It is my pleasure on this occasion to offer my greetings and appreciation to all the Heads of State and delegations that are participating in the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly.
I would also like to congratulate Mr. Dennis Francis on presiding over the General Assembly at this session, and I wish him every success in that noble task. I also want to thank Mr. Csaba Korosi. President of the General Assembly at its previous session, for his efforts.
I sincerely thank and appreciate Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and reiterate Algeria’s support for his tireless and commendable efforts to strengthen the role of our Organization and to promote it in order to respond to the aspirations of our peoples.
We are here in this global Hall, which embraces the entire world in all its differences and diversity, hoping to promote the urgent matter of dialogue and discussion leading to coexistence, cooperation, solidarity and equality among nations. For over 50 years, my
country has highlighted from this noble rostrum the dysfunction of the current global order and called for a new international order to achieve the equality among States for which the United Nations was established.
The conflicts and crises in our world have reached unprecedented levels. Millions of people have been displaced and international relations transformed from ties of cooperation and consensus to confrontation and conflict that threaten international organizations in the midst of a world that is enduring climate and other emergencies under extreme pressure. In the face of those geopolitical conflicts and multiple crises, the weakening of the pivotal role of the Security Council over the past few years is evident. The Council’s role, as set out in the Charter of the United Nations, is to maintain international peace and security, in particular by preventing the use of force and by eliminating the causes that threaten peace and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
The time has come for all of us to reflect together on how to uphold the principles and values of the Charter, to promote our common resolve and to build a strong foundation leading to more effective global cooperation on major issues in order to establish international peace and security and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in a multipolar world.
From that perspective. Algeria will soon be a non-permanent member of the Security Council. We are aware of the responsibility that is incumbent on us. especially in the face of the many challenges that the international community is facing. We take this opportunity to once again thank the 184 Member States that voted in favour of my country. That was an expression of trust that Algeria will seek to uphold throughout its term on the Council. We are ready to strengthen cooperation with all States members of the Security Council and the United Nations as a whole. We are also ready to use Algeria’s extensive experience in mediation and to prioritize political solutions and peaceful settlements of conflicts. In that spirit, my country will join the Security Council, bringing with it the aspirations of the peoples of the African continent and the Arab world, and calling for an end to managing conflicts and focusing on achieving lasting solutions to conflicts by addressing their root causes.
Any effort to strengthen joint international action requires us to respond to the growing appeals to strengthen the multilateral system by comprehensively reforming the main organs of our Organization in order to make them more transparent and ensure the necessary balance among the main organs and equitable geographical distribution. The revitalized central role of the General Assembly, the only organ that truly reflects the diversity of our international community, is a key element in strengthening equality among States and the pillars of true democracy. It is also essential to making progress on intergovernmental negotiations on reforming the Security Council, based on an integrated and comprehensive approach. That should be a priority for the international community if it is to reach consensus on genuine reform that ensures greater representation and transparency. I reiterate the commitment of Algeria to the Common African Position, which would put an end to the historic injustice against the African continent.
Algeria knows well the price of freedom. We will never abandon just causes and always support oppressed peoples fighting for their freedom. That is why we have always supported the Palestinian question in order to enable the brotherly Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights and to establish their own independent State within the 4 June 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, in conformity with the resolutions of international legitimacy. As part of our support for the just Palestinian question, and under my own personal supervision, late last year my country held a meeting attended by various Palestinian factions that was crowned with the adoption of the Algiers Declaration. In that context. I reiterate our commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative as a framework for resolving the Palestinian question and putting an end to the occupation, which is the main cause of instability in the Middle East region.
I appeal to the conscience of the international community to assume its moral and historical responsibility and allow the Palestinian people to regain their full rights and decide on their own future. Furthermore. I take this opportunity to call on the International Court of Justice to respond to the request made by the General Assembly on 30 December 2022 by giving an advisory opinion regarding the Israeli practices affecting human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
We aspire to establishing the truth and honouring the struggle of the Palestinian people, who have suffered and sacrificed too long under occupation. From this rostrum. I also call on the Security Council to adopt a resolution that would guarantee the two-State solution.
which enjoys consensus within the international community, and put an end to the unilateral practices of the occupying authority, foremost of which are the settlement activities on occupied Palestinian territories. We once again call for and insist on the need for a special session of the General Assembly to grant the State of Palestine the status of full-fledged membership. I repeat, we call once again for a special session of the General Assembly to grant the State of Palestine the status of full-fledged membership.
We are proud of what our Organization has accomplished in terms of decolonization in a number of regions, and we aspire to a definitive end to the colonization of the last African colony. Indeed, an entire people in Western Sahara have been deprived of its fundamental right to self-determination. It is necessary to organize a free and fair referendum consistent with the African settlement plan that was adopted by the Security Council in 1991 and approved by both parties but still awaits implementation. Given that reality and attempts to create legitimacy based on illegitimacy, it is incumbent on the United Nations to preserve the credibility of its own resolutions, to support the full implementation of those resolutions and to safeguard its reputation. In that context. I reiterate our support for the efforts of the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara to relaunch direct negotiations and to organize a referendum to allow the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions.
My country is following with great interest the troubling events in some sisterly and friendly nations. We are making every effort to find peaceful solutions and to bring the parties together in order to bring positions and points of view closer.
Turning now to the situation in sisterly Libya. I reiterate our support for the United Nations efforts to find a political solution led by the Libyan people themselves and allowing them to preserve the unity, sovereignty territorial integrity of Libya.
Turning to the situation in Mali. Algeria is playing a lead role in the area of international mediation and presiding over the Follow-up Committee on the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali emanating from the Algiers process. It is resolute in its efforts to overcome the obstacles in that sisterly nation. We reiterate our position rejecting any resort to force in order to settle conflicts.
With regard to developments in our neighbouring country the Niger. Algeria reiterates its commitment to a return to the constitutional order through peaceful means and to ensuring that diplomatic and political solutions prevail, while respecting the rule of law. We call for vigilance, given the intentions of foreign military intervention, which could have dangerous repercussions on peace and stability in the Niger and in the region as a whole.
At the same time, the concerning situation in the Sudan requires us to call on all sisterly parties to the conflict to put an end to the fighting and to pursue dialogue. That situation has serious repercussions on the humanitarian situation in the country. That vulnerable and unstable situation is casting a shadow over the entire Sahel and Sahara region, which suffers from low development rates, famine and climate change, leading to further instability and strengthening terrorist groups that use the region as a haven for their criminal activity.
In that context. Algeria is sparing no effort to support the development of countries of the region, and has been sharing its experience in the area of combating terrorism and violent extremism. In that regard, we participated in the extraordinary summit of the African Union held in Malabo on 28 May 2022 as coordinator of the fight against terrorism and violent extremism in Africa. We presented a report at that time about the threat caused by the growth of terrorism in Africa and mechanisms to address it. The report also considered a number of practical mechanisms to strengthen the fight against terrorism in Africa, and underscored the importance of making the fight against terrorism a top priority that requires common African action. Moreover. Algeria’s contribution as an international mediator is not confined to its geographical region. My country also truly participated in the Arab Contact Group’s efforts to relaunch direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
More than eight years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Plan of Action, many developing States continue to face challenges and need more solidarity from the international community in order to achieve a better world and to have a more equitable and effective economic model that would allow them to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Algeria has adopted a sustainable development plan that it has made a national priority and integrated into all of the plans, strategies and programmes that have been launched by the Government. That in turn has made it possible for us to achieve considerable results in the area of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially with regard to education, health care, construction, electricity and water. Speaking of water, my country has launched a desalination of sea waters programme, and by the end of 2024 will be able to produce over a billion metric tons of water daily.
My country has always enjoyed the support and confidence of the Human Rights Council and is party to most international human rights treaties. We strengthen our cooperation with the Human Rights Council, coordinate with various human rights bodies and deal with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). In the context of the UPR. my country issued its fourth national report in November 2022. My country is firmly convinced that respect for and the promotion of human rights are the very cornerstones of any credible political system. That is why we work to strengthen human rights by all means available to us. That resolve is based on the Algerian people’s attachment to human rights.
My country’s Constitution was amended in 2020 on the basis of that conviction and our belief in the need to strengthening fundamental freedoms and human rights. The amendment explicitly bans any undermining of those freedoms; enshrines equality among all citizens, men and women, in terms of rights and duties; and strengthens the effective participation of all. especially in the promotion of women’s rights, the empowerment of women economically and politically, and women’s participation in positions of responsibility. We are also seeking to guarantee the principle of equality in the labour market, to strengthen the role played by women in the area of peace and security, and to enhance the status of women in all walks of life, be it at the national, continental or international levels. A practical national plan in the context of implementing Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) has been implemented. Algeria is committed to strengthening the role of women in the prevention of and resolution of conflicts, in keeping with the principles of our foreign policy.
Algeria has many young people, accounting for more than 70 per cent of our population. We have therefore adopted measures to provide institutional management with the means necessary to build capacity for young people and to make them a driving force of the process of sustainable development and in the economic, political and cultural arenas.
In conclusion, we aspire to a world where peace and prosperity will reign for all human beings under the aegis of the United Nations. We must show sincere determination and strong commitment to meeting the legitimate aspirations of our peoples.