At the outset, it is with pleasure that I extend,
on behalf of the Government and people of the State of
Kuwait, our sincere congratulations to Mr. Ashe and
to his country, Antigua and Barbuda, upon his election
as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-
eighth session. We are certain that his vast experience
in international affairs will enable him to conduct the
deliberations of this session wisely and ably, and we
wish him success in that endeavour. We extend our
thanks to Mr. Vuk Jeremi. for his great efforts as
President at the previous session.
I should also like to pay tribute to the tremendous
and tireless efforts by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
in leading the Organization and disseminating its lofty
message and in seeking to maintain international peace
and security, in fulfilment of the aspirations of the
States and peoples of the world for a better world that
guarantees a life of dignity for all human beings.
The State of Kuwait condemns the acts of terrorism
committed in a shopping centre in Nairobi on Saturday,
21 September. We extend our sincerest condolences to
the people and Government of Kenya and to the families
of the victims. We also underscore again our support
for Bahrain and all of the measures being undertaken
there to strengthen security.
The maintenance of regional and international peace
and security occupies a position of great importance
among the priorities of the foreign policy of the State
of Kuwait, based on its principles and objectives, the
Charter of the United Nations and the provisions of
international law, which call for the building of bridges
of confidence, good-neighbourly relations, mutual
respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of
States, as well as for the promotion of the concepts
of peaceful coexistence and the pursuit of peaceful
settlements to conflicts and disputes.
In November 2012, the State of Kuwait celebrated
the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of its
Constitution, which was the result of a distinctive
experience reflecting relations between ruler and
subject. It evolved in a historically seamless manner
into a democratic mechanism involving popular
participation. That process has embodied the essence
and values of political growth based on a commitment
to working for peace, as well as developing and
strengthening relations with neighbouring countries
in accordance with the principles of mutual respect,
common interests and rising above the wounds of the
past in order to chart a better future for the region and
the world.
In that context, I would highlight our bilateral
relations with the Republic of Iraq and to commend the
efforts of the Iraqi Government to fulfil its international
commitments to the State of Kuwait, in implementation
of the relevant Security Council resolutions. Our
bilateral relations have developed in positive and
tangible ways through communications at the highest
level between the leadership of both countries. We
have overcome our past differences and are looking to
the future to strengthen and develop future bilateral
relations for the welfare and interests of the peoples of
both countries.
We also look forward to genuine cooperation
with the Republic of Iraq in order to find the remains
of missing Kuwaitis and third-country nationals and
undertake a serious search for the national archives
of the State of Kuwait, in implementation of Security
Council resolution 2107 (2013). That resolution was
adopted following the understanding reached to transfer
follow-up responsibility for these matters from the
High-level Coordinator on the issue of the repatriation
or return of all Kuwaiti and third-country nationals or
their remains to the United Nations Assistance Mission
for Iraq. In this regard, we commend the efforts of
the Secretary-General and his concern to accelerate
the closure of these two issues, discover the fate of
the remaining missing persons and put an end to their
families’ suffering.
More than two and a half years have passed since
the eruption of the crisis in Syria. This crisis is more
than a humanitarian disaster; it is fast approaching the
definition of a catastrophe, with the increasing numbers
of victims and missing persons, both internally and
externally, and the recurring scenes of bloodshed,
violence, destruction, oppression and violation of
the most basic principles and values of humankind.
The scale of the crisis has become an obstacle to any
possible solution that could contain it, despite the great
and continued efforts at the regional and international
levels. The Security Council has been faced with a
historic and decisive responsibility: to start taking
serious and tangible steps to ensure solutions that can
guarantee an end to the bloodshed of the brotherly
Syrian people, achieve their demands and restore
security and stability in their country.
In January 2013, in response to the suffering of the
Syrian people owing to the exacerbation of the crisis
and its destructive consequences, the State of Kuwait
hosted an international donors conference to support
the humanitarian situation in Syria. This conference
achieved the desired results, and pledges surpassed
the targeted amount of $1.5 billion, of which the State
of Kuwait contributed $300 million. This amount has
been disbursed in full to a number of United Nations
bodies and agencies, which converted it into emergency
relief assistance to the Syrian people, inside and outside
Syria. The State of Kuwait would like to thank all
countries that participated in the donors conference.
Their participation reflected their care and concern
regarding the deteriorating humanitarian situation in
Syria.
We all recognize that the maintenance of peace and
security is the key that opens the doors to a dignified
life, prosperity and human creativity. This is because
factors such as development, in all its economic, social,
environmental, political and cultural aspects, cannot
take place when peace and security are lacking or
ebbing.
Turning to the Middle East region, Palestine is still
facing chronic challenges that have disrupted the vision
of a future based on development and regional and
international cooperation. The political and security
conditions in the region have also been disrupted by
the lack of confidence created by Israel’s continued
policy of building illegal settlements on occupied
Palestinian lands, its continued siege of the Gaza Strip
and the detention of thousands of Palestinians and their
imprisonment in subhuman conditions, in contravention
of the most basic rules of international humanitarian
law. Such practices reached their peak after Palestine
received Observer State status in the Organization.
In this regard, we reiterate that only the international
community will be able to find the difficult formula for
peace. We value in this respect the ongoing efforts of
the United States of America to achieve a breakthrough
in the peace process and hope that persistent efforts and
pressure on Israel will make it accept the resolutions of
international legitimacy.
At the regional level, concerning Iran’s nuclear
programme, the State of Kuwait supports the ongoing
efforts to peacefully resolve this issue in a manner a
that will preserve the right of the Islamic Republic
of Iran and all countries in the region to use nuclear
energy for peaceful purposes under the supervision and
monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA). We also call upon the Islamic Republic of
Iran to cooperate fully with international efforts and
work on implementing the relevant Security Council
resolutions. We also call on Iran to cooperate with the
IAEA and implement its resolutions to find a definitive
solution to this crisis, which had cast it shadow on this
region for many years, given rise to doubts and created
an atmosphere of instability and tension.
This year, the State of Kuwait celebrated the
fiftieth anniversary of its membership in this enduring
Organization. Ever since then, and driven by its belief
in the importance of common international action, it has
sought to provide highly effective support to many of
the agencies, bodies and entities of the United Nations
system. This is particularly true in view of the growth
and increase in challenges facing the Organization at
all levels and putting the international community,
represented by the United Nations, to the test, a test of
international will and global partnership in facing these
challenges.
The adoption of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) represented a major shift in the ability
of the United Nations to mobilize the global will to
eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development,
thus clearly expressing how ambitious the will of the
international community really is and the feasibility of
this global partnership.
However, major new challenges have emerged
that are related either to security disruptions resulting
from instability and the violations of human rights
that accompany them, or to the steady environmental
deterioration that threatens our world, together with
other serious and urgent challenges. This requires the
international community to take up the inevitable task
of rethinking our preparations for a comprehensive and
ambitious development plan.
We must complement the efforts aimed at achieving
the MDGs by formulating new goals and incorporating
them in the post-2015 development plan. This will enable
us to take a quantum leap towards a renewed global
partnership that will complete the process under way
on the scientific bases of the Millennium Declaration
(resolution 55/2) and the principles and outcome of the
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
(resolution 66/288, annex) held in Brazil. It should help
our peoples, to whom those goals represent the hope of
creating an ideal world and a better life, particularly in
the least developed countries or those still recovering
from wars and conflicts. In this respect, we refer to
the importance of the international community paying
careful attention to supporting the foundations of
development in order to achieve security and stability
in Somalia and Afghanistan.
While the State of Kuwait is considered a
developing country, it has been independent since
1961 and given a great deal of attention to providing
financial and material assistance to the developing
and least developed countries, through many different
mechanisms and initiatives. The Kuwait Fund for Arab
Economic Development is a central Kuwaiti institution
firmly committed to implementing its promises and
policies on international cooperation and assistance to
needy people by on the ground. Since its establishment,
and having outgrown its regional Arab scope, the Fund
has expanded its activities and development assistance
to Asian, African and Central and Latin American
countries.
In that regard, the State of Kuwait has provided
provisional funding of $500 million to the Republic
of Yemen for development projects in the 2012-2014
provisional programme. The contribution seeks
to support a peaceful transition of power pursuant
to the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and its
Implementation Mechanism, which are aimed at
ending the crisis in Yemen, re-establishing security
and stability there, and rehabilitating the development
sectors in order to fulfil the legitimate aspirations of
the Yemeni people to live in peace and security through
the consolidation of democracy and good governance.
The State of Kuwait, through its great interest in
promoting and intensifying regional and international
multilateral activities by reviewing cooperation and
coordination measures in many important and political
fields, has hosted many regional and international
summits, meetings and conferences. All haved focused
on a multiplicity of issues, challenges, hopes and
aspirations and supported initiatives aimed at creating
better conditions for the peoples of the region and the
world.
In order to expand that approach, built on
coordination and a spirit of entrepreneurship, in
November the State of Kuwait will host the third
Arab-African Summit under the theme “Partners
in Development and Investment”. We hope that
this initiative will achieve results that deepen the
foundations of Arab-African cooperation and open
new horizons in the name of stability, development
and cooperation between the people and countries of
these two regions. The State of Kuwait will also host
the thirty-fourth session of the Supreme Council of the
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
in December, as well as the twenty-fifth Summit of
League of Arab States in March 2014.
In conclusion, I reiterate the commitment of the
State of Kuwait to the international multilateral system
and to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the
United Nations, as well as its belief in the importance
that all States fulfil the obligations to which they
have committed in international agreements and
conferences. That will help in the search for just and
equitable solutions to the global threats and challenges
confronting us in order to achieve the lofty objective of
maintaining international peace and security.