I am particularly pleased to present our warmest
congratulations to the President on the occasion of
his election to preside over the General Assembly at
its sixty-eighth session. I am convinced that he will
spare no effort to strengthen the gains made and to
firmly establish international peace and security, so
as to create an international system in which all of
mankind enjoys well-being, stability and progress. The
President’s experience and political skills in heading
his country’s Mission for over a decade are also factors
that make him a natural leader during this session.
I should also like to praise the efforts of his
predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi., and commend him for
his interest in the problems of the African continent and
his efforts to strengthen the principle of dialogue as an
effective tool for consultation and the role of the rule of
law and good governance.
I would also like to thank the Secretary-General,
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his unflagging efforts in the
service of international peace and security and his
focus on climate change issues and the fight against
famine and deadly diseases, as well as on realizing the
Millennium Development Goals.
Last June, in the important speech that the
President delivered to the General Assembly on the
occasion of his election to preside over the sixty-eighth
session (see A/67/PV.87), he outlined his ambitious
programme of action, which takes into account the
participation of women, youth and civil society in
the post-2015 development agenda, the role of South-
South cooperation, the role of human rights and the
rule of law, and the role of information technology and
communication in the proposed development agenda.
Those are important topics, and we thank him for
including them.
Over the past two decades — in step with the Human
Development Report — some developing countries have
experienced substantial economic change. However, the
majority of developing countries, especially the least
developed ones, remain very far from achieving the
Millennium Development Goals. On the threshold
of 2015, it behoves us today to implement plans and
programmes that take into consideration the failures
of the past and the challenges of the future and to
effectively prepare the post-2015 development agenda.
In that regard, we call upon the wealthy countries
of the world to live up to their promises regarding
the financing of development programmes in those
developing countries that have such pressing needs.
We also call upon those countries to implement an
appropriate policy, under the supervision of the United
Nations specialized agencies and in cooperation with
the international financial institutions, that will be
based primarily on the following: support for health
and education systems; debt forgiveness; the transfer
of the necessary technology; the improvement of
North-South trade; the removal of customs duties on
exports from the developing countries, especially the
least developed countries, to the markets of the North;
the promotion of South-South cooperation, which will
probably strengthen economic cooperation between
group members; the establishment of new international
mechanisms that will be charged with overseeing
regional complementarity, strengthening South-South
relations, as underscored in the aforementioned Human
Development Report, which will facilitate the sharing
of know-how, lessons learned and technology transfer
between those countries.
Under the leadership of the President of the
Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, our
Government is working to improve the standard of
living of our citizens, despite our limited resources.
In order to attain that objective, the Government
has pursued a rigorous educational policy, based on
compulsory and widespread primary education and the
strengthening of a modern secondary education with
free higher education in several different fields. Basic
schooling is now available in almost all of our villages
and cities. That was made possible thanks to the
Government policy of limiting anarchic urbanization
by merging numerous villages.
With regard to secondary education, all the
departments throughout the country now have middle
schools and many have high schools. That has allowed
the children of people living in remote villages to
continue their secondary schooling. High schools
reserved for the most promising students were also
established to take advantage of their talents and steer
them towards specializations that meet the needs of the
labour market. Higher education took a large qualitative
step forward. A university campus has just been
completed in Nouakchott. An Islamic studies university
has been opened in the interior of the country, as well as
four specialized schools of higher education, including
the School of Mines, the Polytechnic, the School of
Agricultural Training and Public Works. The Faculty
of Medicine has been strengthened and endowed with
the means necessary to cover the shortfall in medical
personnel in our country, in addition to the creation
of four medical schools to train nurses and senior
technicians.
Health, which goes in line with education, is a major
challenge for developing countries and the African
continent in particular. Given that, our Government
has allocated an important percentage of its budget for
that vital sector and has created national programmes
to fight against such deadly diseases as AIDS, malaria
and tuberculosis. In that connection, we have created
four new fully equipped hospitals in various parts of
the country, in addition to 70 primary-care clinics.
We must also note the construction of a specialized
oncology hospital, which is considered to be among the
most sophisticated in the region. The health-care sector
also works closely with United Nations specialized
agencies in organizing ongoing vaccination campaigns
for children under 5 years of age.
As with most developing countries, our country
depends on imports of basic goods from the global
market, which weighs heavily on our balance sheets,
especially since the prices of such products are subject
to fluctuations in the world market. Aware of that, our
Government has pursued an economic and financial
policy that would alleviate the effects generated from
outside. Our agricultural sector has therefore been
able, thanks to the policy, to fulfil 60 per cent of the
country’s rice needs and 37 per cent of its need for other
grains. Wheat crops, which were recently introduced,
have begun to produce.
In that context, a sugar-cane cultivation project was
launched to make sugar available locally. Generally,
our Government has worked tirelessly in all sectors to
ensure that its citizens can live in dignity. A free-trade
zone has been created in Nouadhibou — the economic
capital of the country and the third-largest city in
population — which will transform the region into an
important economic centre benefiting the country and
the region as a whole.
In order to strengthen good governance and the
fight against corruption, the Inspector General and the
Court of Auditors have been revitalized since President
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz took office. Significant
funds in some sectors have been poorly managed,
but have been reimbursed to the State. Civil servants
have been made accountable for the poor allocation of
certain resources. Agreements were reached to end the
no-bid contract system. The lack of competitive bidding
has undermined equity among the various economic
drivers of national and international markets.
Transparency now prevails in the recruitment
of civil servants — thanks to competitive
examinations — fostering equality among men and
women and providing hope to young people. Merit-
based candidate selection is now possible, leading to an
end to nepotism and favouritism.
The Government’s austerity policy, including its
reduced administrative budget and increased investment
budget, has contributed to the self-financing of the
majority of the country’s development projects. The
policy has also led to reduced unemployment, which
now hovers around 10 per cent. The policies have also
contributed to an increased growth rate, which should
attain, according to current forecasts, more than 6 per
cent by the end of the year. We have also been preparing
for municipal and legislative elections slated for the
end of the year. That will strengthen good governance
and allow our citizens to participate in the process of
defining the country’s future, and setting political and
economic priorities for our country.
Our foreign policy is solidly based on a concern
for strengthening good-neighbourly relations and
non-interference in the internal affairs of States.
We will work with our Maghreb region — Arab and
African — with a sense of duty towards international
relations and issues so as to disseminate a culture of
peace, encourage dialogue and the resort to wisdom,
and facilitate the role of diplomacy as a means of
resolving conflicts and avoiding or ending war.
President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who has not
wavered in exerting his utmost efforts, as the Head of
the African Union Peace and Security Council, to find
solutions to certain conflicts in the African continent,
including in Côte d’Ivoire, Libya and Mali. He has
played a very important role, through his presence at
subregional and international summits, focusing on
peace and security around the world.
For a number of years, the African Sahel region has
been subjected to all types of cross-border organized
crime, including drug trafficking, arms trafficking,
illegal immigration and kidnapping. We reiterate our
call to the international community to support the
States of the region in tackling those dangers, which
have recently threatened the very existence of a States
Members of the United Nations. That clearly shows
that the States of the Sahel cannot tackle the scourge
on their own.
Based on its sense of duty, the Islamic Republic
of Mauritania, which has stood by Mali since the
beginning of the crisis, quickly opened its borders
to our Malian brothers and sisters who were seeking
refuge in our territory. We have provided and continue
to provide shelter for those individuals. Our capital,
Nouakchott, over many months hosted a series of
negotiations between the Malian provisional authorities
and the Azawad groups, which led to the signing of the
Ougadougou accords, thus facilitating the preparations
for the presidential elections. We take this opportunity
to express our sincere congratulations to the people of
the sister nation of Mali and the hope that the changes
will lead to a new era of well-being, security and
progress.
Our country strongly condemns the horrific
terrorist attack on the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, which
cost the lives of dozens of individuals.
For more than two years, certain countries of the
Arab region have experienced instability owing to the
so-called Arab Spring. Our country, respectful of the
principle of non-interference in the internal affairs
of other States, expresses its full solidarity with the
peoples of those countries.
With deep concern and worry, we are following the
most recent developments in the Syrian Arab Republic.
We invite all stakeholders to refrain from violence
and any escalation of violence and, instead, to follow
the logic of dialogue, aimed at finding a peaceful
solution so as to spare the brotherly Syrian people from
suffering and tragedy. At the same time, with respect
to the preservation, territorial integrity and sovereignty
of the Syrian territory, it is our hope that the mission
of Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, Joint Special Representative
of the United Nations and the League of Arab States
on the Syrian crisis, will achieve success. It is our firm
hope that a swift solution can be found that will bring
an end to the bloodshed, destruction of infrastructure
and economic devastation in sisterly Syria.
We hope that the people of Egypt, Yemen, Libya and
Tunisia can quickly conclude their transition periods
and build democratic institutions that will guarantee
the rights and dignity of their citizens in an atmosphere
of well-being and prosperity.
Our country pays close attention to the situation
in Western Sahara. We reaffirm our support for the
endeavours of the Secretary-General and his personal
envoy in their search for a definitive, lasting, fair and
comprehensive solution that is acceptable to both parties.
Such a solution would bolster peace and security in the
region and facilitate the building of a prosperous Arab
Maghreb that is in step with the legitimate aspirations
of its people.
The Arab-Israeli conflict is considered a source of
hostility and a threat to peace and security in a vital
and critical region of the world. It remains so in spite
of the legal framework and general conditions for the
settlement of that dispute that have been established
over the years by a series of Security Council and
General Assembly resolutions. Those foundations were
recently further backed by the Arab Peace Initiative
based on the land-for-peace principle. In spite of all of
that, the conflict continues, as it has done for too long.
We welcome resolution 67/19, of 29 November
2012, whereby the General Assembly granted Palestine
the status of non-Member observer State in the United
Nations. We hope that that resolution will mark the
beginning of a new era that will see justice done for the
Palestinian people and their rights restored through the
establishment of their independent and sovereign Sate
along the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as
its capital. That would put an end to the suffering of the
Palestinian people, which dates back to the inception of
our Organization.
Based on the need to ensure justice, credibility and
equity in the relations between the two parties to that
conflict, and out of respect for the relevant resolutions
and decisions under international law, the international
community should live up to its historic responsibilities
with regard to Palestine. We reiterate our condemnation
of the ongoing blockade against the Gaza Strip, and
we condemn the massacres perpetrated by the Israeli
war machine against Palestinian civilians and the
destruction of their facilities. We welcome efforts,
most recently by the United States Administration,
seeking the resumption of negotiations between the two
parties. We hope that those efforts will contribute to the
realization of the Palestinian people’s simplest right:
the establishment of their independent State.
The commitments made by the international
community through the United Nations will go
unrealized if the people of the world are unable to fulfil
their potential for development, especially in developing
countries, to live lives of dignity and freedom, and to
enjoy justice and equality — the very lofty principles
for which our Organization was created. These are the
only guarantees of our success.