First,
Sir, I warmly congratulate you and the friendly Swiss
Confederation on your election as President of the
General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session, and wish
you every success in your noble mission. We are
convinced that your great political and diplomatic
experience will provide the best conditions for the
success of this session and enrich its contents. This will
help achieve the objectives and aspirations we all
cherish, especially as regards the theme of the general
debate: “Reaffirming the central role of the United
Nations in global governance”.
I take this opportunity to renew my congratulations
to Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki and to the sisterly Great
Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, for his
valuable efforts as President at the sixty-fourth session,
his deep knowledge of international affairs and his
wise approach in dealing with crucial, complex and
delicate issues, thus serving the interests of our peoples
and nations and enhancing the role of the General
Assembly in international relations.
I also wish to express my great respect to Mr. Ban
Ki-moon, the Secretary-General, for his commendable
efforts at the head of the Secretariat to further enhance
the position of our prestigious Organization and
promote its performance, so that it can meet the many
challenges posed on the international scene. In this
context, Tunisia reaffirms its support for all the efforts
of the Secretary-General, and of the United Nations in
general, to promote peace, stability, security and
development in all countries of the world.
Tunisia highly values the important historic step
made during the previous session in the process of
reforming the United Nations. I refer to the adoption of
resolution 64/289, which reaffirms the importance we
all attach to the development of the United Nations
system and the promotion of complementarity between
its activities and programmes. That applies especially
to those pertaining to women, for whom a new unified
Entity has been created to deal with all issues related to
gender equality and the empowerment of women. I
take this opportunity to renew our congratulations to its
head, Ms. Bachelet. We wish her every success.
Under the leadership of President Zine El Abidine
Ben Ali, Tunisia attaches crucial importance to these
issues. Women, in fact, have a strategic role in our
civilizational project, and are considered a partner in
making all our national choices. Tunisia strongly believes
that democracy cannot be built, and comprehensive
development cannot be achieved, without the active
involvement of women in public life, and that promoting
society to higher levels depends on enhancing the
conditions of women in all fields. This conviction
stems from our vision of human rights in their
comprehensiveness, inseparability and complementarity.
The prestigious status that Tunisian women enjoy
today is confirmed by figures and indicators pertaining
to human development and women’s involvement in all
fields. They now represent 30 per cent of the country’s
working population. They hold 30 per cent of decision-
making positions and other positions of responsibility.
They represent 33 per cent of the judicial corps —
judges and lawyers — and 42 per cent of the medical
corps. In higher education, girls account for 60 per cent
of the total number of students. In the legislative
branch, women’s presence has been reinforced to reach
30 per cent in the Chamber of Deputies and 16 per cent
in the Chamber of Advisers.
It is indeed a source of pride for Tunisia to be
ranked first internationally in terms of fighting
violence against women and guaranteeing their right to
free movement and ownership of property, to be ranked
first in the Arab world in terms of offering women
opportunities for economic participation, and to be
ranked first in Africa in terms of women’s per capita
income.
The Tunisian presidency of the Arab Women
Organization (AWO), in the person of Tunisia’s first
lady, is in line with that approach. Mrs. Leila Ben Ali
7 10-55276
has endeavoured to spread the culture of gender
equality, to further improve the condition of women in
Arab societies, to allow them to enjoy their rights and
accomplish their duties, and to preserve their dignity. All
this, in fact, constitutes a civilizational and strategic stake
and an integral part of the concept of Arab national
security and human security in all its dimensions.
As part of the various pioneering initiatives and
activities of the Arab Women Organization, Tunisia
will next month host the third AWO Conference, with
the theme “The Arab woman, a partner in sustainable
development”.
Since the change of 7 November 1987, Tunisia
has adopted a comprehensive and balanced development
policy based on the inseparability of the economic and
social dimensions, a policy that reconciles the
requirements of an economy based on the principles of
profitability and efficiency and an equitable social
policy in which there is no room for exclusion or
marginalization, guaranteeing a decent life for all
citizens.
The electoral programme of President Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali for the 2009-2014 term of office,
“Together we meet the challenges”, and the five-year
development plan for the period 2010-2014 have both
made a reality of those choices, reflecting a
determination to further enhance the process of
democracy and pluralism, to move political life in
Tunisia towards further modernity and continuous
reform, and to launch a new process of development
based on the economy of knowledge and intelligence.
As part of that ambitious, future-oriented plan,
Tunisia has attached crucial importance to youth as the
pillar of the present and the builder of the future,
through regularly organizing national youth
consultations to explore the concerns, expectations and
views of young people. The results of those
consultations are taken into consideration in preparing
development plans. Furthermore, Tunisia proclaimed
2008 the Year of Comprehensive Dialogue with
Tunisian Youth. That event, with massive participation
by different youth categories, was crowned with the
adoption of a Youth Pact signed by all the national
organizations concerned and the elite of Tunisian youth.
Keen on consecrating this policy at the
international level and on involving the world
community in supporting it, our country launched
during the previous session of the General Assembly an
initiative to proclaim 2010 International Year of Youth,
to consolidate the position of youth in all societies of
the world, youth being at the forefront of the forces of
progress embracing noble universal values. Tunisia
expresses its deep pride over Member States’
unanimous support for this initiative, which the
General Assembly adopted in resolution 64/134.
Tunisia also takes pride in the fact that on
12 August the Secretary-General himself chaired the
launch of the festivities celebrating the International
Year of Youth; he did so at Headquarters, in the presence
of hundreds of representatives of the world’s youth.
Tunisia calls on all Governments, international
and regional organizations, and youth institutions, to
establish adequate plans of action, programmes and
activities to celebrate the International Year of Youth in
a way that makes a reality of its motto, “Dialogue and
mutual understanding”, and leads to the adoption of an
international pact to bind the world’s youth to common
universal values. I take this opportunity to express
Tunisia’s appreciation for the initiatives of Turkey,
Singapore and Mexico in organizing important
international youth events last August.
Throughout its modern history, Tunisia has
remained committed to the principles and values of
peaceful coexistence, good-neighbourliness, fraternity
and mutual support. It has tirelessly endeavoured to
promote relations of fraternity, friendship and cooperation
with all peace-loving countries, and has invariably
advocated peace, security and justice in the world.
Since the change of November 1987, Tunisia has
given particular attention to the promotion of relations
of fraternity and cooperation with Arab Maghreb
countries, based on its strong belief in the unity of
destiny and the inevitability of Maghreb integration.
While reaffirming its adherence to the Arab Maghreb
Union as a historic gain and an irrevocable strategic
choice, Tunisia is committed to pursuing efforts jointly
with sisterly Maghreb countries to realize the aspirations
of the Maghreb peoples for complementarity,
integration and solidarity. This commitment stems from
a deep common civilizational, historic and geographic
belonging, and is imposed by the successive economic
fluctuations and the deep and ever-accelerating
changes taking place in our world today in all political,
social and cultural fields.
At the Arab level, Tunisia will firmly pursue its
efforts to promote joint Arab action and establish solid
10-55276 8
foundations for an efficient inter-Arab economic
complementarity.
Tunisia has continuously played an efficient role
in dealing with Arab causes, in the forefront of which
is the Palestinian cause, through its firm and
unwavering position supporting the brotherly
Palestinian people at all stages of their legitimate
struggle, and calling for a fair, durable and
comprehensive solution that can put an end to the
suffering of our Palestinian brothers and allow them to
recover their legitimate national rights and establish
their independent State on their land.
In this context, Tunisia expresses its deep concern
about the situation in the Middle East, as a result of
Israel’s disrespect for international legality and the
basic principles of the peace process, its persistence in
the settlement policy and its attempts to obliterate the
Arab-Muslim identity of the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif.
Tunisia expresses its hope that the resumption of
direct peace talks, launched on 2 September in
Washington under the sponsorship of the United States,
will meet the legitimate aspirations of the brotherly
Palestinian people.
We also call on all the influential parties on the
international scene, particularly the Quartet, to act to
bring Israel to adhere to the requirements of peace, on
the basis of international legality, the principles of the
peace process, and the Arab Peace Initiative, and in
accordance with a specific time schedule that covers all
the relevant main points.
Tunisia also reiterates its call for an end to the
Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan and the remaining
occupied Lebanese territories, in accordance with
international legality, so that all the peoples of the region
can enjoy security and peace, and devote their efforts
to construction and development for a better future.
Moreover, Tunisia hopes that the efforts made
will promote peace and security in Iraq, Yemen, the
Sudan and Somalia, within a climate of unity and
national harmony.
Tunisia attaches particular importance to its
belonging to Africa, based on its belief in the
importance of its integration in its geographic
environment and the expansion of the fields of
cooperation and solidarity with sisterly African
countries. Since the 7 November change, our country
has endeavoured to realize this policy by reaffirming
its commitment to the principles of the African Union,
and continuously supporting all initiatives aimed at
promoting the continent, achieving development for its
peoples, and preserving its potentialities, within a
climate of security and stability.
Tunisia has spared no effort to contribute to the
promotion of peace and security in the African
continent, through participating in United Nations
peacekeeping operations, supporting conflict-
prevention mechanisms, and continuously acting for
the eradication of hotbeds of tension.
Moreover, our country has continuously called on
African countries to play an active role and to find
adequate solutions to their problems through activating
the central organ of the Mechanism for Conflict
Prevention, Management and Resolution, the first
regional experience of preventive diplomacy, then
through the African Peace and Security Council, which
has helped re-establish stability in a number of sisterly
African countries.
We reaffirm Tunisia’s support for all the efforts of
the African Union, which proclaimed 2010 the Year of
Peace and Security in Africa, so that peace and stability
would reign all over the continent, which is a
responsibility of the international community as a whole.
In line with those principles and with the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Tunisia calls
on developed nations to act promptly to meet the needs
of the African continent and of developing countries in
general, by using the existing international and
regional mechanisms to ensure decent living standards
for African peoples.
I take this opportunity to stress the need to
activate the World Solidarity Fund, created by the
General Assembly in 2002, upon Tunisia’s initiative, to
serve as an efficient international mechanism for
sustainable development, capable of achieving the
MDGs, particularly the Goal of reducing the poverty
rate by half by 2015.
At the Euro-Mediterranean level, Europe is
currently an essential partner of Tunisia in various
fields. Our country has time-honoured historic relations
with Europe. Yet we consider that our relations still
need to be further enhanced and developed, through an
equitable, solidarity-based partnership that rests on
mutual respect and is in line with our strategic and
civilizational choices in terms of political reform and
9 10-55276
economic, social and cultural development. This will
strengthen the ties of cooperation and solidarity, and
help reduce disparities between the countries and
peoples of the two shores of the Mediterranean. On the
basis of those principles Tunisia supported the
establishment of the Union for the Mediterranean, a
promising initiative that can create a new dynamism in
Euro-Mediterranean relations, promote a positive
interaction to meet the coming challenges, and enhance
security and stability in our Mediterranean region.
Tunisia is endeavouring to respond positively to
the huge changes occurring on the international scene,
by developing the mechanisms of consultation and
cooperation with all the American and Asian countries.
Our country attaches great importance to the promotion
of its relations with large regional blocs in the
American and Asian continents, so as to enrich
cooperation and explore new fields for a strong
partnership serving mutual interests. In this context, at
the end of this year Tunisia will host the Japan-Arab
Economic Forum. It will also host, in 2012, the Fifth
Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation
Forum.
Tunisia is also keen on promoting rapprochement
with South American countries, within an Arab or
African framework.
The values of mutual support and solidarity,
which constitute the pillar of our country’s policy and
orientation, and which have now become a deeply-
anchored tradition, demand that we give immediate
assistance to countries stricken by natural disasters,
which cause thousands of deaths in many countries of
the world. Tunisia has responded promptly to the
urgent calls by the Secretary-General to help disaster-
stricken countries, such as Pakistan, which was
recently ravaged by floods, and Haiti, which early this
year was hit by a devastating earthquake, in which
Tunisia and the United Nations lost one of their
eminent diplomats, known for his great competence
and generous devotion, the late Hédi Annabi, head of
the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.
Today, the world urgently needs to adopt an
efficient policy to protect the environment, so as to
spare humanity the adverse consequences of climate
change, which over the past three decades has caused
the international community huge economic losses.
The Assembly is certainly aware that climate
change has a serious impact on stability in many
countries, given the many problems caused, especially
by global warming, drought and floods, and the resulting
degradation of harvests and scarcity of water resources.
Once again, Tunisia underlines the need to accelerate the
pace of international talks on climate change, while
giving priority to human interests over economic
benefits, so as to reach an agreement guaranteeing that
a minimum of measures will be taken to meet the huge
challenges posed by climate change, particularly in the
developing and the least developed countries.
Tunisia calls for the establishment of a decisive
intervention programme to help remedy the effects of
climate change and the problems it causes in terms of
ecosystems, farming policies, and international food
security in general. In this context, Tunisia reiterates its
support for the African position and underlines the
importance of helping African countries to face the
effects of climate change. Tunisia commends the
attention given by Japan and Korea to this issue. We
hope that the forthcoming Mexico summit will produce
positive results that can help achieve the objectives in
this vital field.
At the present session the Assembly has devoted
a large part of its agenda to the evaluation of our
countries’ achievements in the implementation of the
MDGs, five years before 2015. Implementing the
Goals and meeting the challenges resulting from the
new world order, with the deep changes that it has
generated, require that we step up action to embody the
principles of the Charter in international relations, and
to anchor the culture of dialogue and the values of
tolerance, civilizational communication and solidarity
among peoples.
Tunisia reaffirms its determination to continue
actively contributing to joint international action to
find adequate, fair and durable solutions to current
problems, through joining in all efforts based on
dialogue, mutual respect, consensus and mutual
support within the framework of the United Nations.
That is the ideal framework for international action to
promote security, peace and stability in the world, so
that our peoples can apply all their efforts and capacities
for comprehensive and sustainable development and for
realizing their legitimate aspirations for prosperity and
a decent standard of living.
The current international situation can only
strengthen our adherence to the United Nations and its
founding principles, and bolster our determination to
10-55276 10
reaffirm its central role in meeting challenges and to
confer more efficiency on its activities and programmes,
given its pivotal role in global governance.
In this regard, Tunisia hopes that Member States
will reach the largest possible consensus for
introducing the necessary reforms into the United
Nations system, especially as regards the composition
of the Security Council, and for giving more
transparency and efficiency to the Organization’s
performance; that is in addition to further enhancing
the role of the General Assembly, which includes all
the Member States, and that of the Economic and
Social Council.
To conclude, I once again wish all success to the
Assembly at the current session, at which we hope it
will make constructive recommendations that serve all
the peoples of the world, promote peace and stability,
offer wider prospects for progress and prosperity, and
help meet challenges with confidence and efficiency.