the Future."
The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr. Peya Mushelenga, backs the President's explanations while responding to the concerns of the Republican Party's leader, Henk Mudge.
Mudge had alleged secrecy around the Pact and its implications, which Minister Mushelenga dismissed.
"As a small country, we believe in multilateralism because our foreign policy also underscores issues raised in the Pact of the Future, like issues of peace and security, so for one to come and say things on the document that perhaps he has not clearly understood, one just exposes yourself to the limitations on issues that you set yourself to speak about."
Before the Summit of the Future, President Mbumba held consultations with the German Chancellor, Scholz, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Ambassador Philemon Yang, President of the 79th Session of the General Assembly.