Yemen

Mr. President, on behalf of the Government of Yemen, I am pleased to express to you our warm congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session. We are confident that your abilities and wisdom, Sir, will lead to the success of this session in fulfilment of its desired goal. I also wish to refer with appreciation and pride to the good work of Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, the previous President of the General Assembly, and congratulate him for his tireless efforts that led the previous session to a successful conclusion, not the least of which was his participation in the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We also wish to thank His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, for his continuous efforts to reform our Organization and increase its role in the humanitarian and development fields and in the achievement of international peace and security. The Republic of Yemen is witnessing complex development and political, social and environmental challenges. A number of factors and circumstances have led to their formation, including the international financial crisis, with its negative effect on the Yemeni economy, and a decline in our progress towards the achievement of the MDGs. There is a severe shortage of available resources owing to the low production and low price of oil, on which the Government depends as a main source of income, representing 75 per cent of its general income. There has also been a decline in remittances from expatriates and in tourism, in addition 5 10-55264 to overpopulation, paucity of water resources, and limited contributions from development partners for funding anti-poverty programmes and providing decent standards of living for our citizens. Yemen’s pro rata share of official development assistance (ODA) is the lowest of the least developed countries in the world. With a view to achieving economic development and conducting financial and economic reforms, my country has recently concluded an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to implement a programme that will lead to financial straightening out of the budget deficit and stem the progressive decline in Government level of support for fuel in a manner that would contribute to alleviating the general budgetary burden falling on the State. A number of administrative, financial and judiciary reforms have been adopted, as have efforts to combat corruption and to apply decentralization of power. My Government is now trying to develop its fourth five-year development plan for the years 2011- 2015. We have started a political dialogue with opposition parties in order to find agreement on how to address all the challenges faced by Yemen. We have set up election laws and introduced a number of constitutional reforms, called for the formation of a National Unity Government, in preparation for conducting parliamentary elections next April. Last week, there were a number of meetings in New York on a new initiative regarding cooperation with Yemen, under the name of Friends of Yemen. Participants included representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the European Union, the five permanent members of the Security Council, along with Turkey, Jordan and Egypt, as well as international donor funds and institutions. The purpose of the meeting was to garner support for our efforts to achieve development and combat extremism, terrorism and piracy. We are confident that this cooperation will strengthen our security capabilities to carry out our development plans, reinforce our ability to combat terrorism and protect sea lanes in the Gulf of Aden and the southern part of the Red Sea from piracy and protect our borders. Among the challenges Yemen has faced are the difficult political developments following a rebellion in the Governorate of Sa’dah, which has complicated the Government’s efforts at achieving national peace and reconstruction. This rebellion, in addition to six wars imposed on Yemen, have caused the displacement of tens of thousands of citizens and forced the establishment of refugee camps in coordination with international relief organizations. The conflict came to an end once the rebel group accepted the six conditions that the Government posed, including the release of a great number of prisoners and agreeing to the Doha Accords, the time frame and implementation of which, as sponsored by sisterly Qatar, we are in the process of carrying out. The Government has responded by peacefully reaching out to the rebels, while upholding the principle of sovereignty and the rule of law throughout the country. The country upheld the right to confront any groups that violate the Constitution and the rule of law, or that practise terrorism, violence or sabotage. My country is also suffering from the terrorist activities of Al-Qaida, which has been carrying out new operations, such as assassinating leaders in our security sector. It is trying to entrench its position on the Arabian Peninsula by cooperating with opponents to Yemeni unity, such as the southern secessionists, who call for secession in defiance of the will of the majority of the Yemeni people. They also support subversive elements in Sa’dah, in service of the interests of Al-Qaida, and seek to spread instability and anarchy in the country through their terrorist activities targeting Yemen, the region and the rest of the world. Our security apparatus has managed to make headway in arresting many terrorists and aborting their operations. These terrorists now live in a state of fear and are unable to carry out their terrorist plans. As a complement to the efforts to liquidate Al Qaida, there remains a pressing and important need to build and foster national abilities and coordinate intelligence and security activities. Experience has proven that outside interference designed to combat terrorism further compounds the situation and paves the way for local sympathy for terrorist groups. Yemen is an effective partner with the international community in combating terrorism. Our success today in waging pre-emptive strikes against Al-Qaida requires that the international community take a strong stand by providing us with its full backing and support. Since its assumption of the chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China, the Republic of Yemen has enthusiastically and willingly tried to reach consensus 10-55264 6 on a number of issues of interest to the Group and that will maintain the unity and solidarity of the Group and further its relations with the developed countries. Recently, Yemen led the difficult negotiations to arrive at the outcome document of the High-level Plenary Meeting of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (resolution 65/1), which contains a work programme for the coming five years. Yemen’s leadership of the Group enabled it to achieve much of the South’s agenda, which serves the interests of all developing countries. It is leading other, highly complex negotiations on conventions having to do with the environment and climate change. We are proud to have chaired the meetings of the Group of 77 and China on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Our effective participation in the work of the relevant committees has led to a compromise and middle ground that we hope will lead to the success that has thus far remained out of reach. We must focus on the suffering of more than 20 million Pakistanis caused by the recent floods, calling on the international community, particularly the super-Powers, to shoulder their responsibilities towards the Pakistani people as well as their responsibility vis-à-vis the impact of climate change in the future and its potential destructive effects. We call upon all Member States to responsibly stand by the sisterly Government of Pakistan with a view to alleviating the suffering of its internally displaced persons. I would like to take this opportunity to extend our warmest condolences to the Governments and peoples of States that have recently been affected by natural disasters, particularly Pakistan, China, the Russian Federation and Haiti. It is, of course, a fact that the Arab-Israeli conflict threatens international stability and security. The history of efforts to solve this conflict shows clearly that Israeli recalcitrance and the Israeli Government’s settlement policies, as well as its refusal to abide by the internationally legitimate resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative or ensure the legitimate rights of the Palestinians are the main barriers to the achievement of peace. The international community, in particular the main sponsors of the peace talks and especially the United States, should give Israel one last chance to abide by all of the resolutions, previous agreements and calls relating to the promulgation of peace in addition to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian State on its soil and the cessation of settlement- building. Furthermore, if Israel continues to reject peace, the Security Council should impose a solution to the conflict in accordance with relevant resolutions of international legitimacy and under Chapter VII of the Charter. Israel must also accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and enter into serious talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at making the Middle East a region free from weapons of mass destruction and to assert the right of States in the region to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Despite the numerous meetings of the Security Council and the International Contact Group on Somalia, the situation in Somalia remains dangerous and threatening to the security and stability of the region. It is regrettable that, given the growing piracy phenomenon, its expansion and its threat to international navigation, the international community has not taken effective steps to support the temporary Somali Government, enable it to build its State and institutions, support its security capacity and army and support the African peacekeeping force. This has made the Somali Government and people feel embittered, having witnessed the non fulfilment by the international community of its commitments and obligations to the Somali Government. Yemen bears the burden of the outflow of thousands of refugees from the Horn of Africa, most of whom are from Somalia. We are well aware of the effects of the security, political and humanitarian situation in Somalia on Yemen and the region. The United Nations and the Security Council in particular should shoulder their responsibility to restore security and stability to Somalia. Here, we acknowledge the efforts of the Sudanese Government to bring about the success of dialogue with the opposition forces, and we commend the Qatari mediation efforts to achieve peace in Darfur and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the South. Dialogue is the only means to maintain the unity of the Sudan and achieve security and stability there. We call upon all Sudanese parties to shoulder their responsibilities and to effectively participate in the dialogue in a manner that fulfils the high national 7 10-55264 interests of the Sudanese people and retains their social integrity and unity. We call for the revocation of the International Criminal Court warrant against his Excellency President Omer Al Bashir, since this does not respect the sovereignty of the State and impedes efforts to achieve peace in the Sudan. The parliamentary elections in Iraq reflected the Iraqi people’s support for the democratic option and the Iraqi Constitution. We are confident that they will employ dialogue to solve all of their differences and avoid all sectarian and factional conflicts and disputes. We are hopeful that the Iraqi national leadership will agree to the formation of the Government and put Iraq on the road towards development, construction and stability. The Republic of Yemen hosted a ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the beginning of last month. At that meeting, it was reiterated that it was necessary to strengthen cooperation among its member States in the fields of trade, investment, tourism, culture and education, fisheries; and efforts to combat epidemics, natural disasters, the challenges of climate change and piracy on the high seas. We also hosted the extraordinary ministerial meeting of the Sana’a Forum for Cooperation, emphasizing the need to achieve security and stability in the Horn of Africa and the south of the Red Sea, and to combat extremism, piracy and terrorism in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Sea. We have hosted these and other ministerial and regional meetings based on our desire to achieve collective cooperation in order to maintain peace and security among the peoples of the region and the world, in accordance with the lofty goals of the United Nations. Despite all the appeals to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the humanitarian themes included in the Goals, the international situation, which has been affected by the financial crisis, the fluctuation of energy prices and natural disasters leading to increases in the price of crops and other foodstuffs, has dissuaded developed countries from fulfilling their obligations to assist and support the least developed countries. There is fear that the specified time frame for achieving the MDGs will pass and the developed countries will not fulfil their obligations towards the developing and least developed countries. In Yemen, we have positively dealt with these Goals in accordance with our limited capacity. Our Government has adopted a national strategy to eradicate poverty. This has been reflected in our national development plans. We are trying our best, with the cooperation of the international community, to implement this strategy. Our Government has taken a number of measures to increase the allocation of budgetary funds for education and to build more schools as well as to enhance the educational cadres, developing primary education, encouraging education for girls and widening the scope of adult illiteracy reduction. We are trying to improve gender equality and the empowerment of women to participate in political life. We have provided health care for mothers and children, spreading cultural and health awareness. This has led to low infant mortality rates. We have conducted health campaigns to eliminate epidemics and the spread of AIDS. Yemen suffers from scarce water resources and overpopulation, which adversely affect the sustainability and soundness of the environment. We have therefore made national plans to study the situation, better understand the problems, and protect the environment as part of our national plans for development. We have spent a great deal on imposing the rule of law and on combating terrorism and other subversive elements. We have taken in more than 700,000 refugees from the Horn of Africa, which has limited our expenditure on development and poverty reduction, on improving the standards of living of our citizens, on providing employment for our youth, on improving education and health care and on the achievement of the MDGs. We therefore call on our friends, partners, international donors and international organizations and financial institutions to help us combat terrorism. They must fulfil their obligations and extend the necessary support to Yemen to help us achieve sustainable development and the socio-economic and political stability to which we aspire.