At the outset,
on behalf of the Republic of the Sudan, I would like to
convey to Mr. Sam Kutesa our sincerest congratulations
on his election as President of the General Assembly
at its sixty-ninth session. I also extend thanks and
appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. John Ashe, for
his wise and patient conduct of the deliberations of
the previous session. We hope that this session will
culminate in concrete results on important, universal
issues, in particular the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and the implementation
of the post-2015 development agenda, which is a major
topic of discussion at this session.
Today, I address the Assembly at a time when the
Sudan is on the threshold of an important new phase of
comprehensive political participation that excludes no
party, faction or group. On 27 January, His Excellency
the President of the Republic of the Sudan, President
Omer Al-Bashir, launched an initiative for an inclusive
national dialogue, calling on the representatives of
the Sudanese people to sit at the same table to discuss
six major priorities: unity and peace, the economy,
fundamental freedoms and rights, their identity,
foreign relations and the issues of governance and
the implementation of the outcomes of the national
dialogue.
The President’s appeal enjoyed an unprecedented
response on the part of all political forces in the Sudan
and the international community in view of the fact that
both the Government and the opposition were convinced
that dialogue was the only option at that time, as agreed
by the people of the Sudan. There followed a succession
of organizational and procedural consultations in order
to translate the statement of His Excellency the President
into concrete steps. The initiative even found a positive
response among the armed groups that still existed. I
would like to affirm the State’s intention to move the
dialogue forward in the hope of achieving a national
consensus on the political future of the country.
In that regard, we greatly appreciate the ongoing
efforts of the African Union and the African Union
High-level Implementation Panel on the three major
political, security and economic tracks. We call on
the international community to promote a positive and
constructive role in support of the Sudanese economy,
in particular by lifting the unilateral sanctions, and by
cancelling the Sudan’s accumulated debt, in line with
the aspirations for broader political participation.
The Sudan has continued to play an effective
and positive role at the regional level on the African
continent, with a view to establishing peace and
stability in neighbouring States. When a conflict
broke out in the Republic of South Sudan, the Sudan
adhered to the principle of non-interference in the
internal affairs of that country. The Sudan was the first
State to provide humanitarian aid to those affected in
South Sudan, and continues to do so. The Sudan is
participating effectively with the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development so as to put an end to the war
and to conclude a reconciliation agreement between the
two parties to the conflict in South Sudan. My country
has received more than 100,000 internally displaced
persons from South Sudan.
In that context, we recall the Sudan’s constructive
efforts for the restoration of peace and stability in the
Central African Republic, thereby complementing other
international and regional efforts. The Sudan is also
actively working with Libya’s neighbours in assisting
the Libyan parties to reach an agreement on a solution
to the Libyan crisis. Internationally, I underscore the
trilateral cooperation among the Sudan, Ethiopia and
the Arab Republic of Egypt in order to ensure the
common enjoyment of the waters of the Blue Nile and
to avert any negative repercussions in that country.
In that regard, we also stress the efforts of the
Sudan in the area of border control and demarcation
with neighbouring States in order to strengthen the
border posts and border monitoring and security
and to prevent transnational crime, including illegal
immigration and the illegal transfer of small arms
and light weapons. In that context, we appreciate the
experience of the joint border forces of the Sudan and
Chad, the Sudan and the Central African Republic, and
the Sudan and Libya as models of successful regional
security cooperation between neighbouring States in
the interests of peace and stability. In that connection, I
would like to recall that in mid-October 2014, the Sudan
will host a conference, in partnership with Italy, the
European Union and the African Union, on preventing
illegal immigration, smuggling and human trafficking.
Concerning the situation in the Middle East, the
question of Palestine has continued to present a real
challenge for the international community for decades.
It has now reached a stage that requires the exceptional
and prompt action of the international community in
order to contain the situation and to move it forward
towards sustainable peace in the Middle East, through
the achievement of the legitimate and urgent demands
of the Palestinian people, in particular the protection
and reconstruction of what the Israeli war machine has
destroyed. The entire world’s ongoing disregard for the
genocidal war in Palestine and its failure to intervene to
protect the Palestinians and their rights fuel extremism
in the region and throughout the world. As long as
the Palestinian people opt for a peaceful solution, it is
imperative to support that direction in order to prevent
despair from spreading and the pursuit of destructive
solutions.
We fully accept and support the theme of the
post-2015 development agenda as a major topic for
discussion at this session. However, there remain only
a few months until the end of 2014 and we still have not
achieved all the MDGs. We nevertheless remain very
hopeful that we can overcome the obstacles that have
impeded us from achieving those Goals and that the
deliberations will culminate in a thorough preparation
for the development of viable post-2015 sustainable
development goals.
In the United Nations Millennium Declaration
(resolution 55/2), adopted in 2000, the Heads of State
and Government unanimously agreed a set of principles
and goals that laid the foundation for an international
partnership to put an end to people’s suffering and
poverty. The year 2015 was designated as the deadline
for eradicating poverty and for ensuring well-being.
However, the achievements reached on the eve of the
end of 2014 are still short of our aspirations, since
poverty, suffering, need, environmental deterioration
and unemployment persist.
The agreement of the world’s leaders with regard
to mitigating poverty requires that the obstacles to
achieving such development be overcome. However, the
development partners that drafted the Declaration have
adopted actions that run counter to its provisions and
to human rights. Such coercive measures as unilateral
sanctions outside the framework of international
legitimacy have flagrantly damaged the content of
the Millennium Declaration. That has had an adverse
impact on the noble principles and purposes of the
Declaration.
Indications of the current situation in human
development are that the Sudan has achieved concrete
progress in several fields, especially in peace, health
care, education and the standard of living. While
acknowledging uneven degrees of progress between
rural and urban areas, the Sudan has implemented a
federal system to promote the role of local communities.
However, such progress has been greatly damaged as a
result of coercive and unilateral measures illegally and
unjustifiably imposed against the Sudan, which have
aggravated and delayed initiatives, thereby negating
the Sudan’s role, and which continue to shackle the
country’s economy. In that regard, I recall that the
international consensus, achieved after the referendum
in South Sudan that led to the separation of South Sudan,
had been to cancel the Sudan’s debts. A number of
States were assigned to do so in order to promote peace
and development after the end of the war. However, that
agreement has not been implemented so far.
In the Sudan, in the context of our established
commitment to the MDGs, we have formulated the
required policies, which have gone a long way towards
promoting several poverty-eradication projects and
initiatives, such as the establishment of a funding
portfolio for small families and those with limited
income; programmes to recruit graduates and young
people in capital projects; the promotion of the role
of women in governance and management; and the
strenghtening of the role of the zakat fund in promoting
quick and short-term funds and other projects, which
have resulted in helping thousands of families to play
a productive role in paying the zakat. That is now
under consideration by the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, so that it can be applied throughout the
Islamic States.
However, we must affirm from this rostrum
the importance of the commitment to a common
responsibility in achieving development objectives,
because the international community must support
and assist developing countries, especially the least
developed, which represent the segment more in need
of support and capacity-building. That is why, in the
light of declining development assistance, we hope that
deliberations at this session culminate in our taking
practical steps in financing development for developing
countries, especially those emerging from conflict. On
the basis of those measures and in order to guarantee
serving the objectives of development, my delegation
feels it important to include the following requirements
in the post-2015 development agenda.
First, we should consider debt cancellation, providing
the necessary funding and renouncing discrimination
and exclusionary political considerations. Secondly,
we should facilitate the transfer of development-
related technology and information through advanced
communications technology. Thirdly, we should
suspend coercive measures, sanctions and all kinds of
illegal measures imposed unilaterally by States outside
the framework of international legitimacy. Fourthly,
we should launch feasible initiatives in North-South
relations, such as funding food-security projects,
where my country can play a pioneering and effective
role in their success. Fifthly, we should help the United
Nations and its various organs to play an effective role
in achieving their desired development objectives by
providing the mechanisms enabling them to do so.
This year’s general debate coincides with the
United Nations Climate Summit, the outcomes of which
we hope will provide a strong impetus for the current
efforts to address climate change and to turn the grave
challenge facing humankind into an opportunity for
joint action in order to achieve a binding international
commitment to supplement the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, take
practical steps towards a green economy, and reduce the
carbon emissions that threaten the safety of our planet.
In that regard, the Sudan, a State affected by the climate
change phenomenon, accords special importance to
the environment issue. We recall that the drought and
desertification that have hobbled Africa north of the
equator are the living examples of the effcts of climate
change, which have led to tribal conflicts over sources
of water and pasture. The Sudan’s involvement in the
United Nations Environment Programme over the past
40 years has been consistent with our concern in that
regard.
The Sudan remains in an effective global
partnership in the fight against terrorism at the national
level. We have come a long way in harmonizing our
laws with international legislation and in working with
international law and instruments relevant to fighting
terrorism. We commit ourselves to those international
laws and reaffirm our commitment against all forms
and manifestations of terrorism. At the same time, we
condemn any attempt to identify terrorism with any
religion, race or culture and call for the redoubling of
efforts to enhance international and regional cooperation
to stand up to terrorism. The phenomenon of terrorism
can be addressed and overcome only through a balanced
international system based on equality and respect
for the established principles of international law and
the Charter of the United Nations. In that context, we
feel that any unilateral action based on politicizing
terrorism will not eliminate but exacerbate it. There are
numerous instances supporting that conclusion.
In conclusion, the Sudan affirms that international
and regional security is an integrated, interconnected
system and that the Organization has invested enormous
efforts and resources in peacekeeping operations. It is
now time to do so, and we have significant experience
in that regard. It is time for the Organization to invest
in peacemaking and peacebuilding by supporting
developing countries and building the capacities of least
developed countries so that they can achieve the MDGs
and peace and development can supplement each other.