At the outset, on behalf of the Government and the people of the Republic of Iraq. I extend my sincere condolences, sympathies and solidarity to the Governments and the peoples of the Kingdom of Morocco and the State of Libya over the catastrophic earthquake that struck Morocco and the floods that swept through Libya. We ask God Almighty to grant mercy to the dead and a speedy recovery to the injured.
I come here today bearing the greetings of Iraq and its people, who were among the 50 nations that founded this great Organization 78 years ago. Iraq has always believed and to this day believes in the general principles upon which the United Nations was founded and contributes to all its programmes, convinced that there is no path but that of human brotherhood and solidarity to safeguard the continued secure existence of the entire world.
The spirit of consensus and understanding has prevailed in the new Iraq, and we have overcome difficult days. We now have a Government that enjoys a broad political coalition that includes all Iraqi sects and components. The Government has adopted a comprehensive and ambitious reform programme to correct our course, restore confidence in the political system, provide a decent living for citizens, secure their future and build a strong, capable Iraq. On that path, we have adopted a programme with critical priorities reflecting issues that relate to the basic needs of our people and that must be implemented without delay.
Those priorities include creating employment opportunities, overhauling services, fighting poverty. raising the standard of living, fighting corruption and enacting comprehensive reforms in the economic, administrative and financial and banking sectors in order to overcome the obsolete legacy of previous administrative systems that were unable to keep pace with changes and global development. We have made important strides on that path in record time, and investment in Iraq has developed and opened up to the global economy and to fruitful partnerships. We have signed many agreements in various sectors, and Iraq is now a safe environment that attracts investors to great and promising opportunities.
Iraq remains an important oil State and pivotal in the global energy market. It offers good opportunities, projects and businesses in that field. We have launched the Road to Development initiative, a pioneering project that is one of the most up-to-date in the region. It is a vital land corridor connecting essential economic hubs of our developing region, and the best and most appropriate path for trade and economic exchange in the region and in the field of transportation and economics. It represents a strategic Iraqi vision of connectivity and outreach to the world and positive economic interaction.
Many international institutions have reported on the spread of corruption in Iraq. We have diagnosed that scourge and named it the “corruption pandemic”. We have made fighting it our top priority and begun to pursue wanted persons wherever they are. regardless of their position or affiliation, and to surrender them to the Iraqi judiciary for the purpose of eliminating that scourge. In that regard, we ask friendly and partner countries to extend a helping hand to us in fighting corruption in all its phases. We call on them to facilitate the prosecution of those responsible for corruption. We must all join hands and cooperate in fighting corruption and recovering the money that has been stolen, because we believe that there is a symbiotic relationship between corruption and terrorism. That is what we all want to fight.
We have established an independent and balanced foreign policy that is focused on cooperation and on bringing viewpoints and commonalities closer together. We want Iraq to be a source of stability in its regional and international sphere, and part of the solution to any international or regional problem. We want Iraq to be an enabler of mutual understanding and cooperation. We seek to build constructive partnerships based on the principles of mutual respect, motivating the various parties and helping to formulate policies that achieve sustainable development for our peace-loving peoples.
The Republic of Iraq affirms its commitment to the principles of international law. its respect for all United Nations resolutions and its determination to establish the best relations with everyone, especially neighbouring countries. We reject any interference in our internal affairs, under any pretext. Our Constitution stipulates that Iraq will not be a launching pad for any aggression against other countries, and we call upon everyone to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We reserve the right to take appropriate measures, pursuant to international law and conventions, to respond to any violation of our country.
We reaffirm that we extend a hand of friendship to all neighbouring countries in order to preserve the security and stability of our region and its economic progress and prosperity, in a way that achieves the well-being of its peoples. Similarly, we hope to achieve regional integration, remove any barrier to free trade in the region, facilitate the movement of people, goods and capital across political borders, and connect infrastructure to other countries. Those are all factors that would mitigate the potential for future armed conflicts and limit to a great extent the escalation of conflicts.
We see the possibility of achieving economic integration by standardizing and streamlining economic policies, customs tariffs and laws, and by linking economic infrastructure through joint investment and opportunities. As a gesture to advance those efforts, we are working on organizing the Baghdad 2023 conference on economic integration and regional stability. We will not follow a policy of polarization, but will deal with everyone in accordance with our national interest. We continue to strengthen Iraq’s natural place in the arena of international cooperation and are making every effort to enhance stability.
Our Government has made the issue of displaced persons and refugees one of its priorities and has taken many national measures to find sustainable solutions to ensure their voluntary and safe return to their original homes and to rebuild their liberated cities. We have also begun to resolve the issue of missing persons and those who were disappeared at the hands of the criminals of Da’esh. and to provide material and psychological support to their families and to reintegrate them.
In Iraq, we are moving towards approving a policy for the protection of civilians in order to safeguard human rights and respect for international humanitarian law by training our security forces and monitoring their performance in the protection of civilians, especially with respect to dangers that arise in armed conflict. We also seek to protect civilians in natural disasters, making Iraq the first country in the Middle East to adopt such a policy and creating an environment for cooperation between security forces and citizens.
We are making steady progress towards holding local elections for the governorates by the end of the year, after a 10-year hiatus. The elections are a pillar of decentralization in Iraq and an essential part of the resilience of the governance system and State institutions. The federal Government, through its comprehensive and multiple programmes, enjoys the best of relations with the Kurdistan region and all governorates of Iraq on an equal footing, and is in continuous dialogue with representatives of the region and local Governments in all Iraqi governorates so as to transform opportunities into projects to enhance the development of resources and the Iraqi economy.
Our region. and our country in particular — Mesopotamia, the land between the two great rivers — is suffering from drought caused by climate change. There is an urgent need to preserve our rights to water resources and international river basins. The natural bodies of water in the Iraqi marshes function as lungs for the entire planet. Their desiccation would be an ecological and historical loss to every living creature on the planet. They are a human heritage and a chapter in the book of humankind and its civilization. Some 2.550 years ago. Iraq witnessed the first international agreement related to water, so the cradle of civilization must not be allowed to die of thirst.
The environmental catastrophe would have a harsher impact on Iraq and the countries of the region due to the unprecedented rise in temperatures, which will turn every aspect of daily life into an almost impossible task. Iraq is therefore working on and calling for great efforts among the relevant regional countries to work together and find an effective mechanism for coordination and the formation of a negotiating bloc within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We call for the establishment of an integrated mechanism to manage transboundary waters and address the effects of drought, sandstorms and heat
waves. We stress the need to mobilize international efforts and encourage the United Nations to ensure the sustainability of water resources.
In that regard, we call for the establishment of a regional grouping to include the coastal States of the Gulf — including Iraq. Iran and the States members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — that will be disproportionately exposed to a rise in temperatures. That grouping would be tasked with coordinating regional efforts to manage water resources, address climate change, enhance environmental protection and work together to confront drought.
At the national level, our Government has taken the steps necessary to reduce emissions and to stop gas flaring and the consequent environmental pollution. We have also initiated several projects in the field of waste recycling and encouraging the use of clean energy. Our Government has also ratified a national strategy to combat pollution and limit its impact for the years 2023-2030. Iraq believes that addressing those challenges requires building institutions capable of dealing with economic challenges and. more specifically, climate challenges.
Despite the many cross-border challenges that we face, as all of humankind faces, we seek to confront them effectively within the framework of our national capabilities, in cooperation with our partners and friends. The most important of those challenges is that of drugs, a problem that hinders all development efforts and investment in human resources and youth development. Our Government has therefore adopted a national strategy to combat drugs and psychotropic substances for the years 2023-2025. We. as an international community and Governments of the region, have no alternative but to step up our efforts and coordination in the fight against drugs and all drug-related activities that facilitate their access to our children and our societies. The direct relationship between terrorism and drugs is no secret.
Iraq is classified, according to population statistics, as a young country, since young people constitute 60 per cent of the Iraqi population. Accordingly, the Iraqi Government has accorded them priority attention in its governmental programme and seeks to support young people, because they are the best investment. The Iraqi Government has developed many programmes, strategies, projects and initiatives to support young people in various fields. We have launched the Pioneer initiative for development and employment, which is aimed at supporting groups of students and young people, empowering them and developing their creative energies so that they can find decent opportunities in the labour market, create effective economic action and embrace and develop productive scientific and practical ideas. In that way. we hope to encourage students and young people to keep pace with the changes in the labour market and technological development; to invest in individual skills, talents and the ability to innovate and provide thousands of job opportunities to young people; and to ensure them a dignified life. We have also established a Supreme Youth Council, headed by the Prime Minister, with the Minister of Youth and Sports as deputy, and the Ministers of Planning. Finance. Labour. Social Affairs. Education. Scientific Research and Culture as members. Thanks to the Iraqi Government’s sponsorship of the youth and sports sector and the construction of sports facilities and centres. Iraqi sports and student teams have been able to win many awards and titles in various competitions and championships.
We cannot fail to emphasize the ongoing efforts of our Government to empower women and grant them their effective right to contribute to all the foundations of the development process, as they have been essential partners in all our victories against terrorism and remain partners in overcoming all difficulties and facing challenges.
We reiterate to the world our clear and firm position on the Palestinian right to establish an independent Palestinian State, with Jerusalem as its capital. We also affirm Iraq’s support for the unity of Syria, its land and its people, and we call for an end to the suffering of the Syrian people and their empowerment to exert full control over the entire Syrian territories.
In the light of the continuing threat posed by the ability of terrorist organizations to recruit elements that threaten our security and target our countries, it is important to distinguish between incitement to violence, spreading hatred and attacks on the beliefs of others, on the one hand, and freedom of expression, on the other. The burning of the Holy Qur’an is a hate crime aimed at offending the beliefs of a quarter of the world’s population and those who respect sanctities. It cannot be marketed as freedom of expression. In Iraq, we have tasted the bitterness of religious extremism and its consequences. Such actions are at the heart of
the motives for creating and encouraging extremism. The terrorist Da’esh remains the best example of that.
In conclusion, the time has come for Iraq to reclaim its natural place in the international community, following its glorious success in fighting terrorism on behalf of the world and defeating it with the help of friends and partners. The people of Iraq have written an immortal epic in combating the most vicious of criminals. In that regard, we note the wise guidance of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani and his blessed edicts, as well as the valour of all the Iraqi security and military forces in those victories and in laying the foundations of social peace.
In that spirit. Iraq has become secure and stable and is pursuing its journey and its work, through productive diplomacy, to make Iraq a centre where brothers, friends and partners can meet to build a safe and prosperous region that serves all of our peoples. Iraq is now distinguished by the strength of its resources, its geographical location and the will of its people, who have faced challenges and their triumph was well deserved.