Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana

"In all these conflicts, by far, the largest casualties, are women and children. As we meet here the families of the kidnapped school girls in Nigeria are still waiting in agony for the safe return of their children."

"The world has become such a boiling pot of conflicts, the source of which varies in type and magnitude. Inequality and uneven distribution of the national resource, bad governance, deprivation of basic human rights and freedom, poverty and unemployment, particulary among the youth and women, are some of the causes of conflicts in the world today"

"Women kind, Mr Chairman, is a resource the world has in abundance and which is yet to be put to maximum use. While I do not have figures to support my argument as to how many women play a role in public affairs, allow me say that they are playing an insignificant role in that regard. Our resolve as Socialists to establish a Commission on Equality cannot but mainstream gender equality in the general philosophy of this agenda. The world needs love and healing and women are natural love and life givers and healers at the same time. Let us make good of them in conflict resolutions. I am sure they have the skill, inborn and acquired to do so. Let us give peace an opportunity through peaceful resolution of conflicts."

"While democracy can bring a measure for good governance for a country, it is not the only means of achieving harmony in all situations. Different countries have peculiar problems which may call for peculiar solutions. Dialogue and consultation for peaceful and mutually accepted solution can be the alternative to confrontation with resultant loss of life and the destruction of properties as it happened in Libya and elsewhere."

"It is not long ago when the Socialist family heralded the new spirit brought about by what was called " the Arab Spring." Libya, Syria and others are still in the state of ungovernability long after the revolution had taken place. Libya in particular, was once upon a time considered a prosperous country on the African continent. Today as we speak, Libya is in ruins levelled to the ground and no tangible alternative government to replace the over thrown government of Muamar Gaddafi. Instead a civil war is ranging unabatedly and the world is watching helplessly. The aftermath of this revolution is yet to bring relief to the ordinary masses of those countries."